Pro Football Focus (PFF) went through and highlighted the most impactful rookie for each NFL team during the 2025 regular season, based on instant contributions, workload and PFF grades.

Former Clemson standout safety R.J. Mickens was pegged as the most impactful rookie for the Los Angeles Chargers.

Mickens started six of the 12 games he appeared in during his first professional regular season, tallying 29 total tackles, two passes defended and two interceptions.

Here’s what PFF’s Ben Cooper wrote about Mickens, who was selected by the Chargers in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft with the No. 214 overall pick:

Running back Omarion Hampton and tight end Oronde Gadsden II are viable candidates here, but Mickens, a sixth-round pick, provided unprecedented depth for the team at safety.

While he saw just nine targets across 219 coverage snaps, Mickens nabbed two interceptions. That effort resulted in a 12.5 passer rating allowed in coverage — the top mark among 107 qualifying safeties this regular season.

Mickens recorded his first career NFL interception in the Chargers’ Week 8 win over the Minnesota Vikings. He later nabbed his second career pick in Week 10, when he intercepted future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers in the Chargers’ win over the Pittsburgh Steelers.

An NFL legacy, Mickens is the son of former Texas A&M All-American defensive back Ray Mickens, Sr., who was a third-round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft by the New York Jets and played eight seasons with the franchise.

Mickens recorded 229 tackles (13.5 for loss), seven interceptions, 15 pass breakups and a fumble recovery in his Clemson career from 2020-24. He became the 10th player in school history to play 60 career games, and he started 30 of those contests. In 2024, Mickens finished third on the team with a career-high 85 tackles (including a career-high 6.0 for loss) while adding seven pass breakups and two interceptions over 13 games (all starts).

–Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee-Imagn Images