One of the most important factors in rookies being able to contribute right away and to have success while doing it is for their ability to earn the trust and confidence of their teammates. The dynamic of a unit can turn on a dime if all 11 individuals don’t believe that the other 10 know what they’re doing and are capable of doing it.
I can recall a few seasons ago when the Pittsburgh Steelers run defense was really struggling, and Cameron Heyward was none too happy about it. After each game with bad run defense, he kept hammering home his belief that too many players were trying to make plays rather than trusting everybody to do their job.