Teams draft and sign players who have never stepped foot on an NFL field because they believe they can improve their on-field products. Ideally, they'll do so sooner rather than later.
Making the leap from college football to the pros is no easy task, of course, but we have seen plenty of rookies come into the league and dominate over the years. Just look at the campaign Kareem Hunt produced in 2017 or the one from Michael Thomas the season before. They were stars almost immediately, and you can bet they showed glimpses of greatness early.