This article is about rookies who will face the most immediate pressure in 2020, but let’s be clear about one thing: This stress will be shared—and perhaps shouldered more heavily—by the coaching staffs who are inheriting these talents. It’s more likely these days that an underperforming young star results in the firing of a coaching staff before a coaching staff is allowed to move on from a promising young star (See: any highly-drafted quarterback of the last 20 years).
That said, there were some polarizing picks in 2020 who will immediately garner a spotlight, for better or worse.