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Baker Mayfield Evander Kane Sharks Jersey , Saquon Barkley and Sam Darnold.

The top three picks in the most recent NFL draft are all expected to make a major impact in 2018, assuming of course Mayfield (Cleveland) and Darnold (Jets) earn the starting jobs.

But often it’s the unheralded rookies that can make a real difference.

Recent examples are the Cowboys’ Dak Prescott (fourth-rounder in 2016) and the Saints’ Alvin Kamara (third-rounder in 2017). Both paid major dividends and won Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Here are a few under-the-radar rookies to look for in the 2018 season:

DUKE DAWSON, PATRIOTS

New England grabbed the Florida cornerback late in the second round to possibly fill the spot left by Malcolm Butler, who inexplicably missed virtually the entire Super Bowl loss to the Eagles as Nick Foles had 373 yards passing and threw for three touchdowns (and caught a memorable one) on his way to being the MVP.

Butler signed with the Titans in the offseason, and Dawson could see significant playing time – if he can grasp Bill Belichick’s defense.

Dawson led the Gators with four interceptions last season. Would it surprise anyone if he made a key interception in a big game for New England?

MASON RUDOLPH, STEELERS

Pittsburgh traded up to select Rudolph with the 76th overall pick, the highest the organization has taken a quarterback since making Ben Roethlisberger the 11th overall selection in 2004.

In a radio appearance shortly after the draft, Roethlisberger expressed surprise, asking why Pittsburgh used a third-round pick on a quarterback when there were players at other positions who could make a more immediate impact.

Rudolph’s main competition to win the backup job to the 36-year-old Roethlisberger is Oklahoma’s Landry Jones.

”We valued (Rudolph) as much as the rest of the quarterbacks that were drafted (in the first round),” Steelers GM Kevin Colbert said after the selection.

MAURICE HURST, RAIDERS

New Oakland defensive coordinator Paul Guenther will make use of the fifth-rounder from Michigan, who was taken to help bolster what has been a struggling pass rush.

Hurst had 5 sacks as an interior rusher. He slipped to the fifth round because of concern over a heart condition that got him sent home from the NFL combine.

Hurst said it was something he has dealt with for a long time and hadn’t impacted him on the field. He said he has been cleared by doctors at Harvard and Michigan, but that didn’t prevent every team passing on a player projected as a first-round talent until the Raiders got him at 140th overall.

If his health issues subside Adidas Jason Pominville Jersey , Hurst can team with star Khalil Mack to help fix a defense that has been a sore spot.

HAROLD LANDRY, TITANS

The Titans had only four draft picks and took the Boston College linebacker in the second round.

New head coach Mike Vrabel, a big-play linebacker in New England, and new coordinator Dean Pees are looking to get younger in the heart of the defense; veterans Brian Orakpo and Derrick Morgan are heading into the final year of their contracts. Landry ranked second in school history with 26 sacks and second with 47 tackles for loss.

Landry was rated as a potential first-rounder before being shut down with an ankle injury during his last year in college.

”We felt like we got a first-round-caliber player that for whatever reason slipped into the second round,” general manager Jon Robinson said during the draft.

ROYCE FREEMAN, BRONCOS

After a 5-11 season and a last-place finish in the AFC West, the Broncos retooled and added Freeman in the third round from Oregon. He could make an immediate impact in a backfield that lacks a runner who has ever had a 100-yard game in the NFL.

General manager John Elway said in April he’s a ”big banger that we haven’t had for a while.”

Freeman played all four seasons with the Ducks and had a Pac-12-record 60 touchdowns as part of a big workload with 947 carries.

”It is not often you get backs playing as many games or taking as many carries,” Freeman said during OTAs. ”I feel like the fact that I was able to do so proves I am a durable running back.”

DANTE PETTIS, 49ERS

With quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo signed to a long-term deal, the 49ers needed to upgrade the offense and took the wide receiver in the second round.

Pettis caught 63 passes for 761 yards and seven TDs last season for Washington. He has experience playing outside and in the slot and provides another deep threat in coach Kyle Shanahan’s offense for Garoppolo.

Pettis set an NCAA record with nine punt returns for touchdowns, averaging 14.2 yards on 90 returns at Washington.

He is the son of former major league baseball player Gary Pettis and the cousin of former NFL receiver Austin Pettis. Gary Pettis is the third base coach for the World Series champion Houston Astros.

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The Indiana Pacers have been winning together, losing together and fighting together all season.

Now they need to demonstrate their resilience once more as they try to save their season by rebounding from an emotional loss to LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

”Nobody thought we’d be in this situation,” Victor Oladipo said Oren Burks Color Rush Jersey , referring to the playoffs. ”It’s important for us to stick together now because we’ve seen where it can go, where it can take us and it’s great.”

The immediate problem is recent history doesn’t bode well for the underdog Pacers, who trail 3-2 with Game 5 set for Friday in Indianapolis.

Cleveland swept Indiana in the first round last year, winning four games by a record low 16 total points. James has won 10 straight close-out games and has never lost a first-round series. Indiana, meanwhile, is trying to reach the conference semifinals for the first time since 2014.

But the Pacers don’t care about stats, projections or conventional wisdom – as they’ve proven repeatedly this season.

Following last summer’s Paul George trade, Indiana seemed bound for the draft lottery. Instead, general manager Kevin Pritchard cobbled together a rare combination of proven, often overlooked veterans, emerging stars, good shooters and willing defenders.

It turned out to be a perfect fit.

Indiana won 48 games, six more than it did with George last season Andy Dalton Youth Jersey , and is a win away from forcing the three-time defending Eastern Conference champs into a decisive seventh game.

Cleveland has learned one lesson the hard way: The fifth-seeded Pacers won’t go away. They won 12 times after facing double-digit deficits and eight times after trailing by 15 or more during the regular season.

So perhaps it should come as no surprise Indiana has erased double-digit deficits in four straight game and wound up taking the lead or having a chance to win late in all four in this series.

”That team does not quit,” James said, moments after his buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave Cleveland a 98-95 win to salvage a win Wednesday after Pacers wiped out a 12-point second half to deficit to tie the score in the final minute.

Playing hard until the final buzzer has become the norm for these Pacers.

And they’re savoring every precious second, too.

Nate McMillan recently called this one of the most enjoyable seasons he’s had as a head coach because he knows what he’ll get every day – energy from Oladipo and Lance Stephenson, steadiness from Darren Collison and Corey Joseph, leadership from Thaddeus Young and Bojan Bogdanovic and an eagerness to develop from Myles Turner and other young players.

With each player embracing their role, the Pacers have formed a cohesive bond.

Six players actually approached Pritchard before the trade deadline and pleaded with the GM not to make any moves because they wanted to close out this season together. Pritchard said it a first for him, and kept the team intact.

”It kind of is like a college team bond,” said Young, one of the six players who approached Pritchard. ”Typically you have a lot of NBA teams that don’t bond as well as you do in college when you’re living with each other and you’re around each other all the time. You know in the NBA, you spend time with your family, things like that.

”This team we all hang out together, we go to dinner together on the road. We do everything together.”

The difference has shown.

After enduring an early and sometimes uneven learning curve early this season Josh Allen Jersey Bills , the Pacers finally got in sync in early January and played better than anyone, perhaps even McMillan or Pritchard could have anticipated.

From Jan. 6 through the end of the regular season, they went 29-15 and allowed 101.3 points per game and didn’t lose more than two in a row.

They moved up three spots in the Eastern Conference postseason pecking order and headed into their latest round against James having won three of the four regular-season matchups. The Pacers even routed the Cavs on their home court in Game 1.

Since then, though, the series has been all-out slugfest and James has gotten the knockout blow in three times.

Now, with their season on the line, the Pacers need to provide a unified front one more time Friday night just to keep this season alive.

They’re ready.

”Sure, we’ve still got something to prove. No one believes we can beat Cleveland,” Bogdanovic said. ”It’s about trust in what we’ve got in each other.”

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