By William Armstead
NEW YORK –– Jan. 13, 2026 –– The National Football League announced the six finalists for the 2025 Pepsi® Zero Sugar NFL Rookie of the Year award. The finalists include,
- Jaxson Dart, New York Giants Quarterback
- TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots Running Back
- Ashton Jeanty, Las Vegas Raiders Running Back
- Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers Wide Receiver
- Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns Linebacker
- Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints Quarterback
Fans will vote through nfl.com/rookies. The end of the voting period is set for Friday, Jan. 30. Fans can learn more about each finalist on NFL and PEPSI’s social media pages.
The winner of will be acknowledged during the week of the Super Bowl and awarded with a custom trophy.
Six players every week were chosen for the NFL Rookie of the Week, and fans voted for the winner on NFL.com. Those results made up the list of finalists.
- New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart led all rookie quarterbacks in rushing yards (487), rushing touchdowns (nine) and passer rating (91.7). He was tied for the most passing touchdowns with 15. Dart passed Josh Allen for second place for the most rushing touchdowns by a rookie quarterback in the Super Bowl era. Cam Newton still leads with 14 in 2011. Dart also became the first rookie quarterback in NFL history to record a rushing touchdown in five games straight.
- New England Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson averaged 5.1 yards per rushing attempt which was the most among rookie running backs. He also tied for the most rushing touchdowns (nine) along with the second-most scrimmage yards (1,132). Henderson stamped his name next to Saquon Barkley and Lenny Moore as the only rookies with four rushing touchdowns that were 50+ yards in NFL history.
- Las Vegas Raiders running back Ashton Jeanty led all rookies in scrimmage yards and broke the Raiders franchise record for most scrimmage yards by a rookie of any position with 1,321. Jeanty became the third rookie all-time with at least 50 receptions, and five rushing and receiving touchdowns. He joins Alvin Kamara and Charley Taylor as the only players to do so.
- Carolina Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan led all rookies this season in receiving yards with 1,014, receiving yards per game posting 59.6, and touchdown receptions recording seven of them. McMillan broke the Panthers franchise record for most receiving yards by a rookie.
- Cleveland Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger led all rookies this season in tackles with 146 and tackles for loss with 11. He recorded 10+ tackles in each game from Weeks 11-16 which tied Luke Kuechly for the longest streak by a rookie with six games. Schwesinger is one of five linebackers to record at least 145 tackles and 10 tackles for loss in their rookie season since 2000 in NFL history.
- New Orleans Saints quarterback Tyler Shough threw for the highest completion percentage among all rookies (67.6), had the second-most passing yards (2,384) and passer rating (91.3) amid rookies this season. Shough broke the Saints franchise record for most passing yards, passing touchdowns, and completion percentage by a rookie. Shough became the second rookie in NFL history with 80 percent pass completion or higher (81.5), at least 300 passing yards, and a passer rating of 140-or-higher in a single game during their Week 17 matchup versus the Tennessee Titans.
This year marks the 25th year with Pepsi as the Official Soft Drink of the NFL and the 24th year that Pepsi will sponsor the NFL Rookie of the Week and Rookie of the Year awards.