One of the most anticipated flagship football sets in the hobby, 2024 Donruss football cards offer a great-looking collector experience with plenty of big cards to chase.
Yes, there are lots of exciting and visually-striking inserts, parallels and autographs to look for, but many of the base cards are top-notch in their own right.
Of the 400 base cards, 100 of are rookies.
And several of these guys are off to amazing careers...
The rookie quarterback class of Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, Drake Maye, Caleb Williams and others seems to have exceeded expectations.
And the strong rookie class isn't just limited to quarterbacks.
Brock Bowers, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr. and more are already performing at veteran levels.
The strong rookie card class shines, yet the checklist overall is loaded with star power.
And in this guide, we look at the 15 most valuable.
Let's jump right in!
2024 Donruss #389 Jayden Daniels Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $110
The Washington Commanders' fanbase finally got a reprieve in 2024.
Rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels was the most crucial reason for this.
Named NFL Offensive Rookie-of-the-Year with 49 out of a possible 50 first-place votes, the #2 overall pick led the embattled franchise to its first winning record since 2016 and best overall record (12-5) since their 91'-92 Super Bowl campaign.
Williams also carried Washington to its first two playoff wins in 20 years and paced all NFL quarterbacks in completions (75), attempts (114), passing yards (822), and passing TDs (5) during the postseason.
It was an eye-opening performance for the new D.C. savior.
Stuck under a black cloud during the waning days of the Daniel Snyder era, the team finally found its guy and found its footing as a legit championship contender.
Daniel ended the year tossing for 3,568 yards with 25 touchdowns against nine interceptions and a 100.1 passer rating.
He set the rookie QB record for rushing yards (891) and became the first NFL rookie to top 3,500 passing yards and 750 rushing.
2024 Donruss #327 Caleb Williams Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $60
A passing look at Caleb Williams' rookie stats indicates a strong debut.
Selected first overall in the '24 Draft, one pick ahead of Offensive Rookie-of-the-Year Jayden Daniels, the new Chicago Bears quarterback completed 62.5% of his passes for 3,541 yards with 20 touchdowns against just six interceptions.
Williams also had 489 yards on an impressive 6.0 yards per attempt.
However, the surface-level stats don't tell the whole story about Williams' tumultuous debut season.
Busted by a porous offensive line and undeveloped pocket instincts, the 23-year-old ate the most sacks (66) for the most yards (466) in the NFL. Many of his rushing yards came on broken plays.
Williams was pressured like clockwork and tended to rush his progressions.
As a result, Williams posted the worst completion rate for passes of 15+ yards of any quarterback in the past 15 years.
Chicago finished 5-12, two games worse than the previous season's debacle, which saw head coach Matt Eberflus fired and quarterback Justin Fields sent packing.
2024 Donruss #303 J.J. McCarthy Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $55
The Minnesota Vikings selected J.J. McCarthy as their quarterback of the future with the 10th overall pick of the 2024 Draft.
The Michigan product was coming off the high of a National Championship, and the time was now for him to lift the Vikings to Super Bowl prominence.
And then, McCarthy's body said otherwise.
McCarthy suffered a torn right meniscus during the Vikings' preseason opener against the Las Vegas Raiders.
The Minnesota coaching staff initially took him out as a precaution.
Later tests revealed the season-ending nature of the injury.
"As crushed as I am for our team and the excitement that we had in our building and our fanbase felt the same way, I'm the most crushed for J.J.," head coach Kevin O'Connell said.
According to the NFL research team, McCarthy is the only quarterback drafted in the top ten of a Draft to miss his full rookie season due to injury.
2024 Donruss #369 Bo Nix Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $55
Bo Nix was a fantastic game manager for the Denver Broncos, reviving the moribund franchise after a decade in the football wilderness.
That doesn't mean his rookie season was flawless.
However, it was just enough to push the Broncos over the hump.
Nix showcased impressive accuracy during his debut campaign, connecting on 66.3% of his passes for 3,775 yards with 29 touchdowns against 12 interceptions.
However, the nature of his completed passes showed a flaw in his game, if not the entire Broncos' offensive philosophy.
The 24-year-old finished 28th in passer success rate at 43.7%. Success rate is a tiered stat that indicates how a quarterback works towards first downs.
Nix was able to hit the safety valves but struggled to push the ball downfield when it mattered most.
Nix's limitations revealed themselves in the postseason.
He completed 59.1% of his passes with a 37.5% success rate in a dispiriting 31-7 Wild Card loss to Buffalo.
2024 Donruss #379 Drake Maye Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $55
Drake Maye was not set up for success in 2024.
After replacing veteran QB Jacoby Brissett in October, the incumbent third overall pick was saddled with a New England Patriots offense in disarray.
The unit lacked anything resembling star power, and the offensive line was suspect at best.
Maye had nearly zero on-roster advantages to work with and still put forth an admirable Pro Bowl campaign.
The 22-year-old completed two-thirds of his 338 attempts for 2,276 yards with 15 touchdowns against 10 interceptions.
He excelled on designed runs and breakdowns, amassing 421 rushing yards and two scores on 54 attempts.
Maye's 7.8 yards per rushing attempt was far and away the best on the squad.
Still, New England went just 3-9 with Maye as the starter.
He struggled to understand complex blitz packages and often pulled the trigger on running without going through his progressions.
The frustration was palpable, but the talent remains undeniable.
2024 Donruss #394 Brock Bowers Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $50
The 2024 Las Vegas Raiders were broken on offense.
All the goodwill of Antonio Pierce's interim head coach run the year before was shot by midseason as the league's worst running game stalled, and the passing game failed to compensate.
There wasn't much to celebrate from the 4-13 debacle, except perhaps the All-Pro play of their '24 first-round pick.
Brock Bowers came into a disadvantageous situation with an underperforming Gardner Minshew III and an inconsistent Aidan O'Connell taking snaps.
Regardless, he shined and quickly evolved into the best tight end in the game.
Strong as a blocker, the Georgia product was even better as the Raiders' primary pass catcher.
Named a Pro Bowler, a First-Team All-Pro, and the runner-up for NFL Offensive Rookie-of-the-Year, Bowers set records for the most receiving yards by a rookie tight end (1,194) and the most receptions by a first-year player (112) in NFL history.
2024 Donruss #308 Michael Penix Jr. Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $40
The 2024 Atlanta Falcons had an inside track to win a weak NFC South.
With the addition of four-time Pro Bowler Kirk Cousins, many pegged Atlanta as favorites to pick up the franchise's first division title since 2016.
Things started out well.
Atlanta raced to a 6-3 start and seemed like the class of the division.
Cousins was a big part of the team's sudden revival, and the mood was optimistic heading into the campaign's second half.
It fell apart from there.
Atlanta lost its next four games, and Cousins was benched before the team's Week 16 contest after throwing one TD against nine interceptions in his previous five contests.
Head coach Raheem Morris turned to dynamic rookie Michael Penix Jr. with the season hanging in the balance.
Atlanta went 1-2 with Penix to miss the playoffs, with both losses coming in overtime.
The '24' Draft's eighth overall pick completed 58.1% of his passes for 775 yards with three passing TDs against three interceptions.
2024 Donruss #313 Brian Thomas Jr. Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $35
The 2024 Jacksonville Jaguars didn't hit on much.
But they did nail their first-round pick.
Selected 23rd overall out of LSU, wideout Brian Thomas Jr. emerged as the breakout star on an otherwise underperforming roster.
It didn't matter that Trevor Lawrence regressed.
It didn't matter that the Jags were stuck with Mac Jones as their starting QB for half a year due to a Lawrence injury.
Thomas was the only Jaguars player who could stretch the field and make Jacksonville's bottom-feeding offense feel dangerous.
He had over double as many targets (133) as any Jags receiver, and his 1,282 receiving yards were more than the team's second, third, and fourth most productive pass catchers combined.
The 22-year-old finished third in the NFL in receiving yardage and became the first Jags rookie to go for over 1,000.
He also set team rookie records for receptions (87) and receiving TDs (10) en route to a Pro Bowl selection.
2024 Donruss #383 Malik Nabers Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $35
The two most prolific rookie receiving seasons in NFL history occurred in 2024.
For most of the year, Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers and New York Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers raced neck-and-neck toward the rookie reception record of 105 set by Puka Nacua one year prior.
The duo's run to the record books is more impressive, considering that the Raiders had the league's fourth-worst total offense, and the Giants had the third-worst.
In the end, Bowers took the crown with 112 receptions.
Nabers finished with 108, ahead of Nacua but second on the all-time ledger.
That's nothing to hang his head about.
In fact, Nabers bypassed Steve Smith (107 in 2009) for the team's all-time single-season receptions mark with his final grab in Week 18.
The first-time Pro Bowler finished seventh in the league in receiving yards (1,204) and near the top of the NFL in targets (170) despite missing two games with a concussion.
2024 Donruss #393 Marvin Harrison Jr. Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $35
Arizona Cardinals wideout Marvin Harrison Jr. will always judged in relation to his Hall-of-Fame father.
That's the burden you bear as the son of an eight-time Pro Bowler and three-time First Team All-Pro, especially when he played the very same position.
So, it was easy to be disappointed with Harrison's debut, considering that he was outperformed by fellow rookie receivers Brian Thomas Jr., Malik Nabers, and Ladd McConkey.
In reality, the fourth overall pick of the 2024 Draft still had a fine rookie season, all things considered.
Whereas the other three had ready-made situations for rookie breakouts, Harrison was the #2 wideout to Trey McBride on one of the most run-focused offensive units in the league.
Harrison made the most of it despite his growing pains, posting the second-most receptions (62) and receiving yards (885) by a rookie in franchise history.
Oddly, those numbers are similar to what his dad put up (64 receptions, 836 yards) in his 1996 debut campaign.
2024 Donruss #10 Joe Burrow
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Some awards you'd love to win twice, three times, as many times as possible.
NFL Comeback Player of the Year may not be one of them.
That's what makes Joe Burrow's 2024 campaign a bittersweet one.
Coming off the second season-ending injury of his half-decade NFL career, Burrow reemerged as a more potent passer than ever.
The 28-year-old Pro Bowler led all passers in completions (460), attempts (652), passing yards (4,918), and passing touchdowns (43).
He completed a career-best 70.6% of his throws, good for fourth among qualified quarterbacks.
The problem was that Burrow was essentially going it alone.
Cincinnati had the third-worst rushing offense in the league, and the defense finished 25th out of 32 teams.
Much to Burrow's credit, the Bengals finished with a winning record (9-8) and just short of a playoff berth.
It was yet another epic return.
However, it's clear Burrow would trade comebacks for stability and a Lombardi Trophy or two.
2024 Donruss #50 Jalen Hurts
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
The Jalen Hurts hater club may be permanently disbanded.
The run-first quarterback has always found himself in the crosshairs of football traditionalists.
It didn't help that the '23 Philadelphia Eagles went down in flames after a 10-1 start, losing six of their last seven, including a 32-9 loss to Tampa Bay in the Wild Card round.
And then came the Jalen Hurts revenge tour.
Incensed and driven by all the talk show chatter, the 26-year-old completed a career-high 68.7% of his passes for 2,903 yards with 18 touchdowns against just five interceptions.
He also rushed for 630 yards and 14 touchdowns, his fourth consecutive year with double-digit ground scores.
The real good times came in the team's January title run.
Hurts combined for 920 passing/rushing yards in four playoff games and led the league in both passing TDs (5) and rushing TDs (5).
It all peaked during his Super Bowl LIX MVP performance against Kansas City, the same Chiefs that denied him his first title two years before.
2024 Donruss #100 Patrick Mahomes
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Patrick Mahomes is at such a different level that his regular-season stats don't matter.
That's what happens when you win three Super Bowls and three Super Bowl MVPs in a half-decade span.
The Kansas City Chiefs opened the 2024 NFL season to pursue the league's first three-peat.
Mahomes was clutch in the regular season, finishing sixth for NFL MVP to lead KC to a 15-2 record and home-field advantage on the AFC side of the bracket.
What mattered most, though, was his near-flawless play in two playoff wins, posting a passer rating of around 105 against the Texans and Bills.
It was all for naught, at least in Mahomes' world.
The Philadelphia Eagles hammered him all night in Super Bowl LIX, sacking him six times in a 40-22 loss that was even more lopsided than the final score indicates.
"Anytime you lose a Super Bowl, it's the worst thing in the world," Mahomes said. "It will stick with you the rest of your career."
2024 Donruss #301 Bucky Irving Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $30
Bucky Irving's rookie season was a marvel of rushing efficiency.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers running back outperformed his fourth-round draft selection in the preseason to earn lead back duties.
While he essentially split time with Rachaad White for most of the year, it was clear that Irving was the focal point of the team's fourth-ranked rushing attack.
It's easy to see why. Irving became the first rookie rusher in NFL history to tally over 1,100 rushing yards (1,122) on less than 220 attempts (207).
His 5.4 yards-per-attempt placed sixth in the league, ahead of names like James Cook and Bijan Robinson.
Irving was also a reliable receiver out of the backfield, netting 392 yards on 47 catches.
Whatever Pro Bowl QB Baker Mayfield dialed up for him, the rookie made his touches count.
By the time of Tampa Bay's 23-20 Wild Card loss to Washington, it was clear that Irving was the man in the Bucs backfield.
He registered 17 of the 25 team's rushing attempts for 77 yards.
Mayfield had seven of the remaining eight.
2024 Donruss #328 Ladd McConkey Rookie Card
Estimated PSA 10 Value: $25
Ladd McConkey followed up a historic rookie season with an even more earth-shaking playoff debut.
Selected in the early second round of the 2024 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Chargers, McConkey became an instant favorite of starting quarterback Justin Herbert.
He set rookie team records for receptions (82) and receiving yards (1,149), both of which paced the team.
McConkey did so despite starting in 14 of the team's 17 games.
"There's been a lot of great receivers in Chargers history, so to set the rookie receiving record is just phenomenal," head coach Jim Harbaugh said. "He's been an incredible teammate, humble and hungry from Day One."
If McConkey was hungry all season long, he feasted in the team's 32-12 Wild Card loss to Houston.
When nothing else worked, McConkey did, setting new NFL rookie records for receiving yards (197) and receptions (9) in a playoff contest.
2024 Donruss Football Cards In Review
Donruss usually boasts a solid design and this set is no exception.
It packs plenty of color and unique design elements without appear too over-the-top.
The 400-card checklist speaks for itself, especially the rookies.
Given how well these guys have played so far, the set should continue to hold up well over the long run as long as they can maintain that level of play.
Beyond the base cards, there are several great parallels, inserts and autograph cards, too.
Not surprisingly, the "Downtown" inserts are on every collector's radar but I also like the "Crunch Time", "Bomb Squad", and "Gridiron Kings", among others.
Overall, the 2024 Donruss football set offers a well-balanced experience that delivers as much as you'd typically expect from the brand, if not more.
