Burrow Offensive Rookie of the Year?

[Essex Johnson]

(11-09-2020, 12:24 PM)Luvnit2 Wrote: FYI

Today from ESPN, but again 8 games left. Herbert and Joe are both playing great and both have a shot. The interesting thing is who is sitting in 3rd, it is Joe's former LSU receiver Jefferson who also is lighting it up in a deep rookie WR class.

Offensive Rookie of the Year
This award, on the other hand, is a brutal fight. I have two quarterbacks as locks, which means there are approximately eight players competing for one spot, including one undrafted free agent in Jaguars running back James Robinson. As much as I think they deserve recognition, I had to leave out a pair of impressive tackles in Mekhi Becton (New York Jets) and Tristan Wirfs (Tampa Bay). Receivers CeeDee Lamb (Dallas) and Brandon Aiyuk (San Francisco) might be on the list if their quarterback situations were settled.

In the end, I landed on two receivers for the third spot:


3. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
Jefferson beats out Chase Claypool, who has become arguably the most important receiver on the league's only undefeated team. Claypool's four-touchdown game against the Eagles last month instantly put the Notre Dame product on national radars, and his touchdown against the Ravens last week turned out to be the game winner.

ESPN Daily podcast: Bill Barnwell wraps up Week 9

At the same time, don't sleep on what Jefferson has done. Since entering the starting lineup in Week 3, the only players who are averaging more receiving yards per game than the rookie are Davante Adams and DK Metcalf. Nobody in the NFL has averaged more yards per route run than Jefferson, who tops Adams and George Kittle by averaging 3.62 yards per route over that time frame.

Jefferson is the first rookie since the merger with two 150-plus yard games in the first half of his debut season, and while I don't want to be mean, he's doing this with Kirk Cousins as his quarterback. The trade that essentially sent Stefon Diggs to the Bills for the rights to draft Jefferson is turning out to be the most significant win-win swap in recent memory. A Buffalo team that needed a receiver to put it over the top got Diggs, who has been a reliable target for Josh Allen. The cap-strapped Vikings appear to have found a devastating deep threat in the 21-year-old Jefferson.


2. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
The No. 1 overall pick continues to get better as the season goes along. He was overmatched behind a porous offensive line in the blowout loss to the Ravens, but in the three games since, he has posted a Total QBR of 81.7, coming in just ahead of Russell Wilson and Ryan Tannehill. Nobody completed more passes between Week 6 and Week 8 than Burrow, who has had to shoulder a significant workload in Cincinnati.

While the Bengals haven't been able to hold onto leads, he continues to put the team in a position to win or extend games. Go week by week:

In Week 1, Burrow drove the team 82 yards and threw a game-winning touchdown to A.J. Green, only for the play to be called back for offensive pass interference. Randy Bullock then missed what would have been a game-tying field goal on the next play with 7 seconds left.

In Week 3, he set up short field goals to push the Bengals up 23-16 with 3:08 to go, only for the defense to allow a Carson Wentz rushing touchdown in what ended up as a tie.

In Week 6, he drove the Bengals into position for a lead-taking field goal in the fourth quarter by competing five passes for 56 yards. They then failed to convert with runs on second-and-3 and third-and-1, and Bullock missed a 48-yard try.

In Week 7, he led an 80-yard touchdown drive in the fourth quarter to take the lead, and when his defense gave up a score, he led a 75-yard drive for a second touchdown. The Cincinnati defense blew that lead when Baker Mayfield threw a game-winning touchdown with 16 seconds left.

The Bengals are 2-5-1, but they could easily have a winning record with slightly more help around Burrow.


Justin Herbert has been a bright spot in the Chargers' season. Kirby Lee/USA TODAY Sports

1. Justin Herbert, QB, Los Angeles Chargers
Of course, we could say the same thing about Herbert, whose Chargers apparently used all their luck in overcoming the Bengals in Week 1. Herbert was installed as the starter on an emergency basis the following week and took the job by the horns. He has mostly been brilliant since taking over, although hard luck, defensive collapses, special-teams fiascos and ill-timed drops have seen the Chargers drop six of his first seven starts.

Herbert is 12th in the league in Total QBR since taking over, with his 76.4 mark coming in between Tom Brady and Deshaun Watson over that same time frame. He's doing that behind an offensive line that has been without star guard Trai Turner for most of the season and key tackle Bryan Bulaga for four games. On the final drive of the game Sunday against the Raiders, Herbert threw nine straight passes to running backs Joshua Kelley and Kalen Ballage, who are respectively the third- and fifth-choice options at the position. His final pass of the game was a fade to backup tight end Donald Parham, who dropped a would-be game winner.


What's incredible with Herbert is just how easy he makes incredibly difficult plays seem. With the game on the line in the fourth quarter, he successfully executed a fourth-and-1 speed option with a Raiders defender coming down at full speed to keep the game alive. After checking down and in desperate need of a big play, the No. 6 overall pick found Mike Williams for a big catch, just as he did with a perfectly thrown ball against the Saints. Then, the Chargers missed a game-winning field goal at the end of regulation. Here, the Chargers called two goal-line fades, got two excellent throws from Herbert, and didn't bring in either. My first thought after watching most Chargers games is how their fans deserve better. My second is that their young quarterback does, too.

Robinson is still a nice rookie on a bad team for Jacksonville, on pace for over 1,200 yards rushing and 14 TDs.. he is right there for 3rd spot