Week six has come and gone and we saw another batch of impressive rookie performances. This week was a rather defensive heavy week with a few standouts of the offensive side with one rookie quarterback making NFL history. Let’s get right into the rankings starting, as always, with a couple of honorable mentions.
Another week brings us another set of rookie rankings as we saw a lot of defensive players put up impressive individual performances. While some names find their way back to the top of the leaderboard, several offensive names who got off to hot starts have continued to simmer as the season progresses. Let’s get right into the rankings starting, as always, with a couple of honorable mentions.
Week four of the NFL is behind us and at the quarter mark of the 2019 season, there have been a few surprises. If you had told me before this season that the top two rookie quarterbacks were going to be Gardner Minshew and Daniel Jones, I would have thought you were crazy but here we are. While some household names on offense have struggled, more defensive players were able to make their mark this past week and it was impressive. But that’s enough talk for now, let’s dig into these rankings starting with a couple of honorable mentions.
Ethan Hewett| September 26th, 2019 In this week’s edition of our rookie rankings, we have more new faces who have quickly risen to the top of
Let’s be honest, week one probably set our expectations for some of these offensive rookies extremely high. Putting it into perspective, we haven’t seen four rookie pass catchers in their debut going over 100 yards ever before in NFL history. Week two was a reality check for most and reminded us how difficult it is to maintain success in the NFL. While the numbers weren’t as wild this week, there were still several solid rookie performances to highlight and new players who shined starting with a couple of honorable mentions.
Welcome to the first edition of our 2019 NFL Weekly Rookie Rankings! We will be taking a look at the previous week of football and showcasing 15 of the best rookie performances. Week one brought us a lot of offensive skill players who either showed their worth or surprised us and outperformed their expectations, including four pass-catchers eclipsing the century mark in yardage. Let us start with a couple of honorable mentions.
The Ravens had a rollercoaster of a year in 2018. They started the year 4-2 but quickly lost three games in a row heading into their Week 10 bye week. It was at this point where the Ravens decided to bench their former Super Bowl-winning quarterback Joe Flacco. Little did they know that the young rookie Lamar Jackson would step in and use his legs and occasional arm talent to lead the team back to a 10-6 record and a Wild Card berth in the playoffs. It also helped that the Ravens boasted one of the best defenses in 2018. While the joy was short-lived after a first-round loss in the playoffs to the Los Angeles Chargers 23-17, it was clear that the Ravens were ready to begin a new era, the Lamar Jackson Era.
2018 was a better year than most Seahawks fans probably anticipated. The team set out to run the ball more, and that was exactly what they did by leading the NFL in rushing yards per game with an average of 160 yards. With a much-improved run game, the team didn’t have to rely on Russell Wilson trying to make a play every down behind one of the worst offensive lines in the league. The Seahawks finished the season 10-6, making it their seventh straight winning season and their sixth playoff appearance in that same time frame. While they lost a heart-breaker against the Dallas Cowboys 24-22 in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs, it’s hard to be upset when your team overperforms during the regular season.
The Kansas City Chiefs ended 2018 on a sour note losing a close game at home in the AFC Championship Game to the New England Patriots. While it ended on a low, the majority of their campaign was positive, finishing 12-4 on the regular season. The Chiefs also won their first playoff game since 2015 and hosted the AFC Championship Game for the first time in franchise history. Patrick Mahomes won Most Valuable Player and became only the second quarterback in history to throw for 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns, joining only Peyton Manning. The defensive side of the ball was a completely different story, finishing second to last in total yards allowed per game. There were a lot of highs last season, and while it may have finished on a low note, Chiefs fans had to be happy with the beginning of a new era for Chiefs football.
For the first time since 2010, the Cleveland Browns finally can say that they are not the worst team in the AFC North. Finishing 7-8-1 last year gave them third place in their division and their best record since 2014 (7-9). While this was partly due to the firing of former Head Coach Hue Jackson, and former Offensive Coordinator Todd Haley, we need to give a lot of credit to Baker Mayfield. Baker took the league by storm starting in Week 3 against the New York Jets. Now the number one overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft is in the running for Most Valuable Player. Should we believe the hype? Whenever there is a question about a guy’s on-field performance, the best answer is to turn to the film, and that is exactly what we did to answer the question of whether or not we should believe the hype around Baker Mayfield.
Current NFL MVP odds: +1400
Drew Brees has put together a remarkable career. After being drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2001 NFL Draft, battling a shoulder injury, and making his way to the New Orleans Saints, Brees has done it all. Except for one thing. Winning Most Valuable Player. The Super Bowl Champion, all-pro, pro bowl winning quarterback has filled all of the boxes for the past 13 years for the Saints. Brees has already solidified himself as one of the greats and a future Hall-of-Famer, but could 2019 be the year that he finally brings home the MVP award? I looked into his 2018 film to see just how good he actually is and where he could be next season.
2018 was a surprising year for the Indianapolis Colts. With an extremely young defense, and Andrew Luck returning from a nasty shoulder injury, expectations were rather low. However, Luck made an incredible comeback. While they started the season 1-5, they came back to finish 10-6 and earned themselves a wild-card berth in the playoffs. Luck put up some impressive numbers along the way as well. Today, we dove back into the film from his 2018 campaign to see just how well he did. Along with a couple of factors that he can improve on. If he can do that, expect the Colts to once again be in playoff contention, and Luck in consideration for the Most Valuable Player in 2019.
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