Tag: OROY

Jayden Daniels named Offensive Rookie of the Year in blowout win

Jayden Daniels had the best rookie season of all time in 2024.

It didn’t take long for Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels to take the NFL world by storm. After having the greatest rookie season of all time, Daniels fittingly won Offensive Rookie of the Year by a huge margin. Daniels was named OROY at the NFL Honors on Thursday night.

Daniels received 49 of 50 first-place votes with the final first-place vote going to Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers. Bowers re-wrote the rookie record books for a tight end.

Jayden Daniels 49-1-0-0-0: 495

Brock Bowers 1-32-11-5-1: 214

Bo Nix 0-15-21-7-1: 153

Brian Thomas 0-2-8-15-18: 82

Malik Nabers 0-0-4-13-13: 51

Bucky Irving 0-0-1-8-12: 31

Drake Maye 0-0-3-0-0: 9

Joe Alt 0-0-2-0-2: 8

Ladd McConkey 0-0-0-2-1: 5

Caleb Williams 0-0-0-0-2: 2

The most surprising part of the OROY voting was Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams finishing dead last with only two points. Williams was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 NFL draft and had a loaded offensive roster. Nevertheless, it was Daniels and his poise and confidence that helped him lead the Commanders to a 12-5 record and the playoffs.

Daniels finished the season with 4,459 yards of offense including 891 rushing yards. Daniels also had 31 total touchdowns.

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Steelers rookie misses cut for OROY finalist

Zach Frazier had a tremendous rookie season as the Steelers starting center.

We understand when it comes to these end-of-the-season awards, it’s tough to get any attention if you don’t play a stat-centered position. So we get it that the five finalists for Offensive Rookie of the Year are all skill-position players.

But we would be remiss if we didn’t get Pittsburgh Steelers rookie center Zach Frazier his props for an incredible rookie campaign. Frazier was plugged into he starting lineup just two games into the season and after 15 starts, graded out as the fifth-best center in the NFL.

Not just rookie centers. Among all centers. Frazier played 975 snaps and allowed only one sack. The Steelers are known for their elite centers from Mike Webster to Dermontti Dawson and Maurkice Pouncey. Frazier looks like he’s in line to be the next great Steelers center.

 

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49ers better hope they don’t have Offensive Rookie of the Year

Usually having an Offensive Rookie of the Year candidate is a good thing. That’s not necessarily the case for the 49ers in 2024.

Typically having a Rookie of the Year on either side of the ball is a good sign for an NFL team. A first-year player shining above all the other first-year players is usually a good sign for that player and his team’s futures. That’s not the case this season for the 49ers when it comes to the Offensive Rookie of the Year award.

The 49ers invested pretty heavily in their offense in this year’s draft, taking two wide receivers, two offensive linemen, and a running back. Something will have gone terribly wrong if any of their rookies are in the mix for an OROY.

Let’s take out the offensive linemen for the sake of this discussion since an offensive lineman isn’t winning that award no matter how much they might deserve it. That leaves WR Ricky Pearsall, WR Jacob Cowing and RB Isaac Guerendo among the draft picks on offense.

While there may be a role for Pearsall and/or Cowing in their rookie seasons, they’re likely to be limited in an offense that regularly ranks in the bottom five in pass attempts. If they’re getting enough snaps or targets to put up the stats necessary to get in the conversation for a ROY bid it likely means the 49ers are dealing with a ton of availability issues between their two top receivers, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel.

Having an adequate replacement should one of those two players miss time is a key benefit of making those two WR selections. However, a rookie having the same impact as All-Pros like Aiyuk and Samuel in terms of making a Super Bowl run in 2024 isn’t super likely.

Guerendo is in a similar boat. He’ll enter camp way down the 49ers’ RB depth chart. Even though he looks to be immensely talented and better than his college numbers would indicate, he’s going to at best be behind Christian McCaffrey by Week 1. Chances are he’s also behind at least one of Jordan Mason and Elijah Mitchell.

If Guerendo is getting enough work to put up ROY numbers it means something happened to McCaffrey which would be an abject disaster for San Francisco’s offense. The reigning Offensive Player of the Year is the focal point of everything the 49ers want to do on that side of the ball in both the run and pass games. Removing him from the equation means making significant adjustments to what the offense can and will do on a week-to-week basis.

The better result for the 49ers this season would be getting flashes from their trio of draft picks on offense. Perhaps Pearsall grabs some time as WR3 and makes some key third-down catches. Cowing may be relegated to punt returns and gadget plays as a rookie, but he can show signs of being more than that in 2025 and beyond when the 49ers’ receiving corps begins to evolve. If Guerendo can move up the depth chart and add some explosiveness to the backfield he’ll put himself in line to be RB2 by 2025 where he may be tasked with taking some of the workload from an aging McCaffrey.

Contributions from rookies will definitely be welcomed by the 49ers, but those bigger roles are better reserved for after this season.

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Former LSU teammates Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers have big bet on OROY

You have to appreciate the confidence in Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers.

On Thursday night, former LSU stars Jayden Daniels and Malik Nabers were selected in the first six picks of the 2024 NFL draft. The quarterback Daniels went No. 2 overall to the Washington Commanders and the wide receiver Nabers was selected by the New York Giants at pick No. 6.

Both guys come across as highly confident about their skills and the impact they will have in the NFL. For Daniels, he’s now the face of the Washington franchise and for Nabers, he joins a Giants offense with a desperate need for a playmaker in the passing game.

In fact, both guys are so confident that they have a $10,000 bet on which of them will win Offensive Rookie of the Year this season.

Both guys should have huge rookie seasons. Daniels gets the edge just based on the fact he’s a quarterback and Nabers is going to be the top weapon in a Giants offense with some questionable quarterback play. Oh and they probably don’t want to include Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams in this bet.

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Twitter reacts to Chargers QB Justin Herbert being named Rookie of the Year

Check out how Twitter reacted to Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert being named Offensive Rookie of the Year.

At the NFL Honors Awards Show on Saturday night, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert was named 2020 AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Herbert beat out Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson, who also had a phenomenal year.

Here’s how Twitter reacted in the aftermath of Herbert’s win:

Three Alabama products have top-10 odds for NFL OROY

Three former members of the Crimson Tide made the top-ten, and they shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who paid any attention to college foot…

BetMGM released their odds for the NFL’s 2020 Offensive Rookie of the Year.

The long list is littered with top talent that was drafted from programs all across the country in numerous rounds of the 2020 NFL draft. However, the top-ten is a small group of players who are all products of top-tier programs which all had either come close to the College Football Playoffs, were in the playoffs, or won the National Championship.

Odds via BetMGM. Access USA TODAY Sports’ betting odds for a full list. Lines last updated Apr. 27 at 11:15 a.m. ET. 

Three former members of the Crimson Tide made the top-ten, and they shouldn’t be a shock to anyone who paid any attention to college football within the last two seasons.

Former Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa is likely not going to see his first in-game NFL snap until the 2021 season for the Miami Dolphins, but that doesn’t stop him from having the third best odds of +900.

Wide receiver Jerry Jeudy was drafted No. 15 overall by the Denver Broncos. He could be the spark the mile-high team needed to get things going. Jeudy sits tied in fifth place with Oklahoma’s CeeDee Lamb at +1400 odds to win the award.

The first wide receiver off the board in the 2020 NFL draft was Henry Ruggs III to the Raiders. He is the last wide receiver in the top-ten. Ruggs has been given +1800 odds to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.

Here is the full top-ten list:

  • Joe Burrow, QB: (+240)
  • Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB: (+600)
  • Tua Tagovailoa, QB: (+900)
  • D’Andre Swift, RB: (+1000)
  • Jonathan Taylor, RB: (+1000)
  • CeeDee Lamb, WR: (+1400)
  • Jerry Jeudy, WR: (+1400)
  • J.K. Dobbins, RB: (+1600)
  • Henry Ruggs III, WR: (+1800)
  • Justin Herbert, QB: (+2000)

Want to get in on the action? Place your bet now at BetMGM

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services. Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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Why Josh Jacobs deserves OROY honors

When you look at the difference in the 2018 vs. 2019 Oakland Raiders, there’s one big difference: Josh Jacobs.

When you look at the difference in the 2018 vs. 2019 Oakland Raiders, there’s one big difference: Josh Jacobs. When Jacobs was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 2019 NFL Draft, hopes were high, but few people expected Jacobs to have as big of an impact as he’s had for the Raiders in his rookie season.

So far this season, as a rookie, Jacobs has put up more than impressive numbers. He’s rushed for over 1,100 yards and has TDs, but that’s not all that’s impressive. Jacobs is 1st among ALL 2019 rookies for rushing yards per game, rushing yards for the season, rushing touchdowns, rushing 1st downs, rushing yards after contact, and rushing yards after contact (both in average and in total yards.)

And that’s not all. Jacobs also has forced the most missed tackles (70) which is the most anyone has forced since Marshawn Lynch in 2014.

Simply put, Josh Jacobs is more than deserving to win the NFL’s OROY honors.

He’s talented, an incredible leader, and has an even more incredible story.

Jacobs went from being homeless to becoming one of the league’s most impressive rookies in 2019. Here’s a video the Raiders posted that does a great job portraying just who Josh Jacobs truly is:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1Se0gQ5mHc