Another set of young bloods are about to strut their stuff this coming NFL season but only one will win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. We have jotted down our top five candidates, beginning with Washington Redskins wideout Josh Doctson. More about Doctson and the other candidates below.
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Offensive Rookie of the Year Candidates and Prediction
5. Josh Doctson (Wide Receiver, Washington Redskins)
Doctson offers the Redskins so much upside having finished last year second overall in the NCAA with an average of 120.6 receiving yards per game to go with 14 touchdowns as part of the high-powered TCU offense.
4. Sterling Shepard (Wide Receiver, New York Giants)
Opportunity is there this season for Shepard. While the top wide receiver position for the Giants is undoubtedly owned by Odell Beckham Jr., the WR2, to some degree, remains a question mark.
If healthy, that’s going to be Victor Cruz but hoping for Cruz’s limbs to be intact for the whole season is like praying that no 49ers player will get arrested the whole year. Shepard will be lurking behind Cruz but regardless how well Cruz’s body holds up, the rookie will get love from Eli Manning, who likes to spread passes among his receivers.
3. Derrick Henry (Running Back, Tennessee Titans)
Well yeah, the Titans have DeMarco Murray in the backfield. But don’t discount Henry’s chances of making his presence felt as soon as this year. The Titans just can’t afford to put a leash on a hulking 6-foot-3 running back who rushed for 2,219 yards and scored 28 touchdowns—both figures were tops in the NCAA—in a Heisman-winning campaign last year for Alabama.
2. Laquon Treadwell (Wide Receiver, Minnesota Vikings)
It was a mild surprise that Treadwell was the fourth receiver selected in the recent NFL Draft despite higher expectations by experts prior to the said event. That said, Treadwell must be liking his situation in Minnesota, whose cold climate matches the frosty performance of the Vikings’ passing games last season.
The Vikings were second worst in the NFL in both passing yards per game and receiving touchdowns. Along with Stefon Diggs, Treadwell should see a big share of throws from the steadily improving quarterback Teddy Bridgewater.
1. Ezekiel Elliott (Running Back, Dallas Cowboys)
Life as a rookie Cowboy is going to be grand for Elliott. The former Buckeye is primed to be Dallas’ top backfield option despite the offseason addition of Alfred Morris. Elliott’s immense potential is partly attributed to the Cowboys’ killer offensive line, one that is geared towards run blocking and is ranked by Pro Football Focus as the best in the NFL.
That O-line and Elliott’s skill and talent would be a deadly concoction this season. The Cowboys are +165 to win the NFC East and +1,600 to win Super Bowl LI.
Writer’s Prediction
Laquon Treadwell becomes the third Viking to win the offensive ROTY award since 2007.
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