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Offensive Rookie of the Year
1. Saquon Barkley
2. Kerryon Johnson
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3. D.J. Moore
Man, was I bummed to see Derrius Guice go down in week one of the preseason, I already had him locked in as my Rookie of the Year because of the powerful O-line in front of him and his talent being so much superior to anybody on this roster, with Chris Thompson probably limited to third down duties. However, this made my choice rather obvious regardless.
Since the Giants drafted a running back second overall, the highest selection of anybody at the position since Reggie Bush in 2006, the G-Men will make Saquon Barkley a focal point of their offense, as he can run from the dot as well as from shotgun and will probably catch between 60 and 80 passes, when you look at the targets Jerrick McKinnon received last year in Pat Shurmur’s offense. Barkley is definitely the front-runner because he is the best rookie overall.
Behind the Penn State phenom, I have another back who took college football by storm last year. People have been forgetting about Kerryon Johnson a little because of the way his season ended, limping off the field versus Georgia in the SEC Championship Game.
However, to me, the Auburn RB will definitely become the Lions’ go-to weapon in the backfield. Yeah, LeGarrette Blount will get his touches in short-yardage situations and Theo Riddick will catch a bunch of passes on third downs, but I expect Kerryon to be the first guy Detroit can rely on in the run game in some time and he will break that ridiculous streak of games without a 100-yard rusher.
The third guy on my list was tough to pick, since there are four rookie QBs who could start at different points of the season and impress, while there are several rookie pass-catchers who could make some noise. I think Michael Gallup could become the Cowboys’ number one guy, Calvin Ridley has looked outstanding in preseason and I could even see Mike Gesicki have a similar impact to Evan Engram a year ago.
With that being said, I picked D.J. Moore because he has the clearest path to becoming the most targeted player of his offense. Devin Funchess doesn’t offer a lot after the catch, Curtis Samuel still has to work himself into the offense as well and Greg Olsen has been banged up recently. Expect Moore to make some noise.
