Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler, Devin Hester, Joseph Addai

Vince Young, Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler, Devin Hester, Joseph Addai - Rookie Superstars!

by James on January 26th, 2007

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Vince is King of the Rookies

Vince Young. All he did was save Jeff Fisher’s job at Tennessee and make the Titans a threat for the future. He may not have been conventional, but he was Offensive Rookie of the Year!

Vince was only the third quarterback to win the award since it started in 1967. (Roethlisberger won it recently)

Why? Well, it used to be a rookie sat patiently for 3 to 5 years before he got his chance to play.

All that has changed in today’s NFL. High salaries and pro style coaching in college has made quarterbacks much more prepared to start than in the past.

Demeco Ryans

The lesser known Demeco Ryans won the defensive rookie of the year playing for the defensive challenged Houston Texans. All Demeco did was lead the NFL in tackles with 125 and finish second in tackles plus assists with 155. (Zach Thomas had 165)

If you think the defensive rookie of the year is a… pretty much meaningless award, then prepare for a few knocks on your door, because several NFL Stars that helped their teams to the playoffs are coming to your house to beat you to a pulp. Try telling these guys it doesn’t mean anything:

2000 - Brian Urlacher, LB Chicago
2001 - Kendrell Bell, LB Pittsburgh
2002 - Julius Peppers, DE Carolina
2003 - Terrell Suggs, LB Baltimore
2004 - Jonathan Vilma, LB NY Jets
2005 - Shawne Merriman, LB San Diego
source

It used to be maybe one or two rooks would make their mark in the league. That’s what we called the rookies, rooks. You know, get my bags, sing your college song, go get your free turkey, rooks. (there was no turkey, except the player himself).

Times have changed and now rookies play a prominent role on almost every team.

Matt Leinart and Jay Cutler

Leinart and Cutler ended up being starting quarterbacks. Matt for Arizona, a team with lots of talent that is trying to take that next step towards winning and Jay for Denver, a team that just missed out on the playoffs.

Devin Hester

Devin Hester became a weapon as a kick and punt returner almost to the point that no one would kick near him towards the end of the season or suffer the consequences of a long runback and a long winded blasting from the announcers and writers for being so dumb. It will be fun to see if Indy punts away from Devin in the Super Bowl.

Joseph Addai

Joseph Addai brought the running game to Indy becoming the first back to be a backup and gain over 1,000 yards. (think that is correct, let me know if it isn’t). What was the name of that previous back for Indy? Edger, Eddie, Edgie, oh who knows and that is just the point. With Addai and Rhodes in the backfield, look for Indy to actual run into the end zone. Hey, saw them do it more than once.

Ernie Sims

Even my inept Lions managed to get past drafting wide receivers, skipped on Leinart and Cutler, and still ended up with a great rookie in Ernie Sims. As a linebacker, Ernie Sims had a motor and viciousness that has long been missing from the Detroit Lions defense. Ernie finished 13th in the league in tackles plus assists.

Reggie Bush

Oh my, almost forgot Reggie Bush! All he did was transform a whole city and make football in New Orleans electric again. He scored by rushing, by pass reception, by punt returning, one if by land, two if by sea, just checking to see if you are still reading.

Tomorrow we will look at some other great rookies!

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Vince Young and the rookies, were they playing your song this year?

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As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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