NFL Preview: Rookie of the Year

Next in our NFL preview series we’ll take a look at our thoughts on the NFL Rookie of the Year. Who has the talent to be the gem of the 2010 draft?


Rookie of the Year

John: Sam Bradford
In 2008 Sam Bradford was on top of the college football world. He was the Heisman trophy winner as well as the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year. His Oklahoma Sooners also made it to the National Championship game that year where they lost to Tim Tebow's Florida Gators. Unfortunately for Bradford, injury problems limited him in his junior year and resulted in him having season-ending shoulder surgery. He finished his career with over 8,000 yards and 88 touchdowns.

That didn't stop the St. Louis Rams from selecting Bradford as their franchise quarterback as the first pick of the draft. In the Rams preseason opener against the Minnesota Vikings, Bradford went 6-of-13 for 57 yards and was sacked 3 times. In the Rams second game against the Browns, Bradford was equally unimpressive. It wasn't until the third game when Bradford started in place of the injured Feeley that he was able to show his true worth to Rams fans. Bradford threw two first half touchdowns and helped lead the Rams to a 36–35 victory over the New England Patriots.

Johnny C: Aaron Hernandez
As a junior in 2009, Aaron Hernandez won the John Mackey Award, which is given every year to the nation's best tight end, after leading the Gators in receptions with 68 for 850 yards and five touchdowns. He also was recognized as a first-team All-SEC selection and an Associated Press first-team All-American. Hernandez finished his college career with 111 receptions for 1,382 yards and 12 touchdowns.

The Patriots drafted Hernandez in the fourth round of the draft and he has performed well for them in the preseason. He caught 7 passes for 72 yards and a touchdown in two preseason games and was a favorite target for quarterback Tom Brady. He had to sit out the last two preseason games and will probably start the season as the third string tight end behind Alge Crumpler and Ron Gronkowski.

Kevin: Dez Bryant
Michelle: Dez Bryant
During his sophomore year, Dez Bryant registered 87 receptions for 1,480 yards and 19 touchdowns, including 2 punt returns for touchdowns for the Oklahoma State Cowboys. He was ruled ineligible for his junior year because of his failure to fully disclose interactions with former NFL cornerback and Bryant's mentor, Deion Sanders.

The Dallas Cowboys traded up in the 2010 draft to take Bryant 24th, two picks after the Broncos selected Demaryius Thomas. Besides some preseason controversy surrounding Bryant's reluctance toward rookie traditions there isn't much for Cowboys fans to go on as a result of a high ankle sprain that sidelined Bryant for all four games. The Cowboys will probably want to ease Bryant onto the field as the slot receiver in their offense but eventually he will probably supplant Roy Williams for a starting position.

Sport4Prophet: Ndomukong Suh
I figured I would shake things up and pick a defender as the Rookie of the Year though with Suh it's not that big of a leap. He is one of the most decorated defensive players in college football history. In 2009 he won the Associated Press College Football Player of the Year Award, the Bronko Nagurski &Chuck Bednarik Award for best defensive player, Lombardi Award for best lineman, Outland Trophy for best interior lineman, and AP Player of the Year (the first defensive player ever to accomplish this). ESPN's expert draft analyst, Mel Kiper Jr. highlighted Suh as "maybe the most dominating defensive tackle I've seen in 32 years".

While Suh's preseason numbers were not that spectacular with only 3 tackles, his presence caused havok to ensue amongst the opposing line. Plus did you see the hit he put on Jake Delhomme in that preseason game? Every QB in the league should be on high alert. (He was fined $7500 for the hit though.)

Tomorrow we'll look at the writers' picks for NFL MVP this season.