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Old 12-10-2009, 06:03 PM   #132 (permalink)
Jetée
The Reforms
 
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Location: Rarely, if ever, here or there, but always in transition
on second thought, I should have gone "name, position, team"

I got really lucky find this link listing: Dirty Dozen: Rookie(s) of the Year -- NFL FanHouse and it was published just yesterday. Good timing on my part.

I was already 3/4 of the way through with my own little compendium, but this article helped my realize some other noteworthy mentions (and how to spell certain players' names).

NFL Rookie Class - 2009
(based on my observations
-- also to note, I try to list them in order of impact in their respective divisions, so of course a QB is more important in most instances when compared to a second-string RB, or a linebacker.
Subjective listing, feel free to add any commentary)

AFC

East
New York Jets - Mark Sanchez, QB
Miami Dolphins - Vontae Davis, CB
Buffalo Bills - Jairus Byrd, Safety/CB
New England Patriots - Sebastian Vollmer, OT

West
Denver Broncos - Knowshown Moreno, RB
Kansas City Chiefs - Ryan Succop, K
Oakland Raiders - Louis Murphy, WR
San Diego Chargers - Louis Vasquez, OG

North
Baltimore Ravens - Michael Oher, OT
Cincinnati Bengals - Rey Maualuga, LB (notable mention, Bernard Scott, RB)
Cleveland Browns - Mohamed Massaquoi, WR
Pittsburgh Steelers - Mike Wallace, WR

South
Houston Texans - Brian Cushing, LB
Indianapolis Colts - Jerraud Powers, CB (notable mentions, A. Collie, WR & J. Lacey, CB... the Colts had a great crop)
Tennessee Titans - Kenny Britt, WR
Jacksonville Jaguars - Terrance Knighton, DT

NFC

East
Washington Redskins - Brian Orakpo, LB/DE
New York Giants - Hakeem Nicks, WR
Philadelphia Eagles - Jeremy Maclin, WR (notable mention, LeSean McCoy, RB -- it's really a toss-up between the two)
Dallas Cowboys - no notable instances

West
Arizona Cardinals - Chris "Beanie" Wells, RB
San Francisco 49ers - Michael Crabtree, WR
St. Louis Rams - James Laurinaitis, MLB
Seattle Seahawks - Aaron Curry, OLB

North
Minnesota Vikings - Percy Harvin, WR/KR (notable mention, Phil Loadholt, OT)
Detriot Lions - Louis Delmas, FS (notable mention, Matthew Stafford, QB)
Green Bay Packers - Clay Mathews, LB
Chicago Bears - Johnny Knox, WR/KR

South
Tampa Bay Buccaneers - Josh Freeman, QB (notable mention, Sammie Stroughter, WR/KR)
Carolina Panthers - Sherrod Martin, CB
Atlanta Falcons - no notable instances
New Orleans Saints - no notable instances


I wanted to add summaries and year-to-date statistics to help make the case for each, but that would be way more time-consuming than I had originally intended.

Another ridiculous instance of superbly lucky timing. Just as I was about to submit this post, I found another topical article that features the best rookies of this year. This article has what I wanted to post alongside, (like that Jarius Byrd is tied for league-lead in INT, with veteran pro, Darren Sharper ... or that Brian Cushing has held the league-lead in tackles for weeks now, plus three interceptions and 1 1/2 sacks.)
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Last edited by Jetée; 12-22-2009 at 08:37 PM..
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