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Rookies of the Week – Week 3

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50-point demolitions, supposed tanking teams pulling off shock wins, and a media frenzy in Kansas. Has the NFL ever been more eclectic than it is at the moment?

Anyway, let’s shake it off and take a look at the standout rookies from Week 3.

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De’Von Achane, Running Back – Miami Dolphins

Achane was outstanding in the Miami Dolphins’ 70-20 victory over the Denver Broncos, rightfully earning himself the AFC Offensive Player of the Week title.

Finishing with four touchdowns and 233 all-purpose yards, Achane became only the second player in NFL history to have two rushing touchdowns, two receiving touchdowns, and at least 200 rushing yards in a game.


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Brian Branch, Cornerback – Detroit Lions

Branch, who was unlucky not to get in my Week 1 article, was outstanding in the 20-6 win against the Falcons. Not only did he hold his own against Kyle Pitts and Drake London in coverage, but he also helped his team stifle fellow rookie sensation Bijan Robinson, limiting him to 60 total yards.

Finishing the game with two quarterback hurries, 11 solo tackles, three for a loss, and two pass breakups, Branch only seems to be getting better.


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Jalen Carter, Defensive Line – Philadelphia Eagles

Carter continued his dominant streak for the third consecutive week, wreaking havoc on Tampa Bay’s offensive line. With half a sack, a QB hit, four pressures, and a first-career forced fumble, he’s proving to be a game wrecker. His 20.5% pressure rate so far this season is not just good; it’s All-Pro level good.


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Christian Gonzalez, Cornerback – New England Patriots

Could Gonzalez be having a Sauce Gardener-type year? It may be early in the season, but if his start is anything to go by, then he is well on pace. In Sunday’s 15-10 win over the Jets, Gonzalez was lined up against Garrett Wilson on 23 of his 41 snaps and held him to only three catches for 18 yards.


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Sam LaPorta, Tight End – Detroit Lions

LaPorta continues his hot streak on this list thanks to an eight-reception, 84-yard showing where he also scored his first touchdown as a pro. He now leads all tight ends in receiving yards with 186 and is second in receptions to T.J. Hockenson.

It’s also a third week in a row for the rookie tight end! To put that into perspective, only two players got on the list three times last year: Garrett Wilson and Dameon Pierce, albeit on a smaller ranking list last year.


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C.J. Stroud, Quarterback – Houston Texans

If Week 2 saw Stroud sneak into my article over Anthony Richardson, then Week 3 was where he cemented his place. The young quarterback had 20 completions on 30 attempts for 280 yards and two touchdowns. His PFF grade of 91.1 when throwing from a clean pocket led all quarterbacks in the league.


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Tuli Tuipulotu, Edge Rusher – Los Angeles Chargers

The Chargers haven’t exactly wowed on defence, but that hasn’t deterred Tuipulotu from making his case as an early Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate, and his performance against the Vikings will only help his case. With nine pressures and three sacks in the game, he now totals 12 pressures and three sacks in just two starts this season.

Honourable Mentions: JuJu Brents (Colts), Tank Dell (Texans), Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions), Marvin Mims Jr. (Broncos), Michael Wilson (Cardinals)

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Rookies of the Week – Week 2

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Another week in the books, and boy am I glad I extended this from three rookies to seven! These guys are setting records every week.

Let’s look at my standout seven from Week 2.

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Sam LaPorta, Tight End – Detroit Lions

It’s a position with one of the hardest jumps from college to professional; however, no one told LaPorta as he set an NFL record last weekend. With his five receptions for 63 yards, Sam is now the first tight end in NFL history to have five or more receptions in the first two games of their career.


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Marvin Mims Jr., Wide Receiver – Denver Broncos

Two catches were all it took for Mims Jr. to appear on this list. In the first half of the Broncos game against the Commanders, Mims had two targets, two receptions, 113 yards, and a touchdown. Unfortunately, though, he was unable to add to that as he wasn’t targeted again for the rest of the game.


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Puka Nacua, Wide Receiver – Los Angeles Rams

In Week 2, Nacua continued to make waves as he hauled in 15 catches for 147 yards. He has now set the record for most receptions for a single game by a rookie, as well as the record for most receptions by a rookie through their first two weeks with 25.


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Ivan Pace Jr., Linebacker – Minnesota Vikings

Could the Vikings have found one of the steals of the draft? After an impressive start to his career, Pace was given the starting job this week, and he repaid his coaches with seven tackles and one sack. Amazingly, he also has the highest pass rush grade among all linebackers.


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Bijan Robinson, Running Back – Atlanta Falcons

A second week in a row for Bijan on this list, and if he continues to play the way he’s started, he might not leave. Robinson had 124 yards of rushing against the Packers, with the highlight being a 19-yard run early in the second quarter featuring a surplus of missed tackles.


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John Michael Schmitz Jr., Center – New York Giants

After a tough start to the season, Schmitz bounced back immediately with a dominant performance, helping the Giants in their comeback win against the Arizona Cardinals. Schmitz played all 68 snaps in the game, allowing only one sack and posting positive grades in both run blocking and pass blocking.


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C.J. Stroud, Quarterback – Houston Texans

The Texans might be 0-2 to start the season, but that’s no fault of the young rookie. It was an outstanding performance against the Colts, as Stroud threw for 384 yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions. He is currently the fourth-highest quarterback in passing yards with 626, despite being the most sacked quarterback across the first two weeks.

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Rookies of the Week – Week 1

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The return of the NFL season really had everything. Shock results, devastating injuries, struggling superstars, and outstanding rookies.

Let’s look at my standout seven from Week 1.

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Will Anderson Jr, Edge – Houston Texans

Emotions may have gotten the better of Anderson pre-game, but he was zoned in as soon as he stepped on the field to start his NFL career. The versatile rusher, who lined up predominantly on the left side, recorded four tackles, three hurries, two quarterback hits, and a sack against the normally elusive Lamar Jackson.


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Jalen Carter, Defensive Line – Philadelphia Eagles

Now that’s why he was touted as potentially going first overall! A 92.1 overall PFF grade puts Carter as the 2nd overall defensive tackle, and it’s not hard to see why. In a monstrous performance, Carter had eight pressures, one sack, and one assisted tackle. It’s no wonder that Mac Jones will be seeing him in his nightmares.


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Zay Flowers, Wide Receiver – Baltimore Ravens

Does Lamar Jackson have a new favourite weapon? Flowers continued his strong preseason with an outstanding showing against the Texans, and much like the later mentioned Bijan Robinson, he was making defenders miss all over the place. Nine catches on ten targets for 78 yards led the Ravens, while he also had two rushes for nine yards.


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Xavier Gipson, Wide Receiver – New York Jets

It’s the stuff that dreams are made of! No one saw the Jets game winner being an undrafted rookie free agent, but here we are. He forced his way into contention due to his electric preseason on special teams, which caught the eye of head coach Robert Salah. Now, thanks to his 65-yard walk-off punt return touchdown, he can now say he is the AFC Special Teams Player of the Week.


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Puka Nacua, Wide Receiver – Los Angeles Rams

If you were asked to predict the only rookie receiver to go over 100 yards this weekend, I can guarantee no one would have mentioned Puka Nacua. With Cooper Kupp now on IR, the Rams needed someone to step up, and their fifth-rounder did just that. 14 targets, 10 receptions, and 119 yards. Job done.


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Anthony Richardson, Quarterback – Indianapolis Colts

Richardson wasn’t perfect by any means, as he played conservatively and had an ugly interception, but he is now the proud owner of two NFL records. Against the Jaguars, Richardson not only became the youngest player ever with a passing and rushing touchdown in the same game, but he also became the first rookie in history to have at least 200 passing yards, 40 rushing yards, a passing touchdown, and a rushing touchdown.


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Bijan Robinson, Running Back – Atlanta Falcons

A shared snap count with Allgeier didn’t count against Bijan on Sunday, as he finished with 10 rushes for 56 yards while adding six receptions on six targets for 27 yards and a touchdown in the passing game. Add in five forced missed tackles, including that disgraceful stop-start on an attempted tackle from Frankie Luvu, and you’ve got yourself a debut.

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Week 13: Rookie Standouts

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Games going down to the wire, overtime ties, and the return of a controversial quarterback ensured that Week 13 had its surprises, but most games went the way of the betting favourites. Here are the rookies that stood out this week:

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Daron Bland, Cornerback – Dallas Cowboys

Despite the overwhelming 54-19 score line, the Colts had kept the game within a score against the Cowboys, but when Dallas scored early in the fourth quarter to make it 28-19, the Colts imploded in dramatic fashion. Indianapolis turned the ball over four times in the space of 13 minutes, and rookie Daron Bland had a hand (literally) in two of them.

Bland, who has filled in for injured corner Anthony Brown, has been steadily improving in recent weeks, with the exception of a poor performance against the Packers in Week 10, but his performance against Indianapolis was by far his best. After spending the majority of the game in tight coverage, Bland showed almost telepathic knowledge of where the ball was going on both interceptions, finishing with two interceptions and one pass break-up while allowing only two catches for nine yards on seven targets.

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Jalen Pitre, Safety – Houston Texans

A few weeks ago, the Texans made the decision to move Pitre to free safety, and they seem to be reaping the rewards as the rookie out of Baylor looks much more comfortable. During the game against the Cleveland Browns, he not only had one of his best games against the Browns but also broke a Houston Texans defensive record.

Pitre recorded a season-high 16 tackles against the Browns, breaking ex-Texan linebacker DeMeco Ryans record from 16 years ago of 15 tackles. Interestingly, in that game against the Raiders on the 3rd of December 2006, Ryans also had an interception, something Pitre also matched, as he picked off a pass intended for Amari Cooper by the returning Deshaun Watson, who incidentally was playing in his first game in 700 days due to injury and suspension.

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Christian Watson, Wide Receiver – Green Bay Packers

Christian Watson received his first nomination in my condensed Week 10 rankings after an impressive four receptions for 107 yards and three touchdowns. Against the Chicago Bears, Watson was able to continue this recent success as he showcased his ability as both a receiver and a rusher, scoring a pair of touchdowns.

His first, a 14-yard pass from Aaron Rogers on fourth down with only 17 seconds left in the first half, was likely the catalyst the Packers needed to mount their comeback, and his second was a simple jet sweep that completely fooled the defence, allowing him to turn on the afterburners for a 41-yard rush. Watson now has 8 touchdowns in the last four games, giving him the distinction of sharing the record for most touchdowns scored over a four-game span with Hall of Famer Randy Moss.

Honourable Mentions

Reed Blankenship (Philadelphia Eagles), Greg Dulcich (Denver Broncos), Garrett Wilson (New York Jets), Jack Sanborn (Chicago Bears), Brian Robinson Jr (Washington Commanders),

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Week 9: Rookie Standouts

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The halfway point has now been reached, and some of the stragglers are starting to slide away from playoff contention as the field becomes clearer. Here are three rookies that stood out this week.

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Kerby Joseph, Safety – Detroit Lions 

In the first three weeks of the season, Joseph didn’t even get a snap on the Lions defense, and it’s likely that he’d still be playing a limited role if not for the Achilles injury sustained by Tracy Walker. In the five weeks since he was thrust into the lineup, Joseph has had his fair share of teething issues but has slowly improved. However, no one could have foreseen what happened this week.

In the Lions’ improbable 15-9 win over the freefalling Green Bay Packers, not only did Joseph finish with 10 tackles and 3 pass breakups (including a key one on 3rd down), but he also picked off reigning MVP Aaron Rogers twice. This outstanding showing won him a well-deserved NFC Defensive Player of the Week.

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Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans 

In a season that seems lost already, it’s difficult to find any kind of plus for the Texans as they rack up loss after loss. Luckily, their rookie class of Jaylen Pitre, Derek Stingley Jr., and Dameon Pierce have shown that not only are the Texans drafting well, they are getting impact players.

With the Texans’ two main wide receivers, Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins, ruled out, Pierce almost single-handedly kept the Texans competitive in their game against the Eagles, as he finished the game with a career-high 139 yards on 27 carries. Incredibly, his 139 yards were only 17 yards shy of the franchise record of 156 yards set by Steve Slaton in 2008 and Alfred Blue in 2014.

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Cade Otton, Tight End – Tampa Bay Buccaneers 

With Rob Gronkowski retiring and O.J. Howard leaving in free agency, drafting a tight end became a necessity for the Bucs, and at the start of the fourth round, they picked up the former Huskie, Otton. This season was supposed to be a learning experience, but Brate’s injury struggles forced the Bucs to use him sooner.

Luckily, what the Bucs have found is a more than ready replacement who is now starting to flash in the passing game as well as being a more than able blocker who might keep Brate out of the team regardless of his status. As the Bucs were staring at another loss, Brady hit Otton on the first pass of their final drive for a 28-yard gain before hitting him again for his first career touchdown, sealing the game for the Bucs with 9 seconds remaining.

Honourable Mentions

Sauce Gardner (New York Jets), Kenneth Walker III (Seattle Seahawks), Tyler Allgeier (Atlanta Falcons), Ikem Ekwonu (Carolina Panthers), Kader Kohou (Miami Dolphins)

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Week 5: Rookie Standouts

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As we now move into the second quarter of the season, we’re starting to see some rookies start to cement their place in the standings for Defensive and Offensive Rookie of the Year. In week 5, these were the rookies that stood out.

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Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans

My first returning player to these rankings, and he’s done it back to back! After last week’s amazing effort against the Los Angeles Chargers, Pierce took a deserved spot on this list despite being on the losing side. This time, however, he drove the Texans to their first win of the season after a low-scoring close affair against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Not only did Pierce punch in the go-ahead touchdown that gave the Texans their first win of the season, but he also had 3 receptions for 16 yards and 26 carries for 99 yards. These are not amazing numbers if you just look at the basic stats, but when you take into account that 97 of those yards were after contact, it’s just ridiculous. In fact, just watch this angry run below.

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Sauce Gardner, Cornerback – New York Jets

Sauce has been unlucky to not appear in these rankings yet, but there was no way I could ignore him as he helped the Jets defence dominate the Miami Dolphins from their very first play from scrimmage.

Teddy Bridgewater, who was playing in the place of the injured Tua Tagovailoa, lined up to take his first snap of the game and an unblocked Sauce unloaded on him, driving him to the dirt and forcing an intentional grounding penalty and subsequent safety as Bridgewater threw the ball in the endzone.

Sauce finished the game with 5 tackles, 1 pass defended, and his first career interception. He also finished with an allowed passer rating of 34.2, which is worse than if the Dolphins QB had just spiked it every play.

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Breece Hall, Running Back – New York Jets

So not only do I have my first returning player, but I also have two players from the same team for the first time this year. If Sauce helped the Jets dominate the Dolphins defensively, then Hall was the standout on offence as he displayed why he could be the next dual-threat running back weapon.

In what can be considered his breakout game, Hall had a monstrous day, picking up an incredible 100 yards on a measly 2 receptions, as well as having 18 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown, his first in the NFL. The twenty-one-year-old Hall, who was drafted in the second round by the Jets, is now leading all rookies in scrimmage yards and is on the verge of breaking into the top ten among all NFL players.

Honorable Mentions

For the first time this season, I wanted to give a couple of honorable mentions to a trio of cornerbacks who just missed out on a spot. Those are Tariq Woolen (Seattle Seahawks), Jack Jones (New England Patriots), and Derek Stingley (Houston Texans).

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Week 4: Rookie Standouts

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With the injury bug taking hold across multiple teams, there is a plethora of rookies making significant contributions to their teams. Let’s take a look at three that shone this week, including a couple that did so on their first ever starts

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Jamaree Salyer, Tackle – Los Angeles Chargers

The pressure on Salyer must have been immense as he was thrust into his first NFL game to protect Justin Herbert’s blindside due to All-Pro Rashawn Slaters’ injury. Salyer had predominantly been transitioning to guard in the offseason, but despite only having a week to reacquaint himself with his position at Georgia, he dominated on his side.

During the game, the sixth-round pick had a pass block grade of 90.4 and allowed 0 sacks, 0 pressures, and 0 hurries across 41 pass blocking snaps. The Chargers will likely have to rely on Salyer for the foreseeable future as the current timeline for Slaters’ return isn’t until late 2022 at the earliest.

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Dameon Pierce, Running Back – Houston Texans

Despite ending up on the losing side of the game against the aforementioned Salyer’s Chargers, Pierce himself also had a career day after sparking the fast fading Texans into life halfway through the second quarter.

With the Chargers up 21-0, the Texans looked down and out, but Pierce had other ideas. He took the handoff from Davis Mills and breezed past the Chargers’ defensive front for a 75-yard touchdown, and hauled them back into the game. The 113 rushing yards from the game took his total for the season to 313, enough to crack the top 10 above players like Derrick Henry and Dalvin Cook.

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Jack Jones, Cornerback – New England Patriots

Jack Jones had been eyeing up a pick all season on underneath passes, and finally his aggressive nature paid off. With the team down 3-7 just before the half, Jones jumped in front of Aaron Rogers’ pass intended for Allen Lazard and took it the 40 yards for the pick-six. Amazingly, this is only the second pick-6 Rogers has ever thrown at Lambeau Field.

Jones, who was starting due to a hamstring injury suffered by Jalen Mills, also caused a forced fumble and recovery earlier in the game as he punched the ball out of fellow rookie Romeo Dobbs’ hands.

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Week 3: Rookie Standouts

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Another week in the books, and there were plenty of candidates for this article as the NFL’s strange season continues with surprising victories, comebacks, and streaks being broken. Let’s take a look at three rookies who stood out amongst the pack: 

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Chris Olave, Wide Receiver – New Orleans Saints

Saints fans would probably struggle to find any positives in their team’s performance against the Carolina Panthers, but if you had to pick something, it would have been their rookie Wide Receiver’s performance.

Olave hauled in nine receptions off thirteen targets, a number that shows how quickly he’s established a rapport with Jamies Winton. He has now taken his total for the season to 17 receptions for 268 yards, which is enough to lead all rookie wide receivers. Though it is unlikely that he continues at this pace for the entire season, the Saints will be delighted that he has transferred his skills to the professional game so quickly.

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Jalen Pitre, Safety – Houston Texans

Fourth-rounder Jalen Pitre missed interception in the Texans’ season opener against the Indianapolis Colts may have lit a fire inside the former Baylor standout that cannot be extinguished, and without his play in the loss against the Chicago Bears this past week, the scoreline could have been a lot uglier.

Pitre had a breakout game with key plays throughout this game. His first interception came in the first quarter as he was heading towards the ground. His second stopped a key drive for the Bears in the fourth quarter, and finally he added a sack to his stat line on the Bears’ next drive. Though his effort was ultimately unrewarded, the positive signs are there for the future.

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Devin Lloyd, Linebacker – Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jacksonville Jaguars have not shied away from putting their young team at the forefront of their plans, and one player that is thriving in Florida is Linebacker Devin Lloyd. Having displayed the sideline to sideline abilities that were highly touted in the lead up to the draft, Lloyd has taken to NFL life like a duck to water.

If you add his stats against the Los Angeles Chargers of 5 solo tackles, 3 passes defended, and an interception to Lloyd’s stat sheet, it is ludicrous. 24 tackles, a league-high six passes defended, two interceptions and a targeted passer rating of 28.2. Sheesh