The NFL Draft has come and gone, there were some great picks and there were some not so great picks. There are some teams that drafted guys that fit perfectly on their team. Let’s take a look at some of those guys, who turned into our very early predictions for Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year and fantasy Rookie of the Year. Note: Saquon Barkley was not allowed to be chosen for Offensive ROTY because that’s just too easy.
Fantasy Rookie of the Year
This one is a no brainer. The Giants had an awesome draft, and put a great run blocker in front of Barkley by drafting Will Hernandez in the second round. Barkley is going to have a great passing attack around him, with Odell Beckham Jr., Sterling Shepard and Evan Engram. Barkley will have a ton of running lanes as defenses won’t be able to key in on Barkley, especially with a healthy Odell Beckham. The Giants will be a force to be reckoned with if Barkley can truly take pressure off of Eli Manning like most people are projecting.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
This started with John Elway’s phone call to Freeman telling him that he’s going to be the bell cow back. Freeman was a powerful, true number one back at Oregon. He has a great chance to succeed against some weak defenses in the AFC West. If he can succeed in the passing game, he has a great chance to earn this title. There are a lot of young players on the Broncos offense now, with Courtland Sutton being a second-round pick at wide receiver, but Freeman has the best chance to shine if the offensive line holds up.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Yes, another Bronco. Chubb was put in the best opportunity of any rookie on the defensive side of the ball. He’s a refined pass rusher who now gets to line up across from VON MILLER. That’s not something you see every day. Offensive lines are going to be sliding protections towards Miller’s side of the line all game long so double-digit sack numbers out of Chubb wouldn’t be too surprising. Roquan Smith is another name to watch. In the middle of the Chicago Bears defense, he can be a tackling machine. If someone can eat up blocks for him in the run game, we could possibly see him as a triple-digit tackler.
