The Offensive Rookie of the Year Race Is Heating Up
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Now almost three weeks into the 2024-25 NFL Regular Season, it’s easy to see which players are standing out; more specifically, the rookies. Coming into the league with high expectations, and having to play up to them, is no easy feat. However, some players have been up to the challenge through the first couple of weeks.
Here a few players that are making their own case to win Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Marvin harrison jr. / WR / arizona cardinals
Harrison Jr. got off to an extremely slow start in Week 1 against the Buffalo Bills. His one catch for four yards was enough to raise some eyebrows of every NFL fan. It must also be mentioned that although he was the fourth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, he was only targeted three times by Kyler Murray in their game against Buffalo. After the game Murray shared his own thoughts about Harrison Jr. not having a big impact for the Cardinals. He said the following:
“Sometimes the ball goes to him but that’s not my job.”
After the media had a field-day with what Murray said during the following week, the quarterback-wide receiver duo put that to rest in their Week 2 matchup against the Los Angeles Rams. Harrison Jr. put up four catches for 130 yards and two touchdowns; he was also targeted eight times in this game.
While he’s only played two NFL games, Harrison Jr. is an elite talent, and is why he was the first non-quarterback taken off the board in this year’s draft. The more he plays, the better he is going to look. If he can continue to stay on the same page as Murray, he will be the frontrunner for this award, which he already is at the moment.
Malik Nabers / WR / New york giants
Right after the Arizona Cardinals took Marvin Harrison Jr. with the fourth pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, the New York Giants took Malik Nabers with the sixth pick. To say that he’s been the Giants best player through two weeks would be an understatement.
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In a season where New York has no expectations, and looks to be a lock for one of next year’s top draft picks, Nabers has shined. In the Giants Week 1 game against the Minnesota Vikings, where the entire offense got embarrassed by an aggresive Minnesota defense, Nabers still had five catches for 66 yards. Flash forward to Week 2 against the Washington Commanders and Nabers had a stat-line of 10 catches, 127 yards, and a touchdown. He was also targeted 18 times by Daniel Jones, which is the third most targets in a game by a rookie receiver in NFL history; only behind Odell Beckham Jr. and Puka Nacua.
People have had a lot to say about New York’s quarterback situation, but even with bad quarterback play, Nabers is proving himself as an elite wide receiver. There are very few receivers in the NFL that can labeled as “quarterback proof”, and Nabers is nudging himself into that conversation.
Jayden daniels / qb / washington commanders
Being the latest winner of the Heisman Trophy, Daniels was drafted to be the “savior” of Washington’s franchise. With 50 total touchdowns in his final year at Louisiana State, Daniels was expected to be one of the better rushing quarterbacks in the league; and he is playing exactly like it.
Daniels had a pretty good Week 1 with a 70.8% completion percentage to go along with 272 total yards (88 yards rushing) and two rushing touchdowns. His Week 2 performance was more or less the same as he finished the game against the New York Giants with a 79.3% completion percentage with 270 total yards. In his first two games, Daniels has had at least a 93.0 passer rating.
The biggest knock on the rookie quarterback at the moment, is the fact that he has not thrown a passing touchdown through two weeks. In defense of Daniels, he also hasn’t turned the ball over yet; a rarity for most rookie quarterbacks in their first few starts. Whether fans want to admit it or not, he has looked like the best rookie quarterback so far this season, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon.
joe alt / ot / Los Angeles chargers
The unfortunate news about Joe Alt is that offensive linemen normally don’t win this award. It’s even more rare that a rookie offensive lineman is even acknowledged for how well he plays in his first season. However, Alt has looked like one of the best offensive tackles in the league this season, while he’s also gone up against some top tier competition.
In his very first NFL game of his career, Alt had to go against All-Pro edge rusher, Maxx Crosby, in the Chargers Week 1 game against the Las Vegas Raiders. Alt ended up allowed zero pressures when lining up against Crosby.
In his second NFL game, Alt had the challenge of trying to block Jadeveon Clowney, who ended the game with a rushing grade of 30.5, which is the worst of his 11-year NFL career.
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One of the biggest reasons as to why the Chargers got off to a 2-0 start, is because of how good their offensive line has looked. It’s going to be especially hard for Alt to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, but he’s definitely not off the ballot.
There are some other names that have to be talked about as well such as Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears, who is still due for a breakout game. Xavier Worthy of the Kansas City Chiefs looks to be a dangerous weapon, who can destroy opposing teams in the air and on the ground (he already has two touchdowns in two games). The list goes on and on with the amount of rookie talent that the NFL has to offer nowadays.
It is still extremely early into this year’s NFL season but some rookies are already making a name for themselves. It won’t be long before there are a few names that stand alone at the top of this list. Until that happens, it should interesting to see which young players thrive, and which fail in the NFL.