Transcript of Bowers or Daniels for Offensive Rookie of the Year?

We gotta talk offensive rookie of the year ladder. I think this 1 is fascinating. This might be the best offensive rookie class of my lifetime. I'd I like to go through Really? Interesting.

Man. Like, the immediately, I'm thinking, like, who are the other good rookies on offense in 2012 when it was, you know, luck, RG 3, Russ, and Tannehill. You know, Tannehill was down the list, but pretty solid for a rookie quarterback. Like and that's just the quarterbacks alone. I'm trying to think who else was part of that class.

Like, it's AJ Green. Let's talk let's talk 2,000 and, 24. I'm gonna go through it. You you you start out at 5, and then I'll go. Well, let's go back from 5.

Okay. So it it it's I don't know if it's the best, like you said, but it's definitely intriguing. And, really, it's because there's, like, 2 tiers to this. And if we start at the bottom, the 2nd tier, I could throw, like, 3 different guys in here. In fact, I have, I think, a total of 6 players that I've written up here.

Okay.

And the receiver group, specifically, comparable numbers, they're, like, really similar. You have, like, the guys, like, I'm gonna say, Ladd McConkie and Malik Neighbors. Numbers wise, very similar. But the guy that I have in front of both of them is Brian Thomas, and I'm gonna put him there 5th because he's playing in an offense that has had, like, no stability. Trevor Lawrence has gotten hurt a couple of times, and yet he's been able to make big plays, but he almost pops up out of nowhere.

You forget he's there sometimes because they just have an issue with getting the ball down the field. But when he makes plays, man, it's special. 54 catches, 851 yards, 6 touchdowns. I would put him in 5th just because he's done a little bit better statistically, but, like, Neighbors and McCaughey both look different from him too. Neighbors is a guy who've got fed a ton of targets early with Daniel Jones.

They've gone through the quarterback carousel. He's disappeared at times. He only has 3 touchdown catches. 2 of them were in the same game. That was against the Browns.

So it's been very hit or miss, but at times, he's single handedly kept that offensive float. But I'm gonna go Thomas over him just because I like neighbors more as a player, but I like Thomas's production a little bit more at 5.

Okay. So Thomas is in my top 5 as well. I came up with 8 names that were really strong candidates to me. And that's it was there is very little separation or 9 names, I should say. There is very little separation for me, between, like, 49 on this list.

Yeah. Am I gonna is it am I being a homer to put Drake May already number 5? I mean, he's I

feel it. I hear it in your voice right now, actually.

Like, do I am I wrong?

It's it's there a little bit. No. You're you're not wrong.

Maybe I'll maybe I'll wait 4 more weeks, but here's here's what I think. He's elevating an a team around him. I think if you just were saying who's playing quarterback at a better level like him or Bo Nix or Caleb. I think there's a pretty strong argument to say Drake May's playing playing better

than those guys. Alright. So you get interesting then.

I'm gonna not put May in. I changed my mind.

Oh, we backed him off. We've backed him away.

I'm gonna get really hipster here, and I'm actually doing it off of people that I trust. People Ollie Connolly and John Ledyard have been banging this drum, Nate Theiss. I've talked to people in inside the league a little bit too. They think Zach Frazier of the Steelers is 1 of the, like, 8 best centers in the NFL right now. And so I think just because we have this platform too and we haven't mentioned Zach Frazier the whole freaking season, that to come in and I know he missed a couple of games, but when he's been out there, be maybe the best player on an in really improving offensive line at a traditionally a very difficult position.

Let's just give him a little bit of love. He is number 5 on my list. I will mention, the guys that that did not make my my top that I I think deserve a lot of mention is Neighbors. I can't believe Neighbors is not on my list. And then Joe Alt, I think deserves a a little bit of love.

Play has played really solid at tackle, and then Drake May. And now, now I'm really in a in a tough bind. But, yes, I'm putting Zack Frazier there at number 5. I I

agree with the Frazier sentiment. Obviously, an offensive lineman is not gonna get offensive rookie of the year consideration, but here

are all set. Though.

We make the rules, and we're gonna make it for yeah.

I agree. I think everything though. Like, why can't they? We we can do it. We The the voters will be listening to this.

You never like, if if if people who have the articles and you write on nfl.com can just start putting it on, then maybe some people put them 4 or 5.

Oh, okay. Alright. Grassroots campaign starts right here at NFL daily. Okay. Cool.

It's I think it actually points to a really good comparison or at least an interesting comparison how the Steelers have drafted the offensive line. Because Broader Jones at tackle was a guy who I really liked the combine who has not fared well, has not lived up to expectation for the Steelers so far. Then they come back and they double down. They say, we're gonna invest in the offensive line again, but we're gonna start inside out. We're gonna sign Isaac Sammallo.

We're gonna draft Zach Frazier. We're gonna draft Mason McCormick. And suddenly, you have an offensive line that is working well enough for both Najee Harris and Jalen Warren in smaller spurts to find success and for Russell Wilson to have time to throw, and that's a big reason why they are where they are. And I think Frazier is a key part of that. Center is really hard to come in and immediately find success.

Usually, if you do, you're an elite talent, and I very much agree with this. I just wish that offensive line got more love.

There we go. So we we're gonna give it to it. By the way, I I I said 2,012, and that was what I was thinking because I I thought about the quarterbacks, but the rest of that class actually was a bit of a disaster with Trent Richardson and whatnot. 2,011 is the gold standard for draft classes in the modern era. And as rookies, they were outrageous on both sides of the ball.

But let's give you some options of of the players. Cam Newton, 1 of the best rookie quarterbacks of all time. Jason Kelsey immediately stepped in and was at a extremely high level. Julio Jones is in that class. Tyron Smith came in great in that class.

Andy Dalton was a sneaky, good rookie. He had his buddy, AJ Green, on that same team. That that is a nice, little rookie class. Randall Cobbs in the mix. I might take that class over.

Yeah. I thought that was gonna be the green class. Yeah. That's that's

Defensively, they're even better, but even offensively, it's good. Alright. Go to number 4.

Number 4. I this is where it gets crazy. And, this isn't biased, but I just love watching him play, and I love the run he's had recently. And he also started as a nonprimary player. Bucky Irving for the Buccaneers.

Whoo. Running about 137 rushes, 735 rushing yards, 6 touchdowns, has almost definitively taken control of the lead back role. Now he got hurt in Sunday's game, and and Rashad White had to take over. But, like, he's a guy who has proven to be capable of sifting his way through traffic, ripping off big runs. He's been consistent.

He's helped to open up the entire Buccaneers offense starting from the backfield. They went into this draft knowing they needed to be better as a running team, and they wouldn't got Bucky Irving for that purpose. And I think he's delivered so far. He's another guy that's not gonna land on the radars of a lot of people, but, like, to avoid the whole wide receiver log jam that I encountered there and to avoid going quarterback too early, I thought he's a nice little pick there. He's 1 of the players I've really enjoyed watching in that.

Backfill, which is kind of a 3 headed backfield if you throw Sean Tucker into the mix.

That's fun. I'm glad you you put a player that I I wasn't going to. Our lists are gonna be very different. I I struggled with what to do with Bo Nix. Like, in my heart, I'm trying to think of how to give this award.

In my heart, I believe Brian Thomas junior, for instance, is better at his position now than Bo Nix's. And it's and it's not most valuable player. So, yeah, quarterbacks get a little extra credit because their position's more important. But are you excellent at what you do now? It it's not it's not the most valuable rookie.

So I wrote down Knicks 4th because I'm afraid of the Broncos fans if I don't list them at all. But as I'm talking it through, I don't really believe it. And I got I gotta do what I believe, Shook. I I'm putting Brian Thomas in here.

Okay. Thought you were gonna go Drake May for a second.

No. May, give give him 4 more games. People act like he missed the whole season. He didn't miss that much. I think May is playing playing at a great level, but I'm gonna go Brian or I'm gonna go Brian Thomas junior here at the at the 4th spot.

This makes for great podcasting, me me changing my mind midstream. I just I just think as good as Knicks has been and he's getting better and better, the 1st month counts when he was playing at a below average level. And he's for a a starting quarterback. And he's very, very good for a rookie starting quarterback. But we don't have to give the award to a quarterback just so.

And we have other options at quarterback anyways in the in this class if you really wanna go there. And so I think Brian Thomas junior is already a plus plus starting wide receiver. He's gonna go number 4 for me. What what what what's next for you?

I like that logic, and it kinda blows up the logic that I already laid out there because I'm putting Knicks 3rd, and it's because of the way he's played recently. And I think a lot of these season awards, what you did later in the season ends up mattering more than what you did early. I mean, I look at Lamar last year. He closed his MVP season with the last 5 weeks of the season and because Dak Prescott blew a tire in that game against Buffalo. Obviously, different awards, but it just kinda speaks to the minds of voters.

Recency matters. And But

you're the voter here. You can decide whatever you want. I don't want

you falling back off that. What I like is that he grew. He's grown within you know, under Sean Payton's, you know, oversight this season, and they're they're using him in most games where he's best, which is out in the perimeter. I think he's developing as a decision maker. He's an athletic player who can extend plays and and pick up solid gains on the ground with his legs.

I feel like he's just trending upward, and by the end of the season like, he threw 2 picks in that Browns game. They they still win that game. He didn't look great, but he still looks good enough. He was still spinning it at times. I think he's just gonna continue on this path to where by the end of the season, I don't think he's gonna enter the top 2 conversation here, but people are gonna look at him and say, bright future.

He can be the guy for them. And that's really all I'm looking for at quarterback specifically because it's so much harder to be a really successful quarterback as a rookie than it is at other positions. And and he's been on a good path for me. So I'm going there. 28 100 passing yards, 70 day touchdown interception ratio, added 304 yards in the ground.

He's got 4 rushing touchdowns. He's doing a little bit of everything. I like him at 3.

See, t t d interception ratio, I for a while on around the NFL, I would just rail against passer rating and just say it's useless, like, don't we don't need to use passer rating. And then I just stopped even ever mentioning it. Like, that's the best way to just just ignore it.

Yeah. Yeah.

And, now I'm getting there with t d to interception ratio. It could just I mean, I know that's basically what informs the QB rate anyway. It like, Caleb Williams right now has a great TD interception ratio, 16 to 5. And Bo Nick you know, anyone from Denver would get mad that Bo Nick's on this list. Like, Caleb Williams is not on this list either.

His his numbers are actually quite good. It but it's it's partly because of all the throws he's not making, that he's holding the ball and and taking those sacks, and he's avoiding mistakes. And that's really important, but that does not an offensive rookie of the year make, so I don't have Knicks or Caleb Williams on my list. Even though I had Knicks written down, and I just I just wasn't feeling it. I have Ladd McConkie 3.

I love it.

Talk about getting better throughout the course of the season, I did not think he could get as open on the outside as often as he has. He's had to carry a big load in that offense, and he's made me rethink of whether he can be a true 1, whatever that means. We heard this conversation about Nico Collins for a minute too. I don't I don't think he's quite Nico Collins, but for him to be this good as a rookie, as long as he can stay healthy, you can keep getting better at the NFL. That's what Nico Collins started to do.

And when they gave Nico Collins that contract last year, I was like, well, he's definitely a top 20, 25 receiver in the NFL. And that was after his 2nd year. And I kinda think McConkie's there right now. And so why can't he keep getting better and evolve really into a a number 1? He he's better than I expected.

I think he's just having a fantastic rookie season and is a plus plus starter for a team that's winning, so McConkie gets my number 3.

I love Ladd McConkie. He is the, in the last couple of years, I've had a couple of really favorite receivers that weren't in that, like, elite group that everybody was talking about at the combine. 2 years ago, it's Tankdell. This year, it's Ladd McConkie. He was at Georgia forever.

So if you follow college football, you knew who he was. But I also actually, I thought he was gonna make an impact pretty quickly as long as he was in the right system. He's not in the right system, but he has the right quarterback. And we saw how important he was to that offense when they went out and played against the Chiefs, and they didn't have him. And they had to turn to Stonemart to move the ball down the field.

He's fantastic. My comparison, though, talking about number 1 receivers, I made I infamously made a comment to a former colleague who did not let me live it down over the next 4 years, Terry McLaurin, when he was a rookie, reminded me a lot of Ladd McConkie as a rookie. Just the way that they're great, the ways that they made. And I said, great number 2. Don't know if he could be a number 1.

Well, he's clearly a number 1. He's clearly a number 1. Can Ladd be a number 1? If if Terry McLaren is is the law, then yes. He could be a number 1.

I think that's an I think that's an awesome comp. I think they win in similar sorts of ways. I do think they also could be in the same sort of place in the NFL ecosystem. Yeah. You're not gonna be in that top 5 list probably, but you really raise the the floor of what your passing game is gonna be, and you're gonna be a consistent top 20 receiver in throughout your career.

So we'll see. Alright. What's you're up to number 2. Let's go.

Number 2, Jaden Daniels. Guy who I thought was gonna run away with the award earlier in the season. They ran into some struggles offensively. Everybody blamed Kliff Kingsbury or Jaden Daniels' mysterious rip in rib injury or whatever it was. He's gotten back on track in recent weeks.

The numbers don't quite suggest it anymore because of those lulls, 28 100 passing yards, you know, 15 to 6 touchdown inter interception ratio. It sounds a lot like Bo Nix, but, visually, we know the difference that he makes in this offense. He is a guy who is very much capable of handling all the stresses and pressures of playing quarterback in the NFL. He's got another 590 yards on the ground and 6 rushing touchdowns. He opens up that offense.

He's gonna be a star for years to come. And if they hadn't hit that low, I think he'd be the leader in the clubhouse right now. But because they did, it's gonna be an interesting out there, but he's my clear number 2.

Let's just have our conversation about Jaden versus Brock Bowers because Yep. That's our that's our top 2. I have Jaden Daniels 1. I have Bowers 2. It was close.

You clearly have Bowers 1. I respect it. The the whole I wanna count the whole season, and Jaden Daniels was a top 5 quarterback for about a 3rd of the season. Man, that that does hold a lot of weight for me.

Yeah.

I I know he took a step back, and he could lose this award and in my rankings over the last month. But where we stand now, his EPA for play numbers are still fantastic. Like, they're not that close with Knicks. His QBR is top 5. Like, that's not close with Knicks.

No. And yeah. Is is he arguably the best player at his position in the league like Bowers? No. He's not there.

But he's he's high enough where, man, he might be a pro bowler or something like that. And as a rookie quarterback, that's enough where I guess I just said, I have a conservative streak in me. I'm I'm giving it to Jaden over Brock, but I love that you have Brock number 1, so convince me.

Well, yeah. Because Jaden, his position kinda reminded me of CJ Stratix, if CJ's finished stronger than Jaden has so far. Still have a month left, so we'll see. Brock Bowers. Greg, you have been the guy Yeah.

On the Brock Bowers train.

Am. I have him number 2.

6 weeks. I was so happy he got that prime time Black Friday game against the Chiefs that everybody in America who had nothing better to do than to watch a Black Friday football game got an introduction to the kid from Georgia who everybody in college has been raving about for years do the same thing in NFL. He's got 87 catches, 933 receiving yards. He's 1st in the NFL in receptions, by the way. 933 receiving yards.

4th in the NFL. He's got 4 touchdowns. He's 3rd in Yac. He's 10th in Yac over expected. He's 11th in receiving yards over expected.

He's a tight end in an offense that's playing with Aidan O'Connell, Gardner Minshew, Desmond Ritter. They have no running game. He's doing incredible things. This guy is a fantastic player, and he's gonna be around for a long time. And you're gonna know his name if you don't know it by now.

And I think despite all the challenges that he faces, he makes enough spectacular plays in a terrible offense that he just may win the offensive rookie of the year award.

I love it. And I I'm with you. It really raises good questions about what is this award for. If it's just for pure excellence at what you're asked to do, Bowers has a strong case, because I think it's between him and Kittle as the 2 all as the all pro tight end. I I might lean Kittle still because of the blocking and because Kittle's having a great season 2, catching the ball.

But those are the 2. So you're telling me he is a top 2 at his position as a rookie. That just doesn't it just doesn't happen.

That should win the award. I'm sorry.

That's that's future hall of famer type of stuff without getting, you know, 2 over our skis. That's, like, that's the type of stuff hall of famers do. You know what I mean? And and it doesn't happen too much, at the tight end position. Yeah.

You you might have convinced me. I got 4 weeks left to think about it and these are just written in a light light pencil that we can erase. I love it. May you kinda did convince me. But, Jaden

Write it in pen.

Jaden's having a fantastic offensive rookie season as well. This is a great class. I stand by my statement. It's 1 of the best that that we've seen, and it makes sense because the first round and the early second round even of this draft were dominated by offensive players, especially skill position players. But, yeah, some of the linemen have turned into studs right away as well.

So, yeah, get give them some love as well.