Rookie Battle Royale: Week 15

Well, its been a long week for me, especially with the Vikings losing in epic fashion and both of my fantasy teams losing. I put up 134 points in one league and still lost, so you know the gods are not smiling upon you when that happens. Rather than going through and focusing on every rookie that plays, Im going to address the ROY candidates and some key others in the interest of time.

Percy Harvin

The whole Vikings offense struggled last night, and even though they secured a division title, they showed that they are also able to fall flat on their face. That is two Sunday night games with two losses, and after that horrid performance by the offensive line against Peppers, nothing is guaranteed anymore. Hell, there is still a chance they may not even win the number 2 seed. Harvin only caught 1 pass after missing the whole weeks worth of practice, so there was nothing of a surprise there. Hopefully the migranes are put away for now, and he wont have to miss any more time.

Knowshon Moreno

Like the Vikings, the Broncos put up a stinky loss to the Raiders, even losing to Jamarcus Russell in the final seconds. Moreno had 81 total yards, but didn’t really do anything spectacular. His team really didn’t do anything spectacular either, and therefore the ROY rankings really didn’t move all that much.

Beanie Wells

Wells had his best game of the year against the Lions, but I guess that should be expected. He ran for 110 yards, and a score, and did a pretty good job of setting up a win with a late 30 yard scamper. Wells has moved himself into to the ROY mix with his past two games, it will be interesting to see what will come of the rest of his season.

Austin Collie

Another TD for this success story puts his total at 7 for the year. That puts him ahead of Harvin and Nicks for top receiving TD total even though Harvin still has the lead with 8 total TDs. I think he has had a ridiculous year based on expectations, though it doesn’t hurt to have the best in the game throwing you the ball.

Mike Wallace

With pretty much everyone on the list laying an egg, Wallace ended up with a great game. He caught two TDs on two passes, including the game winner against Green Bay in the closing seconds. Although he only caught two passes, he came away with 79 yards, and catapulted himself ahead of the two QBs who had shitty days.

Matt Stafford

Did not play - he has pretty much removed himself from the discussion.

Mark Sanchez

Another bad game, another hard loss when the Jets should have won. Sanchez had 226 yards, a TD and 3 picks again, all of which add to his epic total of 20. Sanchez is playing like a rookie QB usually plays, so I guess I shouldn’t be too surprised, but either way, that strong start was just that, a strong start. He is pretty much done with ROY talk as well.

Josh Freeman

Again freeman impresses by leading the 2-12 Bucs to win number 2 against the Seahawks. His two TDs were screen passes, but they still count regardless, so he deserves mention this week. He has surprisingly made the most of his games he has played, beating two teams that have much better records than Tampa Bay.

Rookie of the Year Rankings

1. Percy Harvin - a bad game, but body of work is still best. (LW - 1)
2. Knowshon Moreno - a mediocre game, but should rebound next week. (LW - 2)
3. Beanie Wells - great game, sets up a possible sprint to the finish with top three (LW - NR)
4. Austin Collie - had another TD, leads rookies with 7 receiving TDs. (LW - NR)
5. Hakeem Nicks - if he plays well tonight, could be higher come next week. (LW - 5)
5. Mike Wallace - a game winner gets you on this list (LW - NR)