ROY Defense?
 

The Rookie of the Year - Defense may not be the slam dunk we thought a few weeks ago.

The contenders : Brian Cushing, Brian Orakpo, and Jairus Byrd

Brian Orakpo OLB 2009 Washington Redskins G-13 GS-13 Comb tackles-45 total- 33 ast.tackles-12, Sacks-11.0, FF-1

Jairus Byrd FS 2009 Buffalo Bills G-13 GS-10, Comb tackles-45 total- 33 ast.tackles-12, Pdef-11, INT-9

Brian Cushing SAM 2009 Houston Texasn G-13 GS-13 , Comb tackles-112 total- 70 ast.tackles-42, Sacks-2.5, SFTY-1, PDef-9, INT-3, FF-2

In regards to Orakpo he is 3.5 sacks from Kearse's rookie record. If he breaks that record, he will garner some votes.

Cushing is going to need to continue his solid play, plus add some kind of highlight type play so the East Coast voters remember him.

BTW read McClain's article on Orakpo

Jairus Byrd is probably the lead candidate with his 9 INTs. But I think Cushing has a shot at the upset because Byrd is doing all that for a team thats not even in any playoff scenarios.

Orakpo is liable to get the award because his 4-sack performance over the past weekend put him into double-digits at 11. Everyone knows that for defensive players, the sack-tot is the glamor stat and is comparable to home-runs in MLB. And of course Orakpo does play in the NFC East so he's probably got the full attention of the North-Eastern media establishment.

Sacks and picks are the glamor stats on defense (you'd think forced fumbles would be but they probably need a catchy name like the "burp" to get the respect they deserve).

The media being what they are, I'd believe Orakpo and Byrd are definitely ahead.

BTW, isn't this award broken down by conference?

NFL Offense and Defense.

http://www.profootballweekly.com/200...g-play-ability

Profootball Weekly has them ranked 1. Cushing 2. Harvin 3. Orakpo

NFL ALL-STAR TOP FIVE ROOKIE VOTE-GETTERS
Pos. Name, Team Votes
WR Percy Harvin, Vikings 408,278
KR 346,289
T Michael Oher, Ravens 206,552
OLB Clay Matthews, Packers 195,110
OLB Brian Cushing, Texans 164,747
OLB Brian Orakpo, Redskins 133,880
http://digitalsportsdaily.com/nfl/16094
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These numbers are the top 5 rookies in voting for the PRO-BOWL by fans, and is not for the ROY award. Obviously it includes both defensive and offensive players.
So FWIW Cushing finishes as the top defensive vote-recepient in the AFC, #2 overall in the AFC, and #4 overall in the NFL. Not bad.

Kind of looking like Mathews may nip him at the wire. Sacks stick out to fans.