Long shots for six NFL awards, including best coach and rookies

Long shots for six NFL awards, including best coach and rookies

Bill Barnwell
ESPN Staff Writer

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Tier 1 long shot: Cam Akers, RB, Rams
Los Angeles cut Todd Gurley before April's draft to create cap space, and after drafting Akers in Round 2, the once-trendy Sean McVay has looked toward the league's newest trendsetters for his running back philosophy. McVay pointed to Kyle Shanahan's hot hand philosophy with the 49ers from 2019 as a model for how he might split time between Akers, second-year back Darrell Henderson and veterans Malcolm Brown and John Kelly.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Tier 3 long shot: Terrell Lewis, DE, Rams
Another member of the Rams' rookie class, Lewis played just 14 games across three seasons at Alabama while battling a torn ligament in his elbow and a torn ACL. In those 14 games, though, he racked up seven sacks and 13.5 tackles for loss. Football Outsiders' SackSEER projection model sees Lewis as a high-upside candidate, projecting him with the sixth-highest sack total through his first five seasons of any pass-rusher from this class.

Most Valuable Player

Tier 2 long shot: Jared Goff, QB, Rams
Last season was a course correction for Goff, who struggled mightily under pressure and posted his worst marks in most major passing categories under Sean McVay. I would expect Goff's interception rate to improve after spiking to 2.6% a year ago. He also was unlucky with touchdowns; as Rich Hribar pointed out on Twitter, Goff had a league-high seven completions land on the opposition's 1-yard line and then didn't throw a touchdown on any of those subsequent drives.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/24/2020 07:32PM by RamBill.