JUNKIES: Can Jayden Daniels win Rookie of the Year?
Drake Maye finally made his debut last night, but Jayden Daniels has been the best of the now four rookie QBs with snaps this year. Still 15 games to go for everyone, but Marvin Harrison Jr., Braelon Allen, and a few others have also had big performances in Weeks 1 and/or 2.
So, the Junks may be hella early on this, but what are the chances Jayden can win Rookie of the Year?
“Jayden’s not exactly setting the world on fire with his passing, but overall hasn't thrown a pick, so he's taken care of the ball, and has found that zone twice with his legs,” JP said. “He’s getting a lot of praise from the analysts who are looking at film and has emerged as the rookie of the year favorite…are you buying in?”
It was the Scotty’s Vodka Junkies poll of the day, and in the initial hours, it was about 60/40 yes in the fan vote that Jayden could win ROTY…but what say the guys?
“I gave him the highest grade this week, you guys all gave him B's and that's fair because he didn't throw a touchdown pass and they had red zone issues, but I liked how in the second half he did start throwing the ball more downfield,” JP said. “I think you’re going to see more of that.”
“If you're Kliff Kingsbury and the staff, do you want to overload your rookie quarterback with a bunch of deep passes that he might not be ready for? Why wouldn't you ease him into it?” Cakes asked. “Why wouldn't you just give him a little bit at a time and build on his successes and open up the playbook a little bit more each week? They know they're not contending for a Super Bowl this year, they're trying to develop a young quarterback, so I don’t have any problem whatsoever with the measured approach, short passing, get the ball out of your hands quickly, minimize turnovers. Completely fine with that because he will keep building on that.”
“Eventually you want to see him start taking shots down field and a more explosive offense, not seven field goals,” Bish chimed in. “You might see more of that Monday night, because Cincinnati has some banged-up DBs.”
But…
“After the week he had last week, Marvin Harrison isn’t out of contention, and he’s got a QB that will target him,” Bish said, “and Malik Nabers had a huge game last week – his QB is limited, but he’s gonna get every opportunity.
It’s early, but I think it’s between those three.”
Valdez tried to stump for Chargers tackle Joe Alt, but ‘linemen just don’t get any love,’ and JP did mention Raiders TE Brock Bowers, who is almost like a receiver so might buck the trend that only one TE has ever won ROTY…but again, it’s still VERY early.
Take a listen to the entire conversation above!
