The trend of Vikings rookie quarterback Teddy Bridgewater receiving a great amount of praise – just not as much as Giants rookie wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. _ continued Tuesday as another highly respected football organization announced its year-end rookie awards.
Pro Football Writers of America, a group of 32 journalists who cover the NFL, named Bridgewater the starting quarterback on its All-Rookie Team; but Beckham was the group’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. St. Louis Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald earned the defensive rookie of the year honor.
Here’s a look at the full rookie team.
Bridgewater led all 2014 rookies with 224.4 passing yards per game. He threw 14 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Pro Football Focus ranked him the fourth-best overall offensive rookie, trailing only Beckham, Cleveland Browns guard Joel Bitonio and Dallas Cowboys guard Zach Martin.
The analytics website said Bridgewater completed 46.3 percent of his deep passes, which ranked tenth in the NFL; he led the league with a 75.2 percent accuracy percentage under pressure.
“Despite throwing 12 interceptions, Bridgewater was one of the league’s best at protecting the football. Rather than look at interception totals, we like to focus on the actual throws that he made rather than the results, and when looking through that lens, Bridgewater was among the league’s best at avoiding “turnover-worthy plays,” ranking among the likes of Alex Smith, Tom Brady, and Ben Roethlisberger. Combine that with the improvement he showed as the season progressed and Vikings fans have to encouraged by Bridgewater’s future.”
According to the Vikings, Bridgewater is the tenth all-rookie player drafted by the team since 2007.
- Adrian Peterson, 2007
- Brian Robison, 2007
- Percy Harvin, 2009
- Phil Loadholt, 2009
- Kyle Rudolph, 2011
- Matt Kalil, 2012
- Harrison Smith, 2012
- Blair Walsh, 2012
- Cordarrelle Patterson, 2013
- Teddy Bridgewater, 2014
Bridgewater is one of five finalists for the NFL’s Pepsi Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, along with Beckham, Mike Evans of the Buccaneers, Jeremy Hill of the Bengals and Kelvin Benjamin of the Panthers. Fans can vote for their favorite rookie right here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwriGLko84I
