NFL All-Rookie Squad: My Picks

These are my picks for the All-Rookie Team in the NFL

QB: Matt Ryan ATL...2,940...14 TDs...7 INTs...92 rating...one of the greatest rookie QBs ever, with no disrespect to Joe Flacco
RB: Chris Johnson TEN...1,094 yards rushing...9 total TDs...4.9 ypc..."Dash" has been the best of a strong rookie RB class featuring Matt Forte, Steve Slaton and Kevin Smith
FB: Owen Schmitt SEA...for lack of better candidate
WR: Eddie Royal DEN...69 rec...799 yards...5 TDs...Has been an excellent compliment to Brandon Marshall...on pace for highest rookie reception total since Anquan Boldin in 2003
WR: DeSean Jackson PHI...53 rec...775 yards...4 total TDs...Instantly Philly's most versatile go-to-guy, Donnie Avery and Devone Bess (MIA) get honorable mention
TE: John Carlson SEA...46 rec...525 yards...4 TDs...Dustin Keller has been great, but he also has other receivers to open up the seam and underneath routes...Carlson not so much...
OT: Ryan Clady DEN...Jay Cutler has been sacked 7 times all year, last year the total was 27...Clady has been exceptional
OT: Jake Long MIA...Solid rookie year, sack total for Dolphins is down from 42 to 24 this season...Duane Brown has been a mauler for Houston, while Jeff Otah has excelled in Carolina
OG: Carl Nicks NO...5th rounder won starting job after Jamar Nesbit got hurt, but played well enough to keep it even when Nesbit came back
OG: Mike Pollack IND...Injuries kept him out early in the year, but has started every game since, playing solidly replacing departed Jake Scott
C: Jamey Richard IND...Has replaced Jeff Saturday admirably, but also has logged starts at both guard spots on depleted Indianapolis offensive line.

DE: Chris Long STL...A weak year for rookie defensive linemen, Long leads all rookie DEs with 35 tackles and 4 sacks, although Rams' pass rush hasn't improved
DE: Cliff Avril DET...Situational pass rusher has amassed 4 sacks and 3 forced fumbles with one recovery...one of very few bright spots for Detroit
DT: Glenn Dorsey KC...Has had a really quiet rookie year, but amazingly nobody has been better...he leads all rookie defensive linemen with 36 tackles
DT: Sedrick Ellis NO...Has been unspectacular, but still has 10 starts with 23 tackles and 2 sacks...Eric Foster has been decent in Indianapolis, also
LB: Jerod Mayo NE...Injury plagued LB position has been manned solidly by Mayo who leads team and all rookies 107 tackles.
LB: Curtis Lofton ATL...Lofton has bright future following strong rookie season starting at MLB for Falcons
LB: Wesley Woodyard DEN...In 5 games starting for injured D.J. Williams, Woodyard has logged 8.6 tackles per game
CB: Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie ARI...Has started all but one game since Week 5 and has 3 picks and 18 pass breakups...Aqib Talib has been a very good Nickel Corner for Tampa
CB: Brandon Carr KC...Has been a starter since Week one and the #1 CB since Week 3, logging 8 PBs and 3 INTs...Brandon Flowers has played well covering #2 WRs
FS: Charles Godfrey CAR...has started every game for 8th ranked defense (ppg against)
SS: Chris Horton WAS...Leads rookie DBs in both tackles and INTs...has made numerous big plays, especially early in the year

K: Dan Carpenter MIA...19/22 overall...9/12 from 40+ yards
P: Brett Kern DEN...46.8 yards per punt, 37.8 net
KR: Leodis McElvin BUF...leads NFL in KR average and has 6 KRs longer than 40 yards with 1 TD
PR: Clifton Smith TB...Suddenly Tampa has a great return game...leads NFL in PR average and has 2 40+ yards returns with one TD

Interesting, Surprising and Weird NFL Stats

Passing:
- Brett Favre leads the NFL in INTs
- Peyton Manning has thrown more passes than Donovan McNabb
- Chad Pennington is the 5th highest rated QB in the NFL
- New England's O-Line has allowed Matt Cassel to be sacked more than any QB in the league (42). Last year Tom Brady was sacked 21 times.
- Jay Cutler and Kerry Collins have only been sacked 7 times this year
- Matt Hasselbeck has thrown 5 TDs all season. His QB rating is 57.8
- In 436 pass attempts, David Garrard has failed to complete a pass longer than 35 yards
- The highest rated QB in the NFL is Troy Smith (158.3)

Rushing:
- Adrian Peterson leads all RBs with 7 fumbles... Tomlinson, Jamal Lewis, LenDale White, DeAngelo Williams and Willie Parker have 0 combined fumbles in over 1,000 combined carries
- In Week 4, Montell Owens, a backup RB for the Jacksonville Jaguars, broke through Houston's defense and scored a 41-yard Touchdown. The Coaching Staff was so impressed that they haven't handed him the ball since (he has dressed for all 13 games)
- Joseph Addai's longest run of the year is 23 yards.
- Steve Slaton has more rushing yards than Frank Gore, Brandon Jacobs and LaDanian Tomlinson.
- Julius Jones and Maurice Morris, Seattle's two leading rushers, have 2 combined rushing TDs... who the heck is scoring for Seattle???
- No QB has more than David Garrard's 231 rushing yards... Aaron Rodgers leads the NFC in scrambling
- LenDale White ran a 4.64 at his combine, but has the longest run in the NFL this year (80 yards)

Receiving:
- Roddy White leads the NFL in Receiving Yards
- 90.6% of Vincent Jackson's catches have resulted in First Downs
- Kevin Walter has more receiving yards than Terrell Owens and Randy Moss
- Antonio Bryant has more receiving yards than Marques Colston and Santonio Holmes
- Lance Moore has as many TDs as Randy Moss (8)
- No Jets receiver averages more than 12 yards per catch
- Jeremy Shockey has 0 TDs this year
- TE Tony Sheffler averages more yards per catch than teammate Brandon Marshall

Defense:
- Trent Cole leads all DL in tackles
- No rookie has more than 4 sacks, only 4 rookies have more than 2... only 13 have sacks at all
- Nick Collins has returned 3 of his 5 INTs for Touchdowns
- Cleveland LB D'Qwell Jackson leads the NFL in tackles by 13 (130)
- Since 2002, only 3 DTs have had more sacks than Albert Haynesworth and Kevin Williams' 8.5 this year (Rod Coleman, Warren Sapp, Darnell Dockett)
- In 2000, DT LaRoi Glover had 17 sacks
- Quentin Jammer has more tackles than Brian Urlacher
- Haloti Ngata has as many INTs as Nmandi Asumogha and Carlos Rogers combined, both of which have had Pro Bowl Seasons

Special Teams:
- Devin Hester has 0 Return TDs this season... his average of 21.9 yards per KOR is 60th in the NFL. His average of 6.2 yards per PR is 39th
- Antonio Cromartie has three Kick Off Returns this season, on two of which he fumbled
- 5 different players have called Fair Catches on Kick Offs... o...kay...?
- Only 9 teams have had punts blocked by opponents...Carolina has let it happen 3 times
- San Fransisco's Andy Lee has an 82-yard punt this year
- Minnesota has allowed 4 Punt Return TDs
- Nick Folk of the Cowboys has kicked 4 Kick-Offs out of bounds,,,
- Dallas FS Patrick Watkins has one kick-off attempt... it went 61 yards! someone explain that one to me
- Lions' Kicker Jason Hanson is 7-for-7 from beyond 50 yards. Jason Hanson is 20-for-21 on Extra Points
- St. Louis and Cincinnati have only attempted 13 Extra Points all season

Other:
- Raiders' LT Kwame Harris has jumped offsides 15 times this season (in only 11 games)
- The Raiders' starting LT is still Kwame Harris
- Kurt Warner is the third most penalized player in the NFL... and the only QB in the top 20... get to that line quicker old man!
- Ike Taylor has only been penalized 4 times this year, but has more penalty yards against him than any player in the league... His pass interference penalties have averaged 24 yards per penalty!
- Joe Flacco has fumbled 9 times, but only 1 resulted in a turnover
- Other than their loss to New York, Tennessee has only allowed opponents to score over 20 points ONCE, and that was 21 points to Indy in Week 11
- Pittsburgh hasn't given up more than 24 points all season
- 8 of Detroit's opponents have scored more than 30 points on them... Detroit has allowed less than 20 points only once (Week 6@Minnesota)
- Detroit gives up 173 rushing yards per game