NFL Mocks Defensive Rookie of the Year

The 2010 NFL regular season has come to an end and its time to start evaluating team performances.  While other team oriented sites will take a look at the overall performance of a team we focus on evaluating the rookies.  This season showed that the 2010 NFL Draft class has some star potential but may lack in overall depth.  We had the pleasure of watching some later round and undrafted players make an impact as well as top of the draft players live up to expectations.  This Defensive Rookie of the Year competition was very close with several very good players making a legitimate case.  I struggled to dwindle my consideration list down so I went with the following 5 players: Ndamukong Suh, Carlos Dunlap, Devin McCourty, Eric Berry, and TJ Ward.  Continue reading to find out who we have as our Defensive Rookie of the Year!

Carlos Dunlap– You have to give Dunlap and the Bengals coaching staff a ton of credit because they were both able to focus and get the most out of Dunlap’s talent.  Dunlap’s 9.5 sacks were 2nd among rookies and was accomplished while in a reserve role.  The future is looking bright for Dunlap but he comes in at #5 because he wasn’t a complete player this season.  I do expect to see him get on the field more often next season as he learns to better defend the run.

TJ Ward– Rewind to just after the April draft and you will find a lot of people questioning the selection of Ward in the 2nd round.  There were not many people predicting that he would have such an impact in his rookie season.  Ward led his team in tackles with 123 as he helped the Browns defense surprise a few people.

Eric Berry– Berry has definitely lived up to the lofty expectations of the #5 overall pick.  Berry’s contributions has helped the rejuvenation of this Chiefs defense that was a major part of their playoff run.  Berry had an impact in both the running and passing game; he proved to be a playmaker by creating 5 turnovers.

Ndamukong Suh– Suh has had a great season leading all defensive tackles and rookies with 10 sacks.  Heading into the draft many pointed out that Suh would never be a very good pass rusher but his power and determination proved them wrong.  Suh’s impact cannot only be measured by sacks as his penetration in the back field often wreaked havoc and changed games.

Devin McCourty (Defensive ROY)- I am sure this will come as a major surprise to some but McCourty’s performance as been equally impressive to the dominance of Suh.  McCourty finished the season with 82 tackles, 7 interceptions, 17 pass defenses, 2 forced fumbles, and 1 sack.  McCourty’s performance stood out to me because of the way he has shut down opponents and created turnovers.  His emergence has been a major factor in the Patriots success as the secondary was considered a weakness heading into the season.  I argue, that without McCourty’s contributions the Patriots would not have the #1 seed in the AFC playoffs.  The way I determine my rookie of the year is by the impact they have had on their teams success.  While others like Suh and Berry have been instrumental to the success of their teams  McCourty has had the bigger impact.  I am sure there will be a lot of disagreements w/ this selection so lets hear some good feedback!