Jimmy Graham—TE—New Orleans Saints Considering he barely saw the field until week 7, Jimmy Graham has really impressed me. He seems to fit in the New Orleans offense perfectly, perhaps even better than Jeremy Shockey. Another solid effort in a loss to Baltimore saw the 3rd round pick from Miami collect 5 passes for 29 yards and 2 touchdowns. In roughly 7 games, Graham has caught 25 passes for 315 yards and 3 touchdowns. Project that over the course of a season and you have yourself a top 10 tight end in the league. In my opinion it will be hard for Shockey to get his job back even when he is 100% healthy, and at the very least Graham has earned split playing time in New Orleans.

Jamar Chaney—LB—Philadelphia Eagles Chaney, in his first career start as an injury replacement for Stewart Bradley, nearly doubled his season Keep Reading…

Arrelious Benn—WR—Tampa Bay Buccaneers Benn was probably the best in what proved to be a down week for rookies in the NFL on Sunday. In a win versus Washington, Benn caught 4 passes for 122 yards and also carried the ball 1 time for 17 yards. Included in the yards receiving was a career high 64 yard catch for the 2nd round pick from Illinois. Although Benn has not had a standout rookie season, it has not been a total bust either. He has flashed big play potential with 2 catches over 50 yards this season and his 16.4 yards per catch average would rank 11th in the NFL if he had the amount of receptions to qualify. You can’t ask much more from a rookie receiver than that.

Ryan Mathews—RB—San Diego Chargers I think it is safe to say that Mathews has had a disappointing rookie season. From Keep Reading…

Chris Ivory—RB—New Orleans Saints There were 255 players selected in the NFL Draft. Chris Ivory was not one of them. So in my opinion there hasn’t been a more surprising rookie performer this year than Ivory. The undrafted free agent from Tiffin University continued his stellar play on Sunday versus Cincinnati compiling 117 yards on 15 carries with 2 touchdowns. That’s 7.8 yards per carry for those asking. Not too shabby. Furthermore, Ivory is 2nd amongst rookies in rushing attempts (123), 1st in rushing yards (636), and tied for 1st in rushing touchdowns (5). All this after not playing the first 2 weeks of the season.

LeGarrette Blount—RB—Tampa Bay Buccaneers I don’t know what to make of the fact that the 2 leading rookie rushers in the NFL are undrafted free agents. Perhaps it’s a case against drafting running backs early. Perhaps it’s just dumb luck. Whatever it Keep Reading…

Sam Bradford—QB—St. Louis Rams What else can be said about Sam Bradford? He’s good. Like really, really good. It’s hard to remember a rookie quarterback being this impressive in quite some time. Again this past weekend versus Denver, Bradford was in top form. He completed 22 of 37 passes for 308 yards with 3 touchdowns and 0 interceptions. That’s good for a quarterback rating of 113.3, or in other words: awesome. His 2,466 yards on the season place the 1st round pick from Oklahoma 6th in the NFC in that category, and his 17 touchdown passes place him 5th. Can you say franchise QB?

Gerald McCoy—DT—Tampa Bay Buccaneers There was a lot of publicity about Gerald McCoy before the NFL Draft, specifically surrounding those who thought he could be taken ahead of Ndamukong Suh. While it is clear that the Lions made the correct choice in drafting Suh, who Keep Reading…

Chris Ivory—RB—New Orleans Saints I have to admit that I have been truly impressed with Ivory. The statistics are not overwhelming all the time, but then again New Orleans isn’t really a running team. But his physical style more than sets the tone against anyone who thinks the Saints are soft. On Sunday versus Seattle, the undrafted free agent from Tiffin University could not be tackled with one man. He carried the ball 23 times for 99 yards including a touchdown. On the year Ivory has compiled 481 yards rushing and an extremely acceptable 4.8 yards per carry average. If Pierre Thomas doesn’t get back on the field soon, he could see his starting job pass before his very eyes.

Lamarr Houston—DE—Oakland Raiders Houston has been a bright spot on what has proven to be a very up-and-down season for Oakland. In a brutal loss this past weekend Keep Reading…