Watson On the Hunt for Offensive Rookie of the Year

Watson On the Hunt for Offensive Rookie of the Year

Last week, I said the Offensive Rookie of the Year was Kareem Hunt’s hardware to lose. He didn’t do anything to hurt his chances, but DeShaun Watson came along and snatched up the top spot on the odds list with a game for the ages.

Bovada has decided to say, “Screw it,” and just get rid of odds for anyone besides Watson and Hunt. With Dalvin Cook tearing his ACL and no other rookie consistently putting up great performances, it may indeed be a two-horse race just four weeks into the season.

After a great game in a close loss to the Patriots, Watson broke out this past Sunday as the Texans absolutely destroyed the Titans 57-14. He threw for just short of 300 yards, 4 passing touchdowns, and one rushing touchdown. With the game so far out of hand, Tom Savage actually relieved him of his duties in the 4th quarter.

I mentioned in last week’s update that Watson had some value at +750. Last year, Ezekiel Elliott put up ridiculous rushing statistics, but it was Dak Prescott who won the award. Being the quarterback for an NFL team is much tougher than being a running back (trust me, I know from experience), and the voters showed that they will reward a play caller even if his stats aren’t as great on paper.

Hunt had another 100 yard rushing game, putting his season total to 502—140 more than the next best man. He’s on pace for 2,000, but can he keep up a 7.2 yards per rush average? I’m going to go out on a limb and say definitely not.

Will someone else have a breakout performance this year and make this race a bit more interesting? Check back next week to see how the odds move.