By Sean Gannon

1. Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals

Obvious choice here. Burrow is coming off an historic year at LSU and looks to carry all of the momentum into the NFL. AJ Green should be back to his normal self and be the blanket that Burrow needs to find success early in his young career, following a brutal ankle injury. However, if Green isn’t back to his original form, Burrow will need to rely on the big body of Boyd who is coming off of his second 1,000+ yard season in a row. Burrow has all the traits you need to succeed in the NFL, big arm, goes through his progressions, can make all the throws and can improvise to extend plays. If he is able to put it all together the way he did at LSU he’s going to have a great year early on in his career. I don’t want to say he will win the division or even make it to nine wins, it’s hard with both the Ravens and Steelers in division. But don’t be surprised if this young quarterback gives them a run for their money and surprises a few teams to get a win and take the offensive rookie of the year award at the end of the year.

2. Johnathan Taylor, RB, Indianapolis Colts

Taylor is sharing the backfield with Marlon Mack so this will be hard especially with some solid quarterbacks in this draft. However, the offensive line of the Colts is arguably the best in the league and Taylor has 4.39 speed with the ability to truck over defenders. Taylor and this offensive line is a match made in heaven. The Wisconsin product rushed for over 1,900 yards in three years of starting, including over 2,000 in his final two seasons at Wisconsin. His ability to be patient while the line creates a hole reminds me of Le’Veon Bell, with that patience, home-run speed, and ability to run over defenders, the Colts have a great chance of not only taking the AFC South but allowing Rivers to stay fresh throughout the year until its time for the playoffs. If all comes together for Frank Reich, this is going to be one of the least fun teams to play against defensively. Watch out for the Colts taking the AFC crown and Taylor running his way over 1,000 yards, to take offensive rookie of the year.

3. Cee Dee Lamb, WR, Dallas Cowboys

Lamb finds himself in a great position to win offensive rookie of the year in 2020. With Amari Cooper, Michael Gallop, Ezekiel Elliot and Dak Prescott all on the roster and respected in the league, Lamb can sit back without having the pressure of needing to be a wide receiver one or two, though he has the talent for it. This will allow him to find the openings in zone defenses and get cornerbacks who aren’t the defenses number one option in man to man coverage. You can’t defend everyone on the Dallas roster and Lamb is a lethal receiver, if you haven’t seen his highlight reel, I highly recommend you do so now. Lamb can run all the routes, quick feet to create separation from defenders and has incredible body control to turn and make even the hardest catches. Between his talent, the overall talent of the Cowboys offense, Lamb can jump onto the scene as one of the best rookie wide receivers and offensive rookie of the year. This Dallas offense is going to be a lot of fun and Lamb is going to a key part of their offenses success in 2020.

4. Cam Akers, RB, LA Rams

In 2018 the Rams rushed the ball 43% of the time (9^th in the league), following the knee injury to Gurley that production dropped to 38% (25^th in the league) in 2019. Akers enters into a situation where the starting running back spot is wide open for the taking. A duel threat running back, the Florida State product could be the lift the Rams offense were lacking in the run game in 2019. Great speed and the ability to run through the arm tackles of defensive lineman, Akers is a great addition for Sean McVay’s offense who will be dialing up a lot of trick plays with his new talented young running back. Don’t be surprised if he starts from Week 1 and dominates the run game in the NFC West, he’s an elusive back and has shown when he has space, you regret it. Akers can run his way to an offensive rookie of the year honors behind offensive genius McVay.

5. Clyde Edwards-Helaire, RB Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs offense couldn’t get any better and then they draft Clyde Edwards Helaire from LSU, and you begin to think, “huh they just got better.” Helaire is incredibly patient coming out of the backfield, making cuts before he chooses to burst through the hole. Outside of being patient Helaire’s ability to get away from the first defender throughout his junior year at LSU is going to be dangerous at the next level. In a game against Alabama, this past season, Helaire spun around a defender in the backfield and took it for a 15-yard touchdown, it was incredible. If that translates to the NFL, defensive lineman are going to hate trying to stop him when he touches the ball. But what’s most impressive about Helaire is his ability to catch the ball. On screen passes and wheel routes throughout the 2019 campaign for LSU, he excelled. Making great catches and finding open space for big chunks of yards and scores. Damien Williams is sitting out the 2020 season due to Covid leaving Helaire to be the main back this season, leaving it all up to him to win the award and carry the run game of the Chiefs.

6. Justin Herbert, QB, LA Chargers

Herbert still needs to win the starting job from Tyrod Taylor but if he’s able to do that there is a great chance, he can win offensive rookie of the year honors. Similar to Burrow he can make all the throws, what we saw at his pro-day was that he does have a big arm, we just need to see how accurate it is in-game. However, with Keenan Allen, Mike Williams, Hunter Henry and Austin Eckler, Herbert has more than enough weapons to find success early on in his career. He really just needs to get the ball out of his hand and let the receivers and running backs work their magic. No other rookie quarterback has the weapons Herbert will have on their roster currently and that paired with his solid quarterback play at Oregon can make this a fun offense in 2020. Herbert has a great chance to win offensive rookie of the year, he just needs to show the coaches he’s deserving of the starting job.

7. Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings

Jefferson had an incredible junior season at LSU tailing 111 receptions, for 1,540 receiving yards and 18 touchdowns. His excellent route running ability at all three levels and ability to pick up RAC (run after catch) helped him find this success in his final season with the Tigers. With Stefon Diggs no longer in Minnesota the spot beside Adam Thielen is wide open for the taking and so is the 94 targets that Diggs accounted for in 2019. One thing that stood out to me after revisiting Jefferson’s film was how well he worked off of the play action pass. Quarterback Kirk Cousins had a 129.2 passer rating accumulating 1,378 and 14 touchdowns in 2019 and they will most likely build on that with new offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak. Jefferson finds himself in an offense that works with his skill set and how his college team ran their offense. It wouldn’t surprise me if he has over 1,000 yards his rookie season and NFL offensive rookie of the year award to go along with it. Keep your eye out for Jefferson up north in 2020.