Going past the halfway mark in the 2024 season means the award debates are growing stronger, especially the rookie of the year talk.
The rookie of the year award is an award for players who are playing their first season in NFL, and have stood out amongst that years draft class.
The 2024 draft class was special, with six quarterbacks being drafted in the first round, equaling the record set back in 1983 for the most QBs drafted in a first round.
Amongst the six, four of them are nailed on starters for their team and two of them being standouts in the league.
However, the QBs aren’t the only ones who have a shot at rookie of the year, with many other offensive and even defensive players who are up for the debate.
Personally, there are four main candidates to win the award, with one of the candidates being the standout, that player being Washington Commander’s QB, Jayden Daniels
• Jayden Daniels
Jayden Daniels is a rookie QB for the Washington Commanders, who was drafted second overall pick this year, coming from Louisiana State University.
Daniels was a standout QB in his time in college, most notably in the 2023 season.
During the 2023 season, Daniels broke seven records in total, some of which were set by previous star LSU QB, Joe Burrow.
Daniels managed to become the only player in the Football Bowl Subdivision to amass 12,000 passing yards, and 3,000 rushing yards. This impressive record was set over his time at both Arizona State and LSU.
His time is NFL has only made him stand out more amongst the rest, putting up even more impressive stats and even challenging with some of the elite quarterbacks currently in the league.
In seven separate gameweeks this season, Daniels has picked up the rookie of the week award, beating out other rookie QBs such as Drake Maye and Bo Nix.
As well as being named rookie of the week seven times, Daniels was named rookie of the month in September, and is really becoming the talk of the town.
Daniels is putting up the performances that 2023 Rookie of the Year, CJ Stroud, put up last year.
One of the main reasons however, that Daniels is the main contender for Rookie of the Year and should win it, is down the fact he has transformed the Commander’s team massively.
Washington currently sit 2nd in the NFC East, with a positive 7-4 record and are looking strong contenders to make the playoffs.
After all 17 games last year, the Commanders finished on a negative 4-13 record and bottom of the NFC East.
Having already garnered threee more wins than last season with six games to go, it was clear that the Commanders were mainy missing a franchise QB.
If the Commanders make the playoffs, there’s no doubt that Jayden Daniels should win the rookie of the year award.
• The Other Contenders
Jayden Daniels may be the top contender so far, but there are still players who have a strong shot at winning the award this year.
One player who is not too far behind Daniels is Bo Nix of the Denver Broncos.
Bo Nix was also a first round pick in the draft, however he was drafted lower than the other QB prospects, being picked up by Denver with the 12th overall pick.
Bo Nix has been a standout player in a strong AFC West this year, leading his side to a positive 6-5 record, whilst also putting up impressive stats.
Along side Daniels, Nix has also won the rookie of the week more than once, winning it back to back in week 10 and 11.
Despite being picked 12th overall, the rookie is proving himself to doubters, and showing why he could’ve been picked up by another team earlier on in the draft.
The Broncos are just sitting outside of a playoff seed, but with recent results, they are pushing hard to get a spot in the playoffs.
With Denver and Nix’s win against the Atalanta Falcons in week 11, Nix became the second rookie in history to throw for over 300 yards, four touchdowns and record a passer rating above 140 in a game.
If Nix carries on the way he’s been playing in recent games, there’s no reason why he can’t overtake Jayden Daniels to win the award.
The next player who is also a strong contender to win the ROTY award is the New England Patriots QB Drake Maye.
Maye was drafted just after Daniels, being third overall and has impressed Patriots fans when he finally got given a chance.
Maye was not named the starting QB of the Patriots until week six, when the team finally decided to drop veteran Jacoby Brissett.
Since his chance, Maye has done well, but not led his team to a great record as New England sit bottom of the AFC East with a 3-8 record.
Only a personal note for Maye, the rookie has thrown for 1,236 yards and nine touchdown, showing that he was still worth the third overall pick of the draft.
Maye is arguably quite a way off of Nix and Daniels but nevertheless, he still has had a strong year for a rookie.
The last rookie who is another strong contender for the award is Las Vegas Raiders Tight End, Brock Bowers.
Bowers was drafted 13th overall by the raiders in the draft and has become one of the most talked about offensive names coming from Georgia.
The Raiders have been lacklustre this season, with many QB problems, they currently sit bottom of the AFC West and with a 2-8 record.
Despite the issues, Bowers is still standing out within the team, putting up 706 yards and three touchdowns this season and being secure as the number one TE in Las Vegas.
Bowers’ only stopping block at winning the award is the team around him, with the Raiders not having a strong QB, Bowers has not been able to put up the yards and touchdowns he’s wanted to.
Bowers still has a big career ahead of him however, and will be a top TE in years to come.
• Final Thoughts
Despite many rookies having an impressive year, the reason why Jayden Daniels is the main contender by far is due to his consistency.
Daniels has been impressing since week one, and hasn’t slowed down in his game, bringing a spark back to Commanders fans.
Commanders fans were always happy when their side drafted Daniels at pick two, especially after seeing him at LSU, and he’s upped his game even more.
If Daniels stays consistent for the rest of the season, and potentially post season, he will be nailed on to win the award.
