Everywhere you look, most experts and media claim that the OROY has been a lock to Sam Bradford, but quite frankly, I disagree. Even though the frontrunner, Bradford, has had an outstanding year, Mike Williams deserves some serious recognition. As a rookie, Williams has become a favorite target (122) for second year quarterback, Josh Freeman. In his first year, Williams currently leads the Bucs’ in touchdowns (10) and receiving yards (924), and is second on the team in catches (61). Not many people across the nation, including many Buccaneer fans, expected this sort of production out of Williams. For starters, he was the second receiver taken off the board (4th round) by Tampa in the 2010 NFL Draft, behind Arrelious Benn (2nd round). In addition to improving Tampa’s pass offense, Williams has helped Tampa become a playoff contender this season, after a disappointing 4-12 season in 2009-10. In my opinion, a quarterback being more high-profiled has been one of the factors why Williams has been written off in the OROY race. But, if you look into some key numbers, some can argue that Williams has had just as good a season, if not better, than Bradford. Bradford is currently ranked 24th in quarterback rating (78.0), behind the poor Alex Smith. He has also only thrown 18 touchdown passes thus far (18th in the league) despite being third in the league in pass attempts, only trailing Peyton Manning and Drew Brees. Bradford has had many opportunities to let the ball fly, yet he isn’t in the top ten in either touchdown passes or passing yards. Mike Williams, on the other hand, squeezed the most out of his opportunities. Williams is currently tied for 5th in the league for touchdown receptions (10) and is 20th in yards. He is getting a lot of production despite Tampa’s run-first offense. Josh Freeman’s is ranked 15th in the NFL in pass attempts, resulting in fewer chances for Williams to make big plays. Even though Bradford has had the 3rd most pass attempts in the league, the Rams only average about 209 passing yards a game which is nearly equal to the Buccaneers. Bradford is averaging only about 6.06 yards per attempt which is second lowest in the league behind Jimmy Clausen. With that many attempts you think he would do a little better, especially when you play in the worst division in football. Not a single team in the NFC West has a winning record. Hell, the Rams haven’t even beaten a single playoff team this entire season. I’m not saying Mike Williams is going to win OROY, but I really do believe, he deserves a serious look. Either way, you can’t go wrong with Williams or Bradford.
This would be my vote for OROY. Dude has been lights out.
He should be in the conversation, for sure. I think the fact that the QB position is the most difficult, in terms of learning curve and success, is the reason Bradford is the frontrunner.
Yeah, I agree. The transition from college to pro at the quarterback position is vastly difficult compared to wr, but Williams’ ain’t to shabby either.