Andrew Luck was the #1 overall pick in 2012. His numbers are as follows-1,488 passing yards, 53.4% completion rate, he has thrown for 7 touchdowns and also has thrown 7 interceptions, his qb rating is 72. Luck has led the Colts to 2 wins this season. One of which came against perennial Super Bowl contender, Green Bay Packers in an emotionally charged contest in which Luck was able to lead the team back from a second half deficit to victory. The team was inspired by Head Coach Chuck Pagano and his battle with leukemia. Luck has performed well when you consider the enormity of the shoes he has filled. He has come in behind an NFL legend, Peyton Manning, and given the fans in Indianapolis hope for their team’s future.

October 14, 2012; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III (10) runs with the ball past Minnesota Vikings cornerback Chris Cook (20) in the third quarter at FedEx Field. The Redskins won 38-26. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-US PRESSWIRE

Robert Griffin III was the 2nd overall pick in 2012. His numbers are as follows- 1,343 passing yards, 70% completion rate, RGIII has thrown for 5 touchdowns as well as 2 interceptions, his qb rating is 100.5. Griffin has been successful throwing the ball and he is a true dual threat as demonstrated by his 379 rushing yards and scoring an impressive 6 rushing touchdowns. These numbers confirm RGIII has lived up to all the expectations the fans had of him. The Redskins coaching staff has done an excellent job of tailoring the offense around the particular skill set RGIII brings to the team. The numbers RGIII is putting up are profound and I expect him to build on his early season success having already led the team to 3 wins.

Ryan Tannehill was the 8th pick in the 2012 draft. His numbers are as follows- 1,454 passing yards, 59.6% completion rate, 4 touchdowns,and 6 interceptions, his qb rating is 76.5. Tannehill is the most impressive of the rookie quarterbacks to me this season. He has only had one and a half years of playing quarterback at the college level prior to being drafted by the Dolphins in 2012. While at A&M in 2008, Ryan, competed for the quarterback position as a freshman but came in 3rd during the summer qb competition. Head Coach Mike Sherman decided to use Tannehill at receiver. Ryan was quick to experience success as a receiver and set a few school records while playing the position. It was during the 2010 that he began playing some quarterback, and in 2011 Tannehill became the full time starter. Considering how little college experience he had I think it is extraordinary the success he has had in the NFL in such a short time. Tannehill has led the team to 3 wins this season.

Oct 14, 2012; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson (3) passes against the New England Patriots during the third quarter at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-US PRESSWIRE

Russell Wilson was the 75th pick in the 2012 draft. His numbers are as follows- 1,108 passing yards, 62.5% completion rate, 8 touchdowns and 6 interceptions, His qb rating is 85.6. Wilson was named Seattle’s starter in week 1. This came as a surprise to many, mostly because money the Seahawks invested in highly coveted free agent quarterback Matt Flynn. Wilson is the smallest of the quarterbacks discussed here but he probably has the most heart. This kid leaves it all out on the field every week. We can see his progress as an NFL quarterback in both of his most recent games. Early on Wilson was playing by instinct as he was adjusting to the speed of the game. In the last 2 weeks, versus Carolina and New England, the game is slowing down and Wilson is getting more comfortable in offensive coordinator Tom Cable’s offense. Russell leads all rookies in team wins with 4. There is no doubt that of all the rookies, Wilson has the best defense, but recently Russell has lead his team to victory from late game deficits. This shows his growth into a leadership role on the team.

There some stats and a little information about the candidates for offensive ROY. I decided to keep this competition strictly to quarterbacks because of how significant their impact on a team can be. The ROY right now would go to RGIII based on the  numbers he has put up to this point in the season.  Russell Wilson would be a close 2nd based on his numbers plus the 4 wins he has with the Seahawks. Tannehill would come in 3rd and Luck would be at the back of the pack in 4th place.

The defensive ROY will come later this week in the follow up to this article.

God Bless.
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Jacksonville Jaguars – Blaine Gabbert is marginally improving from last season but still has a long way to go to be even a mediocre NFL starting QB. My feeling is that he never will, and Chad Henne might well be pulling the trigger as their starter if not in game one, sometime during the season. In reality, Gabbert probably will start on opening day. Young QBs CAN get 3-4 years to grow into the role if they show signs of improvement, but I still wonder if Gabbert has it in him, despite a good preseason so far. I hope for his sake that he does, but as things are going now, they’re going to have to bring in another young arm next spring and reset. It has been years since the Jags’ offense has scared anyone (except their own coaches) and Henne at least has experience as a starter but injuries in part kept him from showing the Miami Dolphins that he could be the guy. Speaking of the Dolphins…

Miami Dolphins – This team actually is one of the deepest teams in the NFL at quarterback. They have former Jaguars’ QB David Garrard, whom the Jags pulled yet another idiot move letting go…even if his back was bad last season. Jax wound up signing Miami’s old cast-off, the aforementioned Chad Henne, to back up and push Gabbert. Garrard’s chances of starting are close to zero now due to a freak injury sustained at home in his swimming pool. Matt Moore went an incredible 6-3 as a starter for a team that won only 7 games last year but has been having some trouble picking up the new system under Joe Philbin and Offensive Coordinator Mike Sherman. Since rookie Ryan Tannehill’s college Head Coach WAS Mike Sherman, he has more athletic ability in his pinky finger than does Matt Moore, and has out-played Moore in the preseason, Tannehill looks to be the starter but nothing is official yet. In the loss against the Panthers, Moore only went 5-of-15 for 57 yards and Tannehill didn’t fare that much better with 11-of-23 for 100 yards. However, by my count, Tannehill had 4 passes batted down at the line and one dropped pass; he might’ve been 16 of 23. The o-line played atrocious football against the Panthers with 37 yards rushing the entire game and their longest rushing play was 8 yards. Both QBs had defenders in their faces much of the game, but Moore’s second-team played better against the Panther’s seconds than the firsts and firsts did. That’s not good news for whatever QB starts, but points even more to Tannehill starting opening day…he runs a 4.6-40 and one of the good things about him coming out of college was his ability to throw on the run. From what I’ve seen so far, whoever starts will be doing a lot of that and coach Philbin reiterated today that he hasn’t settled on a starter. The only case that can be made for Moore is that if Tannehill isn’t in there, he can’t get shell-shocked by an offensive line that has talent but hasn’t yet gelled.

Tennessee Titans – Jake Locker has taken the “old-school” path thus far, having been drafted in 2011 and sitting a year behind veteran QB Matt Hasselbeck. The first preseason game had Locker looking on track to possibly unseat Hasselbeck as planned, but a poor outing going 4-of-11 for 21 whole yards in their 30-7 win over Tampa Bay raised questions about his readiness to be a starter. That’s less than two yards per ATTEMPT. It’s pretty bad when a QB’s yds/att is a number even a running back would puke over if it were his rushing yards per attempt. Locker also did everything wrong you could possibly think of in throwing his interception…he rolled out, threw across his body, across the field (a top no-no), and off his back foot. A mobile quarterback with space in front of him did this. *cue DRAGNET theme song* DUMB!

The real news came with the starters in the first half. Carolina pulled their starters about midway through the second quarter after Panthers QB Cam Newton led three scoring drives for 17 points, missing on only 3 pass attempts during his time on the field. The Panthers went from looking rusty and lethargic against the Texans to midseason form against the Dolphins – all in the space of a week. The Panthers look like they are shaping up well overall.

It’s another story for the Dolphins, and perhaps a rude awakening that they are going to go through some pains no matter who starts at QB for them.

Rookie QB Ryan Tannehill struggled with the first team but led them on their only TD drive of the night, a nice 15-play drive. Tannehill was 11/23 for 100 yards while Matt Moore was 5/15 for 57 yards. Pat Devlin, the practice squad QB for the past few years, finished 13/20 for 118 yards and a TD and an INT.

Carolina’s pass rush actually showed up last night, but I watched the entire game. I didn’t see so much “great play” by Carolina…I saw rookie RT Jonathan Stewart struggling with pretty much everything. In the second quarter, he gave up sacks on consecutive plays while a reserve LT whose name I didn’t catch gave up a sack on the other side 2 plays later.

The Dolphins also couldn’t get their running game going at all. Again, good news for Panthers fans, but I think it was more due to the ongoing offensive installation with Philbin’s new system than anything the Panthers did that was so great. It did appear that DT Ron Edwards is indeed a difference maker with several good, savvy plays last night.

With no running game and defenders in your face due to missed blocks or assignments, it would be difficult for any coach to evaluate the QB situation in Miami. Tannehill does have the better arm, more mobility, and overall is a much better athlete than Matt Moore. I’d rate their performances equally bad, with Tannehill’s being slightly less bad since Moore had a little more time in the pocket playing with his second team, facing Carolina’s second-team defense.

Coach Philbin has to be pulling out the several hairs on his head that he has left. Last night did nothing to help his decision as to his starter for opening day. I still think it’s Tannehill, but there are 2 games left.

The Panthers jumped out to a 17-0 lead when the first teams faced off and clearly demonstrated that the Panthers have an identity while the Dolphins are still searching for theirs, but that’s not unusual. Last season, the Panthers were in roughly the same spot as Miami is this year and it showed. Carolina knew what they were doing while Miami looked confused and just never got in synch.