Odell Beckham Jr. Will Win Offensive Rookie of the Year

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With the NFL regular season having just one more week to go, the picture of awards races starts to become clearer, and for the Offensive Rookie of the Year award it looks to be a race between two NFC stars in Odell Beckham Jr. and Mike Evans.

Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ rookie WR Mike Evans has had a fantastic year in his first season in the NFL. The 7th overall pick from Texas A&M has been able to carry over his great play from college with Johnny Manziel into the NFL.

In 15 games this season, Evans has 997 yards on 63 receptions with 11 touchdown catches, all of which are great numbers from a rookie. Evans’ 6-5 231 pound frame has made him an excellent weapon in the red zone for the Buccaneers, even with ineffective QB play from Josh McCown and Mike Glennon.

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A few weeks ago it looked like Evans was running away with the OROY award, but in the past two weeks, Evans only has six receptions for 62 yards, which has opened the door for Odell Beckham Jr., who has been on an absolute tear to finish the season.

It wasn’t an easy start to the season for Beckham Jr., as he missed much of the offseason and then the first four games of the season with a nagging hamstring injury. When a rookie misses so much time in the offseason their rookie seasons are usually disappointing but that has been far from the case for Beckham Jr.

In his first game in the NFL, Beckham Jr. made an impact in a Giants’ victory over the Atlanta Falcons, as he caught four passes for 44 yards with a TD. After a tough game on Sunday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles when the Giants lost Victor Cruz for the season, Beckham Jr. has emerged as the Giants’ No. 1 WR, and one of the best young players in the entire NFL.

Beckham Jr. had one his biggest moments of the season on Sunday Night Football at home against the Dallas Cowboys, as he made one of the greatest catches in the NFL history. The leaping one-handed catch in the end zone put Beckham Jr. on the national map as a great young WR, and since then he has only gotten better.

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In the last three games, Beckham Jr. has put up ridiculous stats with an 11-catch, 130-yard performance coming against the Tennessee Titans that included one TD catch. In Week 15 against the Washington Redskins it was the best game of the season for Beckham Jr., as he caught 12 passes for 143 yards and three TD’s. It is not easy to follow up a game like he had against the Redskins, but Beckham Jr. was able to in Week 16 against a good defense in the St. Louis Rams, as he finished with eight catches for 148 yards with two TD catches.

For the season, Beckham Jr. has 79 catches for 1,120 yards with 11 TD’s, all numbers that match, or surpass Evans despite missing four games. Beckham Jr. is in the process of one of the best seasons of all-time for a rookie WR, and with just one week to go, it looks like he will be taking home the OROY award this season.