NFL: Week Two Rookie Recap
Posted by Eric Engberg on September 16, 2008
Darren McFadden, Oakland – McFadden had a breakout game this week piling up 164 yards on 21 carries against the hapless Chiefs. McFadden showed everyone why he was considered the top talent available in the draft. The only real knock on his performance is that he put the ball on the ground twice which was main knock on his game coming out of Arkansas. McFadden’s performance made him the second leading rusher amongst rookie backs this year with 210 yards and 5th in the NFL.
Chris Johnson, Tennessee – Continued to shine for the TItans posting his first 100 yard game of his career piling up 109 yards on 19 carries. Johnson’s 202 yards rank him third amongst rookie runners.
Johnathan Stewart, Carolina – Stewart came up big for the Panthers scoring two second half touchdowns to go with a career high 77 yards. Stewarts 130 yards rank 4th amongst rookies and his two touchdowns are the most amongst all rookie running backs.
DeSean Jackson, Philadelphia – Jackson posted another 100 yard recieving against Dallas hauling in 6 balls for 110 yards. Jackson’s 12 catches rate second amongst rookies and his 216 yards are tops amongst rookies and 4th in the NFL. He is quickly emerging as the top wideout in the 2008 rookie class.
Chris Horton, Washington – The rookie safety had his best day as a pro snaring two interceptions and knocking away two others against the Saints.
Lawrence Jackson, Seattle – Had a strong outing this week recording two sacks amongst his five tackles.
Matt Forte, Chicago – Posted another solid outing against Carolina on Sunday rolling up 92 yards on 23 carries and caught 3 balls for 21 yards. After two games Forte still stands atop the league’s rookies with 215 rushing yards and 4th amongst all running backs in the league.
Eddie Royal, Denver – Royal was held in check for most of the game until catching the touchdown and 2-point conversion that led to Denver’s win over San Diego. Royal’s 14 catches are tops amongst rookies and his 183 yards rank second.
Antoine Cason, San Diego – Continues to make plays in the Chargers secondary collecting an interception and two passes defensed. For the season Cason has an interception, a recovered fumble, and 3 passes defensed.
John Carlson, Seattle – The rookie tight end from Notre Dame continued his solid play catching six passes for 78 yards. Carlson’s 10 catches and 130 yards rank third amongst all rookies.
Felix Jones, Dallas – After posting a solid debut against the Browns Jones contributed very little to the Dallas ground attack on Monday night. However he managed to make his mark on the game with a 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown.
Kendall Langford, Miami – The rookie defensive end out of Hampton has been one of the lone bright spots for the Dolphins this year recording sacks in each of his first two games.
Matt Ryan, Atlanta – After a strong performance in week one Ryan came tumblling back to Earth as the Falcons faced a more formidable opponent in Tampa Bay. There is not a whole lot of positive things to say about Ryan’s performance. He completed just 39.4% of his passes, threw 2 picks, and got sacked four times. Bottom line is Ryan looked like a rookie QB making just his second start in the NFL this week. No reason to give up on him at all just yet.
Chad Henne, Miami – Henne made his pro debut getting mopup duty in a blow out loss to Arizona and looked fairly competent while out there. He completed 7 of 12 passes for 67 yards and led the ‘Phins to their only touchdown. However, no need to get to revved up about Henne just yet this is still Pennington’s team as Miami likely just wanted to get Henne some snaps in an actual game. The Dolphins are likely wanting Henne to sit and watch this year and compete for the starting job next summer.
