NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Report – Week 1

Even before Caleb Williams was officially drafted by the Chicago Bears, he has been the favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. But now, months later, we’ve finally see him play in an NFL game with meaning. For Williams and the rest of the Offensive Rookie of the Year hopefuls, we now have actual NFL results.

Caleb Williams – Chicago Bears (+165)

On the plus side for Williams is that he is the first No. 1 overall draft pick to win his NFL debut since David Carr did it in 2002. On the downside, Williams played like Carr did for much of his career, and he had virtually no impact on the Bears win.

Williams completed 14 of 29 passes for just 93 yards, and the Bears offense failed to score a touchdown. Three Cairo Santos field goals and touchdowns by the defense and special teams are what led to the Chicago win over the Tennessee Titans. Williams was just a passenger.

Rookie wide receiver Rome Odunze is +7500 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year, and he had just one catch for 11 yards.

Jayden Daniels – Washington Commanders (+300)

The Washington Commanders had the second pick in last year’s draft, and they took the Heisman Trophy winner from LSU, Jayden Daniels. 

Daniels showed off the legs that make him so valuable, running for a game-leading 88 rushing yards and two touchdowns. He was also 17-of-24 passing the ball for 184 yards, and no turnovers.

It wasn’t a winning debut for Daniels, but it was a successful first step.

Marvin Harrison Jr. – Arizona Cardinals (+800)

If not for the quarterback neediness of the three teams that picked ahead of the Arizona Cardinals, they would have selected Marvin Harrison Jr. From college through the draft and most recently through the preseason, he has been considered the one can’t-miss prospect that will change your offense.

That impact was not felt in the first game of the season. The Cardinals lost at the Buffalo Bills because their offense disappeared in the second half, and Harrison was a no-show for the entire game. Kyler Murray threw Harrison’s way just three times, and the rookie wideout had just one catch for four yards. He had a bad drop that would have gone for 15 yards.

Xavier Worthy – Kansas City Chiefs (+850)

Before the season kicked off last Thursday in Kansas City, their first-round draft pick, wide receiver Xavier Worthy, was just +2050 to win Offensive Rookie of the Year. With a two-touchdown performance against the Baltimore Ravens (21-yard rush and 35-yard pass), his odds now sit at +850.

Second-year wide receiver Rashee Rice is Kansas City’s WR1. But Patrick Mahomes has developed a rapport with Worthy, and as the season goes on, he will get more and more looks from his MVP quarterback.

The last wide receiver to get a 20-plus-yard touchdown run and 30-plus-yard touchdown pass in the same game was Tyreek Hill in 2020, when he was still a member of the Chiefs.

Malik Nabors – New York Giants (+1400)

“Giants Put Pathetic Product on the Field” read one New York newspaper headline. “Daniel Jones Looks Lost” read another, following the New York Giants 28-6 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Also lost is the excitement of having a potential superstar at wide receiver in Malik Nabors. He wasn’t lost in the game, catching five passes for a game-high 66 yards. But he had just seven targets, while receiver Wan’Dale Robinson was targeted a total of 12 times, even though he caught just 50% of the passes thrown his way.

Nabors is an incredible talent, and he looked like it in Week 1. But in this very bad New York offense, he is going to struggle.

Bo Nix – Denver Broncos (+1600)

The final score in the debut for Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix wasn’t so bad. Denver lost at the Seattle Seahawks, 26-20.

But Nix was bad, throwing two terrible interceptions in the game, and having a couple of other potential interceptions dropped by the defense. For the game, he was 26-of-42 for 138 yards and a rushing touchdown.

Add in two sacks, and that is 44 passing plays called by Sean Payton in Nix’s debut. The pass call percentage was 63.77%, the sixth-highest in Week 1. Caleb Williams in Chicago had pass plays called 58.49% of time (11th in Week 1), and Jayden Daniels in the Commanders loss passed on just 46.43% of plays (25th in Week 1).

Nix didn’t look ready to carry that much of the offensive load.