Hello, rookie lovers! We are now already in the half mark of SFL 2005 regular season. Many rookies have been performing well and become impactful parts in their own teams. These rookies deserve some recognition for their performances. So far we have awarded 8 rookies for the past 8 weeks. Let's take a look back at who were those previous rookie of the week winners.
Week 1: Chicago Bears QB Alex Smith Week 2: San Francisco 49ers QB Kyle Orton Week 3: Jacksonville Jaguars MLB Jordan Beck Week 4: St. Louis Rams MLB Odell Thurman Week 5: Dallas Cowboys WR Craig Bragg Week 6: Jacksonville Jaguars MLB Jordan Beck Week 7: Chicago Bears QB Alex Smith Week 8: New Orleans Saints LT Marcus Johnson
As you can see, so far there have been 4 positions winning the award, with 2 positions dominating by winning in 6 weeks. There are also 2 rookies winning the award in multiple weeks who unsurprisingly are those 2 positions. In week 8, we saw a new position and the first lineman to win the rookie of the week award. New Orleans Saints #71 LT Marcus Johnson with his 10 pancakes performance beat Arizona Cardinals FS Brodney Pool in the voting by collecting 33% of the votes while Pool only managed to collect 27%. It is good seeing a non-skill position player winning the award as it could be a sign of the appreciation to any position all around the league. How about for week 9? Will we see new faces making the nomination? Or will we get another familiar face again to win it this week? So, without further ado, here are the five nominees for SFL 2005 Week 9 Rookie of the Week!
CB Brandon Browner (ARZ) 5 TKL 1 FF 6 DFL 2 CTHA Won 35-14 vs. Seahawks Browner as the number one overall pick of the 2005 SFL Draft made the short list again. He lived up to his status this week by making impact play after impact play in their win against division rival Seattle Seahawks. The Oregon State product, who stands tall at 6'4" and 221 lbs., obviously is one in a generation talent that we would find in a draft. It seems like he is a cornerback, marked by his speed, trapped inside the body of a linebacker. He will be one of the crucial parts of the Cardinals defense moving forward as they march to most likely the top of NFC West this season.
TE Heath Miller (GB) 7 REC 67 YDS 2 TD 0 DROP; 6 PANCAKES 0 SACK ALLOWED Lost 31-34 vs. Steelers Miller was drafted with the 28th pick of the second round in 2005 SFL Draft. The Virginia alumnus has an ideal size and stature for a tightend. At 6'5" 254 lbs., it will not be hard for him to be seen in the redzone. Even though he is not very athletic, he got reliable hands and more than enough blocking skill. This week he burst into the scene with his 7 catches and 2 TD performance. Although that was not enough to avoid the Packers from losing to the Steelers. But his individual performance is worth to be considered here.
ROLB Kirk Morrison (CLE) 4 TKL 1 TFL 1 INT 3 DFL 1 CTHA Lost 20-21 vs. Titans Morrison was drafted with the 3rd pick in the 4th round of 2005 SFL Draft. The 6'2" 240 lbs outside linebacker is an alumnus of San Diego State University. Even though he is not the fastest or even faster guy on the Browns defense, he has become an impactful player with his consistent performance week in and week out. This week he still failed to help the Browns to win but he definitely did some damage throughout the game as seen from his stats.
RG Rob Petitti (MIN) 9 PANCAKES 0 SACK ALLOWED Won 41-6 vs. Lions Petitti was drafted as the 28th overall pick in 2005 SFL Draft. The alumnus of Pittsburgh University has an ideal size and stature for an offensive lineman at 6'6" 325 lbs. Since suiting up for the Vikings on game 1 this season, Petitti has been playing consistently from one game to the next. This week he helped Culpepper to avoid any sack in their blowout win against the Lions. Recording 9 sacks from an offensive guard position which usually goes up against stronger defensive lineman (a.ka. the DT) is something worth to be noticed.
DT Jay Ratliff (CIN) 5 TKL 1 TFL 1 SCK Won 24-13 at Ravens Ratliff was drafted with the 21st pick in the 4th round of 2005 SFL Draft. The 6'4" 303 lbs defensive tackle is an alumnus of USC. He is quite strong and quick even though not fast enough for the position. Nothing is too special from his week 9 outing but 5 tackles with 1 for a loss and 1 sack from a DT position is something worth consideration especially for a rookie defensive lineman who is still trying to figure out how to play the position in the professional level.
Those are the five nominees for SFL 2005 Week 9 Rookie of the Week. As usual, the voting will be open for 1x24 hours. So, please participate here by casting your vote before noon EST tomorrow. If you have any thoughts, comments, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to leave those below. Thanks in advance for your participation. GO ROOKIE...GO!!!
AWARDEE: CB Brandon Browner (ARZ)
Arizona Cardinals #39 cornerback Brandon Browner has won the SFL 2005 Rookie of the Week Award for his Week 9 performance against the Seattle Seahawks. The CB becomes the first rookie from the secondary position to win the award. Browner got 45% of the votes from the league members to defeat other nominees such as Packers TE Heath Miller (31%) and Vikings RG Rob Petitti (18%) in the voting race. Browner 6 deflections in their division rivalry game against the Seahawks was something special to account for the award. Thus he deserves to be named our rookie of the week. Browner's achievement winning this award could be an extra motivation for the Cardinals GM to keep the team high intensity for the NFC West crown. Congrats and keep pushing, Tyler!
