NFL Rookies: A Tough Week For NFL Rookies in Week 11

There is always hope that NFL rookies will consistently get better every week. After week 11, view the NFL rookies who kept up their pace.

Author:
Bobby Greco
Publish date:
Nov 24, 2021 8:00 AM EST

NFL Rookie Review: A Tough Week for NFL Rookies

There is always hope that NFL rookies will consistently get better every week. After week 11, view the NFL rookies who kept up their pace.

It is becoming wildly repetitive saying this, but this week, the NFL left most of us scratching our heads. Just be thankful that head-scratching is only proverbial because if it weren’t, we would all be bald by now. It is truly unbelievable how teams’ performances have fluctuated so much from week to week, and there isn’t any explanation for it. This season has been the definition of “Any Given Sunday” because, as we see every week, anyone is beatable, and it doesn’t matter how good the team that wins is. This was also a very down week for the rookies, as none took a starring role. Even Mac Jones, whose Patriots shut out the Falcons, didn’t have a great game and had very pedestrian numbers. Three rookies did take advantage of a down week, thankfully and deserve to be talked about, so here we go.

Jevon Holland, Safety, Miami Dolphins:

For the second week in a row, Holland makes the star NFL rookies list, and for good reasons. He is an extremely active football player and seems to be around the ball at the end of every play -- it’s pretty remarkable. Holland led the team with seven tackles, one pass deflection and one fumble recovery. It isn’t always a good thing for a safety to lead his team in tackles, but he is such an active player when on the field that he is truly around the ball every play and this style works for him. Coming out of college, there were some concerns in his game, and he fell in the draft a little, now he is rewarding the Dolphins for taking a chance on him. We still haven’t seen how good this Miami defense can be either. They have a bunch of talented players and just haven’t played to their full potential yet.

Elijah Moore, Wide Receiver, New York Jets:

There hasn’t been much to like about the Jets this season(or the last decade), but Elijah Moore is a silver lining and lands on the star NFL rookies list. Moore has been trending upward for the past five weeks, but he officially hit cruising altitude on Sunday. Moore not only led the team in receptions with eight, but he also led the way in yards with one-hundred forty-one yards, which outgained the next leading receiver by one hundred yards, and he added a touchdown to boot. The Jets were able to grab him in the second round of the draft, and it seems like a brilliant move. Moore’s playing style is electric, and his pull-away speed is pretty shocking. He is the type of player who dominates in college but whose skill set doesn’t always translate in the NFL. Even though he played the same way at Ole Miss, seeing how much he can frustrate a professional defense is quite eye-opening. If Zach Wilson can come back healthy and start building a rapport with him, they have a chance of becoming a dangerous duo in the league.

Asante Samuel Jr, Cornerback, Los Angeles Chargers:

In a game where the losing team scored thirty-seven points, you wouldn’t expect a defensive player to be discussed. However, Samuel has been a big contributor all season long and keeps developing along the way and makes the star NFL rookies list. He finished Sunday with seven tackles which were second on the team, and one pass deflection. These numbers might not seem spectacular, but for a team that had major struggles tackling last season, to have a rookie cornerback come in and make such an impact is very impressive. The Chargers are on the brink of greatness with a great young core, so every rookie who can make an impact gets them one step closer to the ultimate goal.