MAYFIELD NAMED TOP ROOKIE BY SI WRITERS
By STEVE KING
The Browns’ success – and historic improvement – this season wasn’t a mirage.
And it was not appreciated only in Northeast Ohio and by Browns fans around the world.
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It was real – very, very real – and people throughout pro football took notice.
But you already knew that.
What the Browns did was validated by the 13 staff writers of the Monday Morning Quarterback (MNQB) series on sportsillustrated.com. They announced their 2018 NFL awards on Tuesday and no less than six members of the Browns on and off the field, including one in particular in the person of some guy named Baker Mayfield, were honored.
Not surprisingly, Mayfield was selected the site’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. His teammate, running back Nick Chubb, finished sixth.
Cleveland General Manager John Dorsey (Executive of the Year) and offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens (Assistant Coach of the Year) were second in their respective categories.
Cornerback Denzel Ward was fourth in the Defensive Rookie of the Year voting.
And defensive end Myles Garrett, designed as an edge player, was tied for eighth in the Defensive Player of the Year balloting with New England Patriots cornerback Stephon Gilmore.
Here’s the beginning of the si.com piece explaining how the awards were chosen and the voting was done:
“The 2018 regular season featured historic levels of offense. It also brought us some of the most wide-open awards races in recent memory, with just about everything (well, except for Aaron Donald’s Defensive Player of the Year victory) up for grabs.
“The 13-member MMQB/Sports Illustrated panel have cast their votes for The MMQB Honors. Unlike the AP awards, we do a top-five ballot for every award (top-10 for MVP), awarding points on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis (note: some ballots featured only 12 voters). Here are our 2018 NFL award winners for 10 different honors, presented in the style of the Academy Awards—the biggest categories are saved for last, but we’ll roll one of the good ones out early in the show (the fascinating Offensive Rookie of the Year race) to hold your attention.”
Mayfield had 61 total voting points, including nine firsts, while the runner-up, New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley, had 52 points and four firsts. Chubb had 13 points.
Mayfield also garnered two points in the Most Valuable Player voting, putting him 15th.
Dorsey had 41 points, putting him behind only Indianapolis Colts GM Chris Ballard, who had 56, including 11 firsts.
Kitchens had 44 points, including one first-place vote. Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Don Martindale, with whom Kitchens matched wits in the Browns’ 26-24 loss in the regular-season finale last Sunday, won with 50 points and six firsts.
Ward had 26 points.
Garrett earned two points.
Compliments of the season to you and thanks for writing these articles.
I started following the NFL in 2015 when one of the local TV stations started showing some of the games, and decided to try and understand the rules of the game and how it is played.
I also decided that choosing some teams to follow would help that understanding. So early in the 2016 season the Browns become one of the teams.
A lifetime of following my local Australian rules team through their ups and downs, (more downs than ups,) that has included two winless years but also one undefeated season was part of the reason for picking the Browns, but also the fact they had a plan.
Recently my local team won the their first premiership for 38 years, In that time it came close to folding and there were many games where they were completely thrashed and only a handful of us were there to support them.
Since then your articles have helped me to understand the history of the NFL and the Browns as well as the way the game is played and the way the team is run and coached and have helped the Browns become my NFL team.
And now each Monday morning, our time, waking up early and have been eagerly getting on the internet and checking the Browns scores.
It must warm your heart to see the Browns in the position they are now in after all those years of frustration.
Perhaps Baker Mayfield will become this generation’s Otto Graham !
So I would like to thank you for your articles, particularly the historical ones, and wish you all the best for the new year.
Regards