2007 Rookie Report - GBN

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2007 ROOKIE REPORT
Week VI... October 21-22

No 2 tries harder… With all the buzz surrounding the terrific rookie season that Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson has fashioned to date, the efforts of Buffalo’s Marshawn Lynch, the other RB selected in this year’s opening round, have tended to get lost in the shuffle. Lynch, though, has put up some decent numbers of his own, rushing for over 450 yards in just 6 games to date which puts him on pace to total over 1,200 yards this fall. And Lynch faced plenty of added pressure when the Bills hosted Baltimore this past Sunday. Not only did he have to go against the rugged Ravens’ defense without much in the way of a passing threat to open things up, but across the way was former Bills’ RB Willis McGahee, whom Buffalo traded to Baltimore last March. And while Lynch didn’t put up big numbers against the Ravens on Sunday it was enough to frustrate the Ravens and helped the struggling Bills to a big 16-9 upset win. On the day, Lynch ran for 84 yards on 27 carries one of which was a physical 4-yard TD run. Lynch also added another 14 yards on 3 receptions. That was enough to win Lynch this week’s GBN ’Rookie of the Week’ award winner in what was an otherwise uninspiring week or this year’s rookie class. And what of McGahee; he did pile up 114 yards on 19 carries, including a 46-yard TD bolt, but raised some eyebrows when he was a no-show in crunch time when he was reportedly suffering from dehydration. Lynch’s performance was that much more impressive because the Bills are also starting a rookie QB – 3rd rounder Trent Edwards – and threw the ball only when they had as Edwards completed just 11 of 21 passes for 153 yards and no scores while he had an interception.

There were also more than a few eyebrows raised in Dallas when the Vikings’ Peterson only got 12 carries in a very tight loss to the Cowboys after the former Oklahoma star ran for over 200 yards last week. Peterson, in fact, averaged over 5 yards per carry on those limited carries as he had 63 rushing yards to push his league-leading total to 673 yards. Peterson, though, did lose a fumble which set up a Dallas score. Tennessee RB Chris Henry, a second round pick this year, also had a breakout game of sorts as he piled up 57 yards and a TD on just 11 carries to help the Titans to that dramatic 38-36 win over Houston, while St. Louis’ Brian Leonard had 44 yards on 12 carries in the Rams’ dismal loss in Seattle. Meanwhile, Kansas City WR Dwayne Bowe, the 23rd pick this year who leads all rookie receivers to date this year, led the rookie receivers this weekend with 84 yards on 3 catches, including a 58-yarder, in the Chiefs’ tight 12-10 over Oakland. Going the other way, Raiders’ second-round TE had 4 receptions for 48 yards, as did Chicago first round TE Greg Olsen in the Bears’ last second win over Philadelphia.

On the other side of the ball, there mush have times on Sunday when San Francisco MLB Patrick Willis, the 11th player selected overall this year, thought he was back at Ole Miss. In his college days, Willis wasn’t always surrounded by a whole lot of talent and must have felt at times as if he was out there by himself. Same story on Sunday in New York when Willis had 13 tackles against the Giants but didn’t get much help otherwise as the 49ers were trampled 33-9. Meanwhile, Giants’ CB Aaron Ross, the 20th player selected this year, had 8 tackles of his own on Sunday including a sack. Washington FS Laron Landry, the 6th player taken this past April, was also all over the field posting 9 tackles in the Commanders’ 21-19 win over Arizona, while Pittsburgh DE Lamarr Woodley, a second round pick, Minnesota 4th round DE Brian Robison and Indianapolis undrafted rookie free agent DT Ed Johnson all had sacks in their respective games. Robison’s sack, in fact, was his 4th on the year, which ties him with Houston DT Amobi Okoye for the lead among rookies to date. Not to be outdone, Robison’s former Texas DE partner Tim Crowder, a second round pick this year by Denver, returned a fumble 50-yards for a sore to help the Broncos upend the Steelers. And New Orleans’ undrafted rookie free agent RB Pierre Thomas had a career moment when he scored on a 24-yard run in the Saints’ win over Atlanta.

2007 weekly winners:

Week I: Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson
Week II: Houston DT Amobi Okoye
Week III: Baltimore KR Yamon Figurs
Week IV: Kansas City WR Dwayne Bowe
Week V: New York Giants CB Aaron Ross
Week VI: Minnesota RB Adrian Peterson
 
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