Justin Jefferson had a solid case for the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year. No one outside of Los Angeles would have argued if he had won the award.
But no one outside of Minnesota should have a problem with the player who won it.
The Associated Press announced Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert as the official winner of the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award. It denied Jefferson of becoming the first receiver to win the award since then-Giants receiver Odell Beckham Jr. in 2014.
Herbert instead became the first Chargers’ player to win the award since running back Don Woods in 1974.
Herbert received 41 of the 50 votes, with Jefferson getting the other nine.
“I think it is a testament to all the hard work we have put in as a team, the coaching staff and the players,” Herbert told the Associated Press. “It’s been a tough year, but we put in a lot of good work, but just to be in the conversation [for the award] is an honor.”
Herbert, as the sixth overall selection, was the third quarterback off the board behind Joe Burrow and Tua Tagovailoa. He stepped into the big shoes of Philip Rivers and proved more than capable of replacing the Chargers’ great.
Herbert set rookie records for total touchdowns (36), passing touchdowns (31), completions (396), multi-passing touchdown games (10), games with 300 yards passing (eight) and three-passing touchdown games (six). He was just 39 yards short of Andrew Luck’s rookie record of 4,374 yards passing.