Denver Broncos: Surtain, Williams exclusion from Pepsi ROY ballot makes sense
The Denver Broncos found stars in the 2021 NFL Draft, but none of them were considered for Pepsi Rookie of the Year.
For the Denver Broncos, rookie cornerback Patrick Surtain and running back Javonte Williams were a lot of fun to watch. Unfortunately, neither of them are in the final top-6 in voting and therefore will not win the award.
The players who remain on the list and in contention for the award are Patriots quarterback Mac Jones, Dolphins wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, Steelers running back Najee Harris, Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons, Bengals wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase, and Falcons tight end Kyle Pitts.
Notice that there is a grand total of one defensive player on this list. Parsons had a tremendous year for the Cowboys, generating 84 tackles and 13 sacks in the regular season. As well as Surtain performed as a rookie for the Denver Broncos, getting overlooked by Parsons makes a ton of sense.
Surtain finished the year 58 tackles, four interceptions and one interception for a touchdown. Surtain had two interceptions against the Los Angeles Chargers in the same game.
Unfortunately, Harris’ inclusion on the list over Williams is the right call, too. Harris had 1,200 rushing yards and seven touchdowns for the Steelers as a rookie and averaged 70.5 rushing yards per game, compared to Williams’ 903 rushing yards, 53.1 rushing yards per game average and four touchdowns. In all honesty, it’s tremendous that Williams had that many yards considering he shared the backfield with Melvin Gordon and had just 15 yards less than Gordon on the same number of carries.
Obviously, you can make a case for all of these players winning Rookie of the Year. It would not surprise me if Mac Jones won simply because he’s a quarterback, but I think that Harris or Parsons should be the winner.
You can make an argument that the voters ignored the Broncos talented rookies but at the end of the day, these other stars are very deserving to still be in the running.