Every year, the Pro Football Writers Association (PFWA) puts out their All-Rookie Team, highlighting the best rookies at every position. I blogged my mid-season All-Rookie Team following their format, and had been updating my spreadsheet throughout the season based on their performances. PFWA released their All-Rookie Team, and I have some thoughts. I mostly agreed with their selections, so I’m going to give a breakdown of their team vs. my team.

2019 PFWA ALL-ROOKIE TEAM

Offense

Quarterback: Kyler Murray, Arizona Cardinals

Running back: Josh Jacobs, Oakland Raiders

Running back: Miles Sanders, Philadelphia Eagles

Wide receiver: A.J. Brown, Tennessee Titans

Wide receiver: Terry McLaurin, Washington Redskins

Tight end: Noah Fant, Denver Broncos

Center: Erik McCoy, New Orleans Saints

Guard: Elgton Jenkins, Green Bay Packers

Guard: Dalton Risner, Denver Broncos

Tackle: Tytus Howard, Houston Texans

Tackle: Jawaan Taylor, Jacksonville Jaguars

Not too many issues here on offense. Murray started all 16 games and looked pretty good. Fans are pining for Gardner Minshew for the spot, but he was benched mid-season when Nick Foles came back, but he then earned back the starting job. Daniel Jones put up big numbers, but had growing pains as a fumbling rookie.

QB Rankings: Murray, Minshew, Jones, Drew Lock, Dwayne Haskins

The second running back spot was tough, as the top spot was obviously Josh Jacobs. David Montgomery had more yards, and he was part of the offense most of the year. Devin Singletary missed a few games, but looked super explosive, especially in the playoffs. But the spot deservedly goes to Miles Sanders. He flashed as a dual-threat back as a runner and pass catcher and was the focal point of the Eagles offense late in the season.

RB Rankings: Jacobs, Sanders, Singletary, Montgomery, Alexander Mattison

Wide receiver really evolved as the season progressed. A.J. Brown really turned it on starting November and finished with over 1,000 yards, and may win Offensive Rookie of the Year. Terry McLaurin was the most consistent receiver throughout the year, and put up very similar stats to the guy who just missed the spot, D.K. Metcalf. If it wasn’t for Brown’s second half, it would be Metcalf by a mile. This class of rookie receivers was phenomenal, one of the best I’ve seen in years.

WR Rankings: Brown, McLaurin, Metcalf, Deebo Samuel, Diontae Johnson, Mecole Hardman, Marquise Brown, Darius Slayton, Hunter Renfrow, Bisi Johnson

While the wide receivers were great this year, the same can’t be said for the tight ends. PFWA and I gave the spot to Noah Fant, who only had a few hot weeks, but that’s all he really needed. T.J. Hockenson had a great Week 1 performance, then did nothing the rest of the season before getting hurt.

TE Rankings: Fant, Irv Smith Jr., Hockenson, Dawson Knox, Foster Moreau

The center position was tough, but I made the switch from Garrett Bradbury to Erik McCoy. Both started all 16 games for their teams, but I referred to PFF grades to go with McCoy. The only other rookies to start at center were both undrafted. Ravens’ Patrick Mekari started the final five games and playoffs in place of Matt Skura, and Raiders’ Andre James, who started one game in place of Rodney Hudson.

C Rankings: McCoy, Bradbury, Mekari

At guard, I stuck with Risner and Jenkins from my mid-season picks, and ended up being correct. Risner started all 16 games, and Jenkins took over the starting job in Week 3 and was great. Michael Deiter started all 16 games at left guard for the Dolphins, Max Scharping took over as the starter in Week 3 for the Texans, and Nate Davis did the same in Week 5 for the Titans. Other rookies throughout the league made spot starts, and may turn into regular starters next season.

G Rankings: Risner, Jenkins, Michael Deiter (MIA-16), Max Scharping (HOU-14), Nate Davis (TEN-12), David Edwards (LAR-8), Michael Jordan (CIN-9), Shaq Calhoun (MIA-6)

I have an issue with PFWA’s pick of offensive tackle. I agree with Jawaan Taylor, who fell out of the first round to the Jaguars and started all 16 games at right tackle. The other spot, Texans first-rounder Tytus Howard only started 8 games before suffering a season-ending injury. He also wasn’t the Week 1 starter, and didn’t start at tackle until Week 3. The spot should go to Kaleb McGary, first-rounder of the Falcons. While the Falcons don’t have a great line (which is why they took two o-lineman in the first round), McGary started all 16 games at right tackle, and deserves the spot over Howard.

T Rankings: Taylor, McGary, Cody Ford, Howard, Bobby Evans, Dennis Daley

Defense

Defensive line: Josh Allen, Jacksonville Jaguars

Defensive line: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers

Defensive line: Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants

Defensive line: Ed Oliver, Buffalo Bills

Linebacker: Devin Bush, Pittsburgh Steelers

Linebacker: Devin White, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Linebacker: Dre Greenlaw, San Francisco 49ers

Cornerback: Chauncey Gardner-Johnson, New Orleans Saints

Cornerback: Sean Murphy-Bunting, Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Safety: Darnell Savage, Green Bay Packers

Safety: Juan Thornhill, Kansas City Chiefs

On the defensive line, three of the four spots were givens with Allen, Bosa, and Lawrence, but the fourth spot kept changing for me. I initially had Brian Burns of the Panthers, who had a great year with 7.5 sacks, then after his four-sack performance in Week 11, gave the spot to Maxx Crosby of the Raiders, who finished second among rookies with 10 sacks. But after a slow start to the season, Ed Oliver really turned it on for the Bills and was the disruptive force that made him the ninth overall pick.

DL Rankings: Bosa, Allen, Lawrence, Crosby, Burns, Oliver, Montez Sweat, Chase Winovich, Quinnen Williams

Much like the draft projections, the top two linebackers were sure-fire stars, then a drop off from there. The Devins, Bush and White, were superstars for the teams, so the third spot is obviously a drop off from them, but still talented. I initially had Cole Holcomb, the tackling machine of the Redskins, Bobby Okereke, the playmaker in Indy, and even Mack Wilson of the Browns. But based on his play in the final stretch, filling in at a position of need due to injury, and making the play to make his team the one-seed, the spot deservedly goes to Dre Greenlaw.

LB Rankings: Bush, White, Holcomb, Greenlaw, Okereke, Wilson, Jahlani Tavai, Germaine Pratt

The cornerback position was by far the toughest to predict, and I got both wrong. For one, I thought Gardner-Johnson was a safety and it was tough to get him on the team, but we’ll get to that later. Also, like I mentioned in the mid-season team, like the draft, there was no clear cut top corner. My mid-season prediction was Byron Murphy and Deandre Baker, the top two corners selected. By the end of the season, I kept Murphy and went with a Tampa corner, not the guy selected, but Jamel Dean, who had much better stats, including a rookie-leading 19 pass breakups and two interceptions, and was the highest-graded rookie CB. Murphy-Bunting had three picks, twice as many tackles, 11 pass breakups, and third-highest PFF grade, so I’m not too fed up over the selection. I’m really not offended by the selections, this was super tough to predict. No rookie corner had a great year, but some unexpected guys had great years.

CB Rankings: Dean, Murphy, Nik Needham, Murphy-Bunting, Rock Ya-Sin, Trayvon Mullen, Deandre Baker, Greedy Williams

Unlike the cornerbacks, the rookie safeties were great this year. I guessed correctly mid-season and throughout the season with Juan Thornhill and Darnell Savage. It was really tough to keep Taylor Rapp and Chauncey Gardner-Johnson off the list, but had to follow my gut, and was right.

S Rankings: Thornhill, Savage, Rapp, Gardner-Johnson, Marquise Blair, Khari Willis

Special Teams

Placekicker: Austin Seibert, Cleveland Browns

Punter: Jamie Gillan, Cleveland Browns

Kickoff returner: Mecole Hardman, Kansas City Chiefs

Punt returner: Deonte Harris, New Orleans Saints

Special teams: Drue Tranquill, Los Angeles Chargers

I’m not going to complain about the special teams selections. I had Matt Gay of the Bucs and Jake Bailey of the Pats at kicker and punter, respectively, but those could’ve gone either way. Hardman and Harris are All-Pros, so obviously they’re getting these spots, and Tranquill led all rookies in special teams tackles and blocked two punts.