Raider Rookie Michael Huff for ROY

Does Rookie Safety Michael Huff stand a shot at defensive Rookie of the year honors? Maybe. Let's take a look at some of the past winners.

2005 - Shawne Merriman, LB San Diego
Merriman had 43 tackles and 10 sacks. He was a first round pick and was picked 12th overall.

2004 - Jonathan Vilma, LB NY Jets
Vilma racked up 77 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 interceptions. He was a first round pick and was also picked 12th overall.

2003 - Terrell Suggs, LB Baltimore
Suggs had 19 tackles, 12 sacks and 1 interception. Suggs was a first round pick and was picked 10th overall.

2002 - Julius Peppers, DE Carolina
Peppers had 28 tackles, 12 sacks and 1 interception. He was a first rounder and was the 2nd overall pick.

2001 - Kendrell Bell, LB Pittsburg
Bell had 70 tackles and 9 sacks. He was picked in the second round and was the 39th overall pick.

2000 - Brian Urlacher, LB Chicago
Urlacher had 98 tackles, 8 sacks and 2 interceptions. Urlacher was a first round pick and was picked 9th overall.

1999 - Jevon Kearse, DE Tennessee
Kearse had 48 tackles and 14.5 sacks. Jevon was another first round pick who was selected 16th overall.

1998 - Charles Woodson, CB Oakland
Woodson had 59 tackles and 5 interceptions. C. Wood was a first round pick and was the 4 selection overall.

C. Wood was the last defensive back to win the defensive rookie of the year award. This award seems to heavily favor LBs and DEs.

Since 1967, here is how many times each position has won the honor.
LB - 19
DE- 8
DT- 5
CB- 5
S- 2

Based on history, it seems unlikely that Huff will earn the award but it has been done twice by safeties and Huff is a rare talent. The trend also shows that first round picks are more likely to win the award. The only exception since 1998 was Bell and he was a high second round pick.

Maybe our second round pick, LB Thomas Howard, will have a shot? He was drafted 38th overall which is a spot ahead of where Pittsburg took Bell in 2001.

Other than Bell, the latest a Defensive ROY has been selected overall is 16th. Let's look at the defenders chosen in this year's top 16 picks.

1 Mario Williams, DE Houston
5 A.J. Hawk, LB Green Bay
7 Michael Huff, SS Oakland
8 Donte Whitner, SS Buffalo
9 Ernie Sims, LB Detroit
12 Haloti Ngata, DT Baltimore
13 Kamerion Wimbley, DE Cleveland
14 Brodrick Bunkley, DT Philadelphia
15 Tye Hill, CB St. Louis
16 Jason Allen, CB Miami

Wow, that's a big group. Historically speaking, the defensive ROY will come from this bunch of players.

Mario Williams is a great talent but how many sacks will he get when his team is always behind and the opponents are running the ball to drain the game clock? Don't get me wrong, he is talented but for him to get the award, his team will need to force the opponents into passing situations which would take a big year for David Carr.

Hawk is talented and could be a huge factor in the blitzing schemes. If he can get some sacks, he would have a good chance at the defensive ROY award. A.J. Hawk should have a pretty good shot at the award but I'm still not sold on Donte Whitner. He was a stretch and probably shouldn't be in this group.

Ernie Sims is another guy that has a good shot and Detroit could use a guy like him to step up.
Ngata is another potential candidate. He plays on a stacked defense and will get some of the Raven's defensive attitude. His only problem will be that he is a run stuffer and sacks are what help defensive linemen win this award.

The same situation will apply for Wimbley as did for Mario Williams. Cleveland does have some offensive talent if they can stay healthy.

Bunkley...no, I don't think so. I have a gut feeling that his guy might be a first round flop but only time will tell.

As for our CBs at 15 and 16, sorry, you're not as good as Charles Woodson was and it takes extreme talent to win the award as a defensive back.

So the initial question still remains. Will Huff earn Defensive ROY honors? I think he still can even with the historical evidence and the defensive strength of this year's draft. He can at least match Woodson's rookie numbers and is a high enough pick to have enough hype to win the award. Let's hope he lives up to the number 24 he has chosen to wear.