The end of the regular season is in the not-too-distant future and Rookie of the Year honors will soon be dispersed. It is important to provide some context to the race as it is different from a year ago.
In 2021, Chargers left tackle Rashawn Slater and Chiefs center Creed Humphrey were playing at elite levels for their respective positions, but everyone knew the Offensive Rookie of the Year honor was going to Bengals wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase. Chase was dominant at his position. Each of those players was elite.
As the situation currently sits, Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner is the only rookie playing at an elite level. Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen and Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson are putting together impressive stat packages, but Gardner is the best rookie on that side of the ball. On offense, it is a three-horse race between Jets wide receiver Garrett Wilson, Saints wide receiver Chris Olave and Falcons wide receiver Drake London. All three have been very good, but not up to the level of Chase a year ago; in fairness, Chase had a much better quarterback situation than any of the three rookie wide receivers mentioned.
Beyond those six rookies, there is a bucket of good players who could seemingly rotate off-and-on the power rankings each week.
These rankings are not based on statistical performance but rather overall play. Without further ado, here are the cumulative regular-season rookie rankings following Week 12:
Week 11 Rookie Rankings
