Jets now have odds-on favorites for NFL Offensive Rookie of Year (Breece Hall) and Defensive Rookie of Year (Sauce Gardner)
The New York Jets now have both Rookie of the Year favorites.
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Just twice in NFL history has a team had the Offensive Rookie of the Year and Defensive Rookie of the Year in the same season: Detroit in 1967 (Mel Farr and Lem Barney) and New Orleans in 2017 (Alvin Kamara and Marshon Lattimore). It may happen again this year as the New York Jets now have the betting favorites at DraftKings for both. Running back Breece Hall (+275) and cornerback Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner (+300) both lead their respective categories.
Houston running back Dameon Pierce was the betting favorite for OROY entering Week 6, but we told you last week that he might lose that role because the Texans were off. Hall, the No. 36 overall pick in the draft out of Iowa State and first running back off the board, rushed for a career-high 116 yards on 20 carries with a touchdown in Sunday's 27-10 upset win in Green Bay. Hall even did a Lambeau Leap into a crowd of Jets fans.
"We actually talked about it before the game," Hall said about leaping into the crowd. "We were like, whichever one scored, we have to do the Lambeau Leap. [Braxton Berrios] got the first one, but I don't think there were any Jets fans on the side he scored on. So when I scored, I had to do it."
Overall, Hall has rushed for 391 yards and three scores (averaging an excellent 5.1 yards per carry), and has caught 19 passes for 218 yards and a score. He's ninth in the league in yards from scrimmage.
Gardner was the No. 4 overall pick out of the University of Cincinnati. He has 23 tackles with eight passes defended and a pick. Gardner donned a cheesehead after Sunday's win, a gift from a Jets fan. Alas, Gardner ran to the wrong tunnel while leaving the field and was caught from behind by Green Bay's Allen Lazard. The Packers wide receiver knocked Gardner's cheesehead off, creating a moment that went viral on social media. Lattimore was the last cornerback to win DROY.
"Sauce, that's a cool name. It's just a little competitive spirit," Lazard said of why he knocked it off. "Nothing too harmful in that aspect or anything. I'm sure he probably would've done the same thing if I was wearing a Jets hat or helmet walking off their field, so that's just the competitiveness in me. No disrespect to him."
Led by their two rookies, the Jets are a surprising 4-2, tying their win total of last season. This is the first time the Jets have been at least two games over .500 since the 2015 season when they finished 10-6. New York has the longest playoff drought in the NFL, having last made the postseason in 2010. The Jets are -300 to make the playoffs currently with No at +230.
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