Stock Up
Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell
The defense was the star of the show early in the 2019 NFL Draft. After Kyler Murray came off the board with the first pick, a slew of future NFL rookies from the defensive side followed. Talented Ohio State pass rusher Nick Bosa was taken second. Dominant defensive tackle Quinnen Williams went third, and sideline-to-sideline linebacker Devin White rounded out the top 5. All three were seen as sure-fire future stars.
Then there was the player kicking off the NFL Rookie Stock Report for Week 10: former Clemson Tigers pass rusher Clelin Ferrell. The fourth overall selection to the Oakland Raiders was seen as a shock. It’s not that Ferrell wasn’t a first-round talent, necessarily, but that the top 5 was a reach. It had been somewhat of a slow start for Ferrell, but he broke out in a big way Thursday. Ferrell reminded everyone what he can do out there, to the tune of 8 tackles, 5 pressures, 3 QB hits, and 2.5 sacks.
Not to be outdone was Raiders teammate and fellow NFL rookie Maxx Crosby. Crosby was far less heralded coming into the league than his teammate Ferrell. A fourth-round selection, Crosby was seen more as a depth player, where Ferrell could be a difference-maker. Crosby showed Thursday that he can be quite the difference-maker himself.
The two combined for 15 quarterback pressures, with Crosby notching 10 himself. Crosby added another 3 QB hits and a half-sack. They were completely dominant, and the pressure resulted in Philip Rivers nearly throwing as many interceptions as he has children.
Daniel Jones and Darius Slayton
Many people mocked the New York Giants for taking Daniel Jones in the first round as their heir apparent to Eli Manning. Myself included. Jones plays over the past couple of weeks, however, he has proven those skeptics wrong, in a big way. Jones has proven more than capable of taking the reigns and leading his team. It’s not always pretty, and there have been — and will continue to be — bumps in the road. But his rookie season is impressive nonetheless.
That impressiveness continued on Sunday. Jones’ skeptics will shout “But it was the Jets!”, but he did exactly what you want any quarterback — let alone NFL rookies at QB — to do against a bad team. Jones torched them. Sunday was Jones’ second 300-yard passing performance in the last three games, and his second 4-TD performance in the same span. Half of those touchdowns going to his favorite target, Darius Slayton.
Slayton has emerged as a legitimate number 1 receiver this season for the Giants and is putting together impressive numbers as an NFL rookie in his own right. Slayton topped 100 yards for the first time on Sunday and hauled in two of Daniel Jones’ 4 touchdown passes. That effort was good enough to land Slayton an OSM grade of 34.74, good for 23rd out of 47 qualifying wide receivers.
