New York vs. Cleveland.
While it may not have the same pizazz as longtime civic rivalries with towns such as Boston and Pittsburgh, it is one that has quite a long and storied history.
You have the Yankees vs. Indians battles of yesteryear—and again most recently in the 2000’s—as well as the Browns vs. the Giants back in the early days of the old NFL championship era. And now, we may have another one in the making almost 70 years and another millennium in the making.
With the 2018-19 NFL regular season now in the books, both top overall pick in Cleveland Browns QB Baker Mayfield and New York Giants RB phenom Saquon Barkley have made legitimate arguments in claiming NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Despite falling short versus fellow rookie—and Heisman Trophy winner—Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens, 26-24, Mayfield threw for 374 yards and three touchdowns. Mayfield’s third—and final—touchdown pass broke the single-season passing touchdowns mark by a rookie (26) that was jointed held by Peyton Manning and Russell Wilson.
For the year, Mayfield finished with 3,725 passing yards—sixth-best in NFL history—27 touchdowns and 14 interceptions along with a passer rating of 93.7 and completing 63.8 percent of his passes.
On the other side, there is the former do-it-all running back out of Penn State in Barkley who rushed for 1,307 yards on 261 carries and 11 touchdowns on the ground and caught 91 passes—most ever by a rookie running back, and surpassing Reggie Bush’s old record of 89—for 721 yards and four touchdowns in the air. Barkley became the third-ever rookie running back to amass 2,000 total yards from scrimmage (2,028) joining Eric Dickerson and Edgerrin James.
Both players have solid and valid arguments. Neither choice is wrong, the question is, how will YOU vote!
Please vote, per the choices below!
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