The NFL’s best offensive and defensive player through Week 4

October is here, which means so is playoff baseball. What a wonderful time to be alive.

As the fall fully arrives (hopefully cooler weather will follow), we can finally start to draw legitimate conclusions about who each NFL team is here in 2024.

A month’s worth of data is in our hands and while that is still not enough to fully freak out it is certainly a strong enough set for us to say things with a point of conviction.

This is the premise of today’s edition of The Skinny Post. We, as in Michael Peterson and RJ Ochoa, are going through things that we believe in firmly, even if they upset you.

Let’s party.

Who are your Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Month for September?

Michael:

We’ve seen some great rookie performances thus far through the first four weeks.

Offensively, it’s tough not to go Jayden Daniels for all the reasons we touched on above. If it wasn’t Daniels, I think it has to be Giants wideout Malik Nabers. He currently leads the NFL with 35 receptions and sits second in the league in yards and touchdowns with 386 and three, respectively. He’s winning with his elite athleticism and I am pretty sure he’s going to be a problem in this league for a long time.

Defensively, let’s roll with Rams edge rusher Jared Verse. He’s only got one sack, but he’s been wreaking havoc with five tackles for loss in four games. I don’t think many defensive rookies have been as exceptional as their offensive counterparts, but Verse has done enough to be ranked tied for third in TFLs this year.

RJ:

Forgive me for being boring, but it is very difficult to disagree with Michael here.

We have noted that Daniels has been on absolute fire to start his career. Dare I say he is the greatest player in the Washington franchise’s brief history as the Commanders.

As it relates to Verse though… he may “only” have one sack, but he is top 5 in the league in pressure rate on opposing quarterbacks. This isn’t top 5 among rookies. We are talking about top 5 across the entire NFL. Only Myles Garrett, Will McDonald IV, Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson Jr. are ahead of him. That is a weird list, but it’s true!

It is hilarious that the Rams did not have a first-round pick in forever and that the very first one was amazing. Such is life.

The Baltimore Ravens remain very much for real

RJ:

This annoys me greatly as the Dallas Cowboys person around these parts, but we have a tendency as a football society to make everything about playoff success.

Obviously the playoffs matter. Clearly they matter the most. But we throw away full regular seasons because reasons, and that is so stupid when it is the majority of games played across what an NFL season actually is.

Consider the Baltimore Ravens as an example. We act like the facts that they have a two-time MVP winner in Lamar Jackson, resident rushing king at his side now in Derrick Henry with all-world talent all over the place and a head coach who has already won the Super Bowl are all meaningless in a relative sense. Baltimore has not gotten it done in the most critical moments as of late, but my goodness they are solid.

The Ravens flexed their muscles yet again on Sunday Night Football in their thrashing of the then-undefeated Buffalo Bills. It is not an overreaction to say that they are one of the best 2-2 teams ever. Literally ever!

It is a long season and much will change before the calendar even reads November, but I am so impressed with how they have become exactly what we feared they would by adding Henry. It isn’t easy to continually be great or live up to expectations like that.

Michael:

The NFL has all but laid a death sentence on teams that start the season 0-2 in regards to their postseason chances. Since 1990, 279 teams have lost their first two games to begin a season. Only 32 of them have come back to make the postseason. That’s roughly 11.5 percent. With that in mind, I think it’s fair that some believed the Ravens’ season was already a wash after the 0-2 start, especially after one of those teams they lost to was the lowly Raiders (somehow they’re 2-2 as well?).

Here’s the thing: The more I cover the NFL, the more and more I realize it’s all just insanity and no one knows anything until the regular season finally ends. So much can happen, and the craziest of things actually DO happen more often than you’d expect.

The Ravens have been one of the winningest teams of the last decade. John Harbaugh is a hell of a coach and even when the Ravens look terrible, it’s never for much longer than that one week. If I were a betting man at this very moment, I’d be picking the Ravens to win the North and then some.

Is this referee conspiracy involving Shawn Smith legit or simply a crazy coincidence?

Michael:

So Shawn Smith was the head official for Chargers-Chiefs on Sunday.

Since 2018, he ranks No. 1 in road team win percentage (see tweet below). The Chiefs were the road team and they were called for five penalties to the Chargers’ nine. From the very beginning, the flags were raining against Los Angeles. Almost every drive began with a penalty and it seemed as if the Chargers faced a first-and-15, second-and-18, etc., every time they got a new possession. Granted this was a new starting five configuration for the offensive line, but it seemed like a weird amount of imploding for a group that still had over 232 combined career starts to their name.

In the end, the Chargers were not built to constantly dig themselves out of these holes they put themselves in as they ultimately went scoreless through the final 45 minutes of regulation. They were a bad offensive football team for the majority of the night and honestly, the flags just added insult to injury.

So do I think there’s a bigger situation going on behind the scenes here? Absolutely not. I’m not THAT much of a homer. But it’s still interesting that things went the way history said it was going to.

RJ:

My personal opinion is that people often dismiss things like this as being purely homer sort of takes. But more often than not I think there is at the very least a kernel of truth to them.

Michael raised my curiosity in noting the amount of drives that were impacted by penalty. Five of the first eight possessions for the Chargers had some sort of penalty involved. That is over 50%! And the first drive, the only touchdown-scoring one, did not. Hmm.

I’m not sure that I would go as far as saying there is some sort of conspiracy going on here, but it at the very least highlights how officials need to calm down a bit. Not to make this whole discussion super homer, but did you watch Thursday night’s Dallas Cowboys game? It was insane how many penalties there were on both sides.

Maybe this is just the result of it being the first four weeks of the season and time being necessary for things to be properly ironed out. Whether you are upset about this or not though, it isn’t fun to watch.

Washington might be contending for more than just the NFC East

RJ:

I’m not prepared to offer a full on Take on Caleb Williams yet, but I am very certain that Jayden Daniels is a dude. Washington looks like the real deal.

For the most part, recent division titles for that franchise have come when everyone else in the group is experiencing pure and utter chaos. This Commanders squad feels different than the iterations the franchise has offered before. They are dominating people and their rookie quarterback is a big reason why.

Much has been made about how infrequently the Commanders are punting in the Daniels era. While he may not be throwing for 400 yards a game, history tells us that the best rookie quarterbacks understand how important taking care of the football is. Look at C.J. Stroud last year, or Dak Prescott during his rookie season. They entered the NFL with incredible poise and understanding and their teams benefitted from it.

Daniels’ Commanders look very equipped to be serious players this season, even despite the fact that the NFC East is falling all over themselves. He is the future and he is here.

Michael:

As someone who definitely forgot about Jayden Daniels in this rookie class for awhile due to all the Caleb Williams hype, this has been really cool to see. Daniels has been crushing it and it’s especially notable when contrasted with the preseason expectations set forth for the Commanders. They were not supposed to be that great! But alas, here were are. They’re 3-1 and at the top of their division.

What Daniels is doing as far as his accuracy through the first four games is tremendous. I don’t think anyone thought the Commanders skill group was going to be amazing this year, but they’re all coming together and playing a synergistic type of football that is elevating them all at the same time.

The Commanders are officially this year’s Texans. They’re young, fun to watch, and unless they’re in your division, you’re probably rooting for them in neutral matchups every time.