Oakland Raiders: 2017 regular season team awards
By John Buhler
Rookie of the Year: Nicholas Morrow
A big reason for the Raiders’ struggles this fall was the massively underwhelming draft class assembled by general manager Reggie McKenzie. The top-two picks of cornerback Gareon Conley and safety Obi Melifonwu rarely played due to injury. Third-round pick in defensive tackle Eddie Vanderdoes would sadly get hurt in Week 17. Fourth-round pick in offensive tackle David Sharpe played sparingly until forced into action after Vadal Alexander suffered a concussion in Week 16.
It was a terrible year for most of the Raiders rookies. Here’s to many of them making that leap in year two. However, there was one guy on the Silver and Black that shined most magnificently in his rookie year. That would be former undrafted rookie inside linebacker Nicholas Morrow out of Division III Greenville College. He proved every week that he could compete with anybody on an NFL gridiron.
Morrow made the team out of camp and quickly usurped fellow rookie Marquel Lee as the best young inside linebacker on the team. The position was so depleted for the Raiders that McKenzie wisely decided to sign former San Francisco 49ers inside linebacker NaVorro Bowman after he was cut by the 49ers in Week 6. Nobody benefited more by Bowman’s arrival in Oakland than Morrow.
In his rookie season, Morrow played in 16 games and started in five of them. He finished with 37 tackles, 20 assists and four pass breakups. Where Morrow was really at his best as a rookie was in pass coverage. He had the speed and the physicality to contain all sorts of receivers that would go inside the numbers. Morrow soaked up all of Bowman’s knowledge like a sponge. There is a great chance he will really pop in year two playing under a new coaching staff.