NFL All-Rookie Team 2018

Special teams

K: Michael Badgley

P: Michael Dickson

RS: Tremon Smith

ST: Chris Board

I went with Michael Badgley as my place-kicker, having gone 18 of 19 on field goal attempts with his lone miss coming from 52 yards, and 27 of 28 on extra points since the Chargers chose to go with him in week six. Hopefully, he will finally solve their kicking issues, which have cost them several games in recent years.

Punter might have been the easiest choice of all and that’s crazy to say when you have generational talents at guard with Quenton Nelson and running back with Saquon Barkley. Johnny Hekker is probably the only guy at the position I would take over Michael Dickson, who is second in the league in average yards per punt and is allowing just 13.3 yards per return when taking over kickoff duties.

Since some of the guys I liked returning kicks didn’t really qualify due to a lack of attempts, such as Cleveland’s Antonio Callaway, I checked out the average numbers and referred to Pro Football Focus. Tremon Smith is one of only two returners to earn a grade above 90 and he is averaging 26.8 yards per kick return. However, Tyreek Hill is still fielding punts for the Chiefs.

Special teamers are by far the hardest category to evaluate. There are no statistics for guys blowing up an upback on the kick-return team or freeing up a teammate rushing the punt next to him. With that being said, I went with one of the most productive guys in the Ravens’ Chris Board.

The rookie recorded 12 special teams tackles, played 80 percent of those snaps and when a guy makes the roster at linebacker when they already have C.J. Mosley, Patrick Onwuasor, Kenny Young and all those outside guys, that tells me a lot.