Windy City Gridiron
The Chicago Bears’ rookies have featured heavily in their improbable season, helping propel the team to its first playoff win in fifteen years. In order to celebrate their accomplishments, here is a brief summary of the major awards and acknowledgments members of the class have received. Just as a note, though this summary does not include awards that give everyone a ribbon, so to speak (for example, Pro Football Focus is sure to highlight each team’s “most impactful rookie”, so their selection for that award is not mentioned here).
“Why did Chicago take this guy instead of Tyler Warren?” and “The Bears have Cole Kmet!” should probably be a thing of the past by now. The farm-strong phenom out of Michigan just became only the second rookie tight end in the Super Bowl era to have at least 100 receiving yards in a playoff game. In the regular season, he’s tied for the most touchdowns by a tight end from his class and third in receiving yards. Sumer Sports lists him as having the most yards per route run of any tight end in his class, and eighth overall.
For the Numbers named him to their All-Rookie team at tight end, noting that he had the best DYAR and DVOA once adjusted for usage. They also mentioned his blocking, specifically, in relation to Warren.
Sports Info Solutions also named him to their All-Rookie 2nd-team, behind Tyler Warren. By contrast, ESPN also named him to their All-Rookie 2nd-team, behind Harold Fannin. The Athletic named him as a runner-up to their All-Rookie team (paywall).
He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week (Week 9) for his performance against Bengals–which also earned him the Nickelodeon Valuable Player of the Week. His Week 18 play earned him the Offensive Rookie award for that week.
Burden got off to a slow start in a crowded receiver room, but once he got going, he has made an impact. He’s in the top ten of all receivers for yards per route run, and he’s the top rookie in yards per route run for all receivers with at least fifty routes. He has the third most receiving yards of any receiver drafted in his class.
People noticed. He was named to Sports Info Solutions All-Rookie Team (1st-team), and shared the same status with on the ESPN All-Rookie Team. Pro Football Focus placed him on their Rookie Team of the Year (and he had their highest grade of all rookie receivers). The Athletic named him a runner-up to their All-Rookie team and noted he was second among all rookie wide receivers in first downs per target.
Hopefully, the young man from Boston College recovers from his injury, because he was able to step up when his number was called, and his presence at left tackle was valuable. In a rookie class crowded with multiple tackle selections, he held his own despite being the eighth...
