Shawne Merriman wins Defensive Rookie award NEW YORK (AP) -- Shawne Merriman's relentless style of play made an immediate mark in the NFL, earning him The Associated Press Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
The San Diego linebacker, known as "Lights Out" for his hard hits and aggressive demeanor, received 28 1/2 votes Wednesday from a nationwide panel of sports writers and broadcasters who cover the league. He easily beat Seattle linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who got 16 1/2 .
All the players receiving votes played linebacker in some form this season. Behind Merriman and Tatupu were Odell Thurman of Cincinnati with four votes and DaMarcus Ware of Dallas with one.
I am happy as a Charger fan that Merriman got it, but I think Tatupu deserved the award... Merriman really benefited from a big game in week 15 in both the probowl and DROY, but there were better choices for both in my opinion...
I agree that Tatupu deserved it more. Merriman's main job was to rush the passer and help stop the run, while Tatupu had to make plays in all aspects - coverage, run stopping, and pass rushing - not to mention that he made the defensive calls as the middle linebacker.
Merriman made a lot of plays, but it seems like it was more of an award for his contributions in beating the Colts than for the season.
awwchrist wrote:If anyone cares to defend this, I'm open to listen. I really can't say I've watched a lot of SD's defensive players this year.
All I can say is I've seen Tatupu on every play this season. And looking at the stats, I can't see how one Merriman tackle equals two of Lofa's.
The only thing I can think of (besides the Indy game) is that Merriman didn't start the first 5 or so games and even in games where he didn't make many tackles, he made a lot of "impact tackles" (i.e. tackles for loss, touchdown saving tackles, sportscenter style tackles)... I say Tatupu deserves it because of consistency, but when Merriman played, he was pretty dominant...
awwchrist wrote:All I can say is I've seen Tatupu on every play this season. And looking at the stats, I can't see how one Merriman tackle equals two of Lofa's.
Toputo had more tackles (105) to (57), but Merriman isn't a legitimate LB. He's more of a hybrid DE/LB.
Just comparing tackles isn't really relevant. Tutupu is more of a real LB...meaning more tackles, more INTs, less sacks, less FF, and less Sportscenter.
It's tough to compare different positions unless the stats heavily skew one way.
Well Merriman's game against the colts is what won this award for him. When he played, I think that Merriman was the best defensive rookie this year, but the fact that he missed so many games should have affected the results. It's close between the two in my opinion, closer than the vote shows, thats for sure.
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by jjdub » Wed Jan 04, 2006 3:06 pm 
