The NFL’s two best rookie receivers will take the field today, with first place in the NFC South up for grabs.
Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka and Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan have been the two best rookie receivers in the league all season, and through 16 games, their stats are almost identical.
Egbuka has 62 catches for 930 yards and six touchdowns.
McMillan has 66 catches for 929 yards and seven touchdowns.
Early in the season, Egbuka was the favorite to win the NFL’s offensive rookie of the year award. As the season has gone on, Egbuka’s numbers and his team’s fortunes have declined, while McMillan and the Panthers have improved, and now McMillan is the betting favorite to win rookie of the year.
Only one of them will make the playoffs. If McMillan’s Panthers win or tie today, they win the NFC South. The Panthers would also win the NFC South if the Falcons win tomorrow. For Egbuka and the Buccaneers to win the NFC South, they need to win today and the Falcons need to lose tomorrow.
Egbuka and McMillan can both make a good closing argument today that they deserve to be the offensive rookie of the year. Egbuka’s team, however, will be rooting for another offensive rookie of the year candidate, Saints quarterback Tyler Shough, having a big game tomorrow and upsetting the Falcons. A Saints win could earn Shough the rookie of the year award, and Egbuka would likely take that deal.
