As was expected, DeMeco Ryans was the runaway winner of the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, receiving 36 of 50 votes.
The Texans in the second half of the Texans-Browns game showed the above graphic on their jumbotron, and the crowd gave a standing ovation. He really was the only consistency in a Texans season that showed little of it.
There are very few players who could succeed no matter what situation that they were put into. For him to excel as the middle linebacker in a new system with mostly players acquired for the previous season's 3-4 is remarkable.
He was picked first in the second round, and despite his obvious intelligence and impressive college career, allegedly his draft stock slipped due to concerns about "athleticism." At the time of the draft, I thought that was odd, because at least by combine measures, he was pretty amazing.
When it was time for the Texans to make their second pick, they let no clock time elapse before taking Ryans. The Texans personnel people have taken a lot of heat for some of their decisions, but they get kudos for this one.
Photo: Andy Martin, www.TexansBullPen.com
