The top guys we chose on offense and defense should run away with these awards, but stranger things have happened.

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Almost led the Rams to a playoff berth, but either way had a great rookie year—3512 yards, 18 TDs, with 15 picks.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—Along with their QB, these two guys are probably the biggest reason the Patriots are 14-2. Check out these combined numbers – 87 catches, 1109 yards, 16 touchdowns. For two rookies!

3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Finished with 11 touchdowns and was a big reason the Bucs became relevant again this season.

4. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Can someone explain to me how this guy fell to the second half of the third round of last April’s draft?

5. Christopher Ivory, New Orleans Saints—In just 12 games, had 716 yards and 5 scores

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Led all DTs with 10 sacks, but more importantly, earned the respect of everyone and had O-coordinators having to game plan against him.

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—Finished with 7 picks and 82 total tackles.

3. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—With Cassel, Charles and Bowe, the Chiefs now have a game-changer on defense too.

4. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—65 tackles and 6 picks on a team that is going to be really good in a year or two.

5. Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants—Everyone wondered what the Giants would do with another defensive end, but this kid exceeded everyone’s expectations.