PFF Rookie of the Year Rankings (Final) (4 Saints finish top 9)

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2. Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints
PFF Grade: 89.9
PFF Elite Stat: Opposing quarterbacks had just a 45.3 passer rating when targeting Lattimore’s coverage this year, the third-best mark among corners.

Lattimore finishes the year ranked seventh among cornerbacks in terms of overall grade after he posted game grades of at least 70.0 in eight of 13 games this season – passing the 80.0 mark in seven of them. The first corner selected on draft day was one of just 12 cornerbacks this season to not surrender a touchdown while among that group, the 451 snaps he spent in coverage were the second-most. Lattimore allowed a first down or touchdown on just 27.9 percent of the targets into his coverage this season, the 19th-best rate among corners. Like White, he also excelled at disrupting passes, with his 22.1 forced incompletion percentage ranking 15th and also like White, is a key reason as to why the Saints are hosting a playoff game this season.

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4. Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints
PFF Grade: 90.6
PFF Elite Stat: Kamara led all running backs with a 108.5 elusive rating in 2017.
Kamara just gets edged out by Hunt for PFFs Offensive Rookie of the Year honors but that’s by no means a slight to him, the battle between him and Hunt was as close as Monday night’s Rose Bowl and there are plenty of things you can point to if you wanted to make the case for Kamara. The rookie out of Tennessee ranks second among running backs in terms of overall grade, ninth in rushing grade and second in receiving grade – he was a true force with the ball in his hands this season, no matter how it got there. Kamara picked up a first down or touchdown on 34.2 percent of his carries this season – a rate that led all running backs – and he ranked second among backs with a stuff rate (a stuff is a run that goes for zero or fewer yards) of just 14.2 percent. The rookie completely revolutionized New Orleans’ offense once Adrian Peterson had departed and he teamed up with Mark Ingram to give New Orleans arguably the most productive backfield in all of football this season.

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5. Ryan Ramczyk, OT, New Orleans Saints
PFF Grade: 83.5
PFF Elite Stat: Ramczyk ranks 11th among tackles with a 96.6 pass-blocking efficiency rating. The only offensive lineman to even sniff this list all season, Ramczyk didn’t miss a single snap all year and he ranked as the eighth-best tackle in 2017 in terms of overall grade. The rookie out of Wisconsin was a huge reason why Drew Brees faced pressure on just 22.6 percent of his dropbacks this year, the lowest rate among quarterbacks. Ramczyk was one of just seven tackles this season to post grades of at least 80.0 as both a run-blocker and pass-protector and he finished 13 games this season with a grade of at least 70.0.

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9. Marcus Williams, S, New Orleans Saints
PFF Grade: 86.5
PFF Elite Stat: Williams surrendered just 0.13 yards per snap in coverage this season, the third-best rate by a safety. Williams has been a virtual main-stay on the honorable mention section of this race all throughout the season, finally cracking the top-10 in the season’s final update, giving the Saints a 40 percent ownership stake in this list. Williams ends his rookie year ranked 13th among safeties in terms of overall grade and he’s 1-of-15 safeties to have earned marks of at least 80.0 in both coverage and run-defense. Against the run, Williams excelled as a safety net on the back end of New Orleans’ defense, earning a negative grade this year on just 0.6 percent of his run-defense snaps, a rate that leads safeties and is over 500 percent better than the league average. In coverage, he ranks 14th among safeties with a 23.1 forced incompletion percentage.

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