Joey Bosa Named PFWA Defensive Rookie of the Year

The Professional Writers of America announced their rookie awards on Tuesday. Three Chargers rookies were honored, with Joey Bosa bringing home the Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

Along with Bosa, Jatavis Brown and Hunter Henry were selected to the PFWA All-Rookie Team.

This should be one of many awards that Bosa is going to take home this off-season. Bosa has only played in twelve games in his short career, but there is already an argument he is the Chargers best defensive player.

In just 12 games, Bosa recorded 41 tackles and 10.5 sacks. The numbers alone are staggering, but the impact he had off the stat sheet was even more impressive. He turned the Chargers defense around and took a ton of pressure off of the offense to win games.

Bosa wasn’t the only rookie to make a big impact for the Chargers last season. Linebacker Jatavis Brown and tight end Hunter Henry had successful rookie campaigns.

A second-round pick, Henry is seen as the heir apparent to Antonio Gates. Early on in the year, Henry seemed poised for a phenomenal year. Sadly, he was hurt for a stretch and was oddly pushed out of the game plan. Still, Henry had a solid season hauling in eight touchdowns for 478 yards.

Alike Henry, Brown had a brilliant stretch of play but was slowed down by an injury. Buried in the depth chart early on in the season, it took a few injuries for Brown to get on the field. Once he was on the field, he was effective. Brown used his speed to stop the run and cover tight ends and running backs in the passing game. In only 12 games, Brown lead the team in tackles with 79.