When the Denver Broncos drafted Bradley Chubb fifth-overall in the 2018 NFL Draft, the consensus was that they got the best defensive player coming out of college. Oddsmakers in Las Vegas agreed, giving Chubb the best odds of winning Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
#LasVegas Wise guys from Bovada are bullish on @astronaut's chances of winning defensive rookie of the year honors #Denver7 pic.twitter.com/gzQrv2ASWa
— Troy Renck (@TroyRenck) August 15, 2018
Chubb is off to an up and down start. He was sealed off by tight end Kyle Rudolph last week that sprung Latavius Murray for a 20 yard run, but came back a few plays later at the goal line to blow up Rudolph off the line to stop Murray short.
Defensive Coordinator Joe Woods thought Chubb came out afraid to make a mistake, but after encouragement to turn it loose Chubb began making those plays.
“The thing with Bradley, he was really kind of a little nervous and afraid to make a mistake,” Woods said. “I was like, ‘Hey man, you’ve got to cut it lose. Don’t worry about the mistakes, we’ll fix the mistakes. You just play hard.’”
Chubb is already ahead of Shane Ray on the depth chart and will start opposite of Von Miller in the regular season. That gives him a good shot at competing for this Defensive Rookie of the Year award.
Do you think Chubb will do well enough to win it?