NFL Rookie of the Year 2015: Preview and Predictions Before Awards Show

Some of the league's worst teams will take home hardware at the 2015 NFL Honors awards show.

Call it the nature of the beast.

Bad teams land high picks in the NFL draft. If all goes according to plan, those highly regarded first-year players explode onto the scene, help improve the team and take home some individual accolades in the process.

Overcoming the plan is possible. Odell Beckham Jr. started the year hurt and then captured the imagination of a globe. Khalil Mack started elite, stayed elite and ended elite but wound up overshadowed by a rookie quarterback.

So it goes.

Regardless, the league's top rookie talent will attend Saturday's spectacle (9 p.m. ET on NBC). The top rookie honors figure to shake out as follows.

Offensive Rookie of the Year Predictions

1. Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants 

James Kenney/Associated Press

Observers know Beckham by now after a delayed debut.

The LSU product appeared in just 12 games this year yet caught 91 passes for 1,305 yards and 12 touchdowns.

Look at it this way. Beckham caught a minimum of eight passes eight times. He broke the 100-yard barrier seven times. He scored multiple touchdowns in four games.

Feel free to sprinkle in a jaw-dropping revelation, too:

To be fair, the New York Giants won just six games in 2014. Other rookie wideouts such as Mike Evans in Tampa Bay accomplished impressive feats with much worse quarterback situations.

Showmanship, though, certainly does not hurt, as Pro Football on ESPN captures:

Had Beckham's numbers come over the course of a full 16 games, then this award would be more debatable.

They didn't, so Beckham is the easy choice.

2. Jeremy Hill, RB, Cincinnati Bengals

AJ Mast/Associated Press

Lost in the negativity of a fourth consecutive postseason one-and-done effort by the Cincinnati Bengals is the fact that a former teammate of Beckham's rules the talk around the trophy, too.

Jeremy Hill ripped the starting gig from the clutches of Giovani Bernard around November and never really looked back.

Hill bulldozed his way to 1,124 yards and nine scores on a 5.1 yards-per-carry average. These gaudy totals came despite defenses not fearing the passing game thanks to Andy Dalton under center and injuries to names such as A.J. Green, Marvin Jones and Tyler Eifert.

In fact, had it not been for Hill's efforts, Cincinnati would have probably missed the postseason outright.

If you ask Hill, though, even he agrees the award belongs to Beckham:

Similarly to Beckham, one can only imagine how the race would have played out if Hill had started all 16 games.

Regardless, a one-two finish for the former Tigers standouts is not a bad result. 

Honorable Mentions: Mike Evans, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Kelvin Benjamin, WR, Carolina Panthers; Sammy Watkins, WR, Buffalo Bills; Jordan Matthews, WR, Philadelphia Eagles.

Defensive Rookie of the Year Predictions

1. Khalil Mack, OLB, Oakland Raiders 

Quick—name the top 4-3 outside linebacker in the NFL.

At least according to Pro Football Focus, it's Mack, who finished the season with four sacks, 10 hits and 40 hurries. He ranks above Von Miller, Lavonte David, Bruce Irvin and DeAndre Levy, to name a few.

Mack did this on a three-win team in the middle of one of the league's most significant rebuilds.

Many have been quick to crown Mack as a result:

Mack makes the flashy plays when it comes to rushing passers. The decision is not an easy one, though, thanks to a dominant interior lineman in St. Louis.

2. Aaron Donald, DT, St. Louis Rams

USA TODAY Sports

Aaron Donald, the No. 13 overall pick in the 2014 NFL draft by the St. Louis Rams, is one of those picks teams will kick themselves for passing on in hindsight. 

Donald exploded onto the pro scene, quite literally, by amassing nine sacks, six quarterback hits and 29 hurries while ranking as the league's top interior lineman at PFF.

Again, Donald wreaked this havoc from the interior of the line. There are only a handful of guys in the league, such as Cincinnati's Geno Atkins, who can pull off such a feat.

For the Professional Football Writers of America, Donald's campaign is enough to award him some hardware:

Really, whoever walks to the podium and reels in the award Saturday deserves the honor. Both Mack and Donald feature uncanny skill sets that transcend schemes and opposition alike.

It's enough to make even the most seasoned NFL quarterbacks worry about what the two will accomplish in the years ahead.

Honorable Mentions: C.J. Mosley, ILB, Baltimore Ravens; Kyle Fuller, CB, Chicago Bears; Anthony Barr, OLB, Minnesota Vikings.

Stats courtesy of NFL.com. Advanced metrics via Pro Football Focus.