NFL Power Rankings Week 7: Rating The Rookie Performances

Quite a few rookies have burst onto the scene this year, and like the past few seasons in the NFL it seems like there is a breakout performance by a rookie week after week.

This season has seen Ndamukong Suh emerge as a threatening presence in the Lions defense, Sam Bradford come to lead the Rams to a 3-3 record, and a number of wide receivers start to make a name for themselves on the field.

With so many rookies stepping up week after week, it has been hard to pull out one as a definite rookie of the year candidate, but one thing that can be determined is the rookie of the week.

So, here are the top five rookie performances of the past weekend.

5. Sam Bradford

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DETROIT - OCTOBER 10: Sam Bradford #8 of the St. Louis Rams drops back to pass during the fourth quarter during the game against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field on October 10, 2010 in Detroit, Michigan. The Lions defeated the Rams 44-6. (Photo by Leon H

Sam Bradford has probably been the most consistent rookie all year, and this weekend was no different.

The number one pick in this year's draft has been a slam dunk so far, and on Sunday against a good San Diego Chargers defense he held his own.

Bradford had his first game without throwing an interception on Sunday, against a Chargers team that had seven interceptions coming into the game, and one that had corners who are always a threat to pick a ball off in Quentin Jammer and Antoine Cason.

He put up his highest QB rating of the season at 87.8 and was 18 for 31 with 198 yards.

Bradford has been consistent enough, and made few enough mistakes to allow their surprisingly good defense to win games for them.

4. Cody Grimm

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TAMPA, FL - JULY 31: Rookie Cody Grimm #35 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers waits to get in on a drill during training camp at One Buccaneer Place on July 31, 2010 in Tampa, Florida. (Photo by J. Meric/Getty Images)

Cody Grimm has gone from walk-on at Virginia Tech, to starter, to seventh-round draft pick and has burst onto the scene in Tampa Bay like a bat out of hell.

Grimm, a linebacker-turned-safety roams the field with reckless abandon and has been working exceptionally well to keep his starting job that he got after Tanard Jackson was suspended for the season.

Last week against the Bengals, Grimm nabbed his first career interception and returned it for an 11-yard touchdown, followed by an awkward touchdown celebration.

This week against the Saints, Grimm grabbed another interception, putting his total at two for the year.

Along with intercepting Drew Brees, Grimm also laid a bone-shattering hit on Chris Ivory (more on him later) to force a fumble.

Grimm also added four tackles and a pass deflection in the game to round out a solid performance at safety for the Bucs.

3. Jermaine Cunningham

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FOXBORO, MA - OCTOBER 17: Rob Ninkovich #50 of the New England Patriots celebrate with teammate Jermaine Cunningham #96 after Ninkovich sack Joe Flacco #5 of the Baltimore Ravens in the first half at Gillette Stadium on October 17, 2010 in Foxboro, Massa

The New England Patriots linebacker is another example of how good the team's brass is at judging talent before it gets to the NFL and putting itself in the position to draft the players it likes.

The Patriots had five rookies, Cunningham, Aaron Hernandez, Rob Gronkowski, Devin McCourty, and Brandon Spikes play the majority of the game. That is why they have been perpetually good over the past decade.

Cunningham was a beast on Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens.

He racked up six tackles, forced a fumble, recorded his first career sack and baited Le'Ron McClain into shoving him to the ground on the Ravens final drive of the game, drawing a personal foul and putting the Ravens on their own 10 and at third and 19.

That penalty allowed the Pats to force the Ravens to punt on their own 19, giving them the ball in good enough position to drive on for the game winning field goal.

That boy deserves some helmet stickers.

2. Colt McCoy

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PITTSBURGH - OCTOBER 17: Colt McCoy #12 of the Cleveland Browns makes a pass against the Pittsburgh Steelers during the game on October 17, 2010 at Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Colt McCoy was given every opportunity to fail on Sunday.

He was playing his first NFL game, manning an unstable Browns offense, and was forced to go up against a daunting Steelers defense.

The scoreboard showed the NFL that the Steelers won that game, but Browns fans got much more from the game, seeing the quarterback that they hope to be the future of their team looking professional and poised in the face of the best defense in the league.

McCoy put up the most passing yards of any quarterback against the Steelers so far this year with 281, and the second highest QB rating at 80.5. He was also quite accurate, completing 23 of 33 passes.

He also threw his first touchdown pass and two interceptions, one of which was a desperation heave at the end of the game.

McCoy has been knocked for his lack of arm strength, something that allowed him to fall to a third round pick, but he showed Sunday that he has the mental state to lead an NFL offense, something that few quarterbacks have.

1. Chris Ivory

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GLENDALE, AZ - OCTOBER 10: Runningback Chris Ivory #29 of the New Orleans Saints runs with the football past Clark Haggans #53 of the Arizona Cardinals during the NFL game at the University of Phoenix Stadium on October 10, 2010 in Glendale, Arizona. Th

Just when you thought the best the running back rookies in the NFL got this year were Ryan Matthews and Jahvid Best getting 50 or 60 yards a game, along came Chris Ivory.

Before this weekend, Ivory had only 119 yards and was averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Now he has 277 yards and is averaging 6.3 yards per carry.

The undrafted rookie out of Division II Tiffin University gobbled up 158 yards on the ground against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday, opening up the passing game for Brees to breeze (yep that was a lame pun) his way to three touchdown passes in a 31-6 rout of Tampa.

Ivory showed the ability to both pound the ball between the tackles and turn on his speed as he turned corners all day against Tampa defenders.

So the question must be posed, can Ivory continue to get playing time after putting up the most yards by a Saints back since Deuce McCallister put up 165 in 2003 after Pierre Thomas and Reggie Bush come back?

after that performance he should.