NFC Defensive Rookie of the Year Needs To Be Handed Out Already

When was the last time you can remember a Rookie of the Year award going to someone drafted in the seventh round?

Mike Anderson won in 2000, but he was drafted in the sixth round.

You have to go all the way back to 1980 when Buddy Curry and Al Richardson shared the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. Both played linebacker for the Atlanta Falcons. Curry drafted from University of North Carolina, Richardson from Georgia Tech. Curry was drafted in the second round while Richardson was drafted in the eighth.

Fast-forward to the year of today. Chris Horton, the unlikely starter, much less star, of the Washington Redskins' defense, was picked in the seventh round out of UCLA and is making every moment of his professional career count. As a safety, Horton has compiled some very impressive stats.

• 42 tackles, including 33 solo
• 1 sack
• 3 interceptions
• 5 passes deflected

While these may not seem like overwhelming stats, his play on the field is what gets him the most headlines. He swarms the ball. He has made numerous well-timed hits to cause a drop. He is not afraid to attack the line of scrimmage and mix it up with the best offensive lineman to take out a ball carrier.

However, one stat that sticks out in my mind is he has more tackles than Joey Porter and more solo tackles than Terrell Suggs or Julian Peterson. He has as many interceptions as Troy Polomalu, Asante Samuel, or DeAngelo Hall, who also just joined the Redskins, and as many assisted tackles as Lance Briggs.

Chris Horton has all the tools to be a well-rounded safety in the NFL for years to come. Great job on the part of Vinny Cerrato and—I cannot believe I'm saying this—Dan Snyder to see the talent hidden beneath the sea of hopeful eyes just trying to make the NFL.

I believe Horton to be the real deal and if I were Snyder, the man with all the money, Horton would be locked into a seven year deal so quick it would make his head spin.

In the wake of losing Sean Taylor, the Redskins needed a safety to step up and remind them of that style of playing. It came with the 249th overall pick, in the seventh round of this year's draft. It came in the name of Chris Horton.