Ezekiel Elliott, Joey Bosa earn 1st rookie of the year awards from PFWA

The Pro Football Writers Association named their rookie awards on Tuesday afternoon, with the rookie of the year, offensive and defensive rookies of the year, as well as the All-Rookie team.

Unsurprisingly, Ezekiel Elliott was named the PFWA Rookie of the Year, as well as the Offensive Rookie of the Year. His college teammate, Joey Bosa, was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year.

Elliott had a spectacular season behind a menacing Cowboys offensive line. In 15 games, Elliott had 1,631 rushing yards on 322 carries, finding the end zone 15 times for Jason Garrett’s offense. He also had over 350 receiving yards and a touchdown. That was good enough to get him named to the PFWA’s All-NFL team, too. Elliott’s teammate Dak Prescott was named to the All-Rookie team as well.

Bosa missed the Chargers’ first four games because of a hamstring injury. He made up for his absence when he finally stepped on the field in Week 5, having two sacks and four tackles in his first NFL game. He finished the season with 10.5 sacks, one of the best in the NFL.

This likely won’t be the last time we hear their names called for rookie awards, with the “NFL Honors” set for Feb. 4. Elliott and Bosa are the front-runners for those honors, as well.

Outside of Elliott and Bosa, other Ohio State Buckeyes from their historic 2016 draft class named to the team were Michael Thomas of the Saints, and Taylor Decker of the Lions.

Other notable players named to the All-Rookie team include Jalen Ramsey of the Jacksonville Jaguars, and the speedy Tyreek Hill of the Kansas City Chiefs.

The full 2016 PFWA All-Rookie team:

Offense

QB – Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

RB – Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas Cowboys; Jordan Howard, Chicago Bears

WR – Sterling Shepard, New York Giants; Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

TE – Hunter Henry, San Diego Chargers

C – Cody Whitehair, Chicago Bears

G – Joe Thuney, New England Patriots; Laremy Tunsil, Miami Dolphins

T – Jack Conklin, Tennessee Titans; Taylor Decker, Detroit Lions

Defense

DL – Joey Bosa, San Diego Chargers; DeForest Buckner, San Francisco 49ers; Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs; Yannick Ngakoue, Jacksonville Jaguars

LB – Jatavis Brown, San Diego Chargers; Leonard Floyd, Chicago Bears; Deion Jones, Atlanta Falcons

CB – Vernon Hargreaves III, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Jalen Ramsey, Jacksonville Jaguars

S – Karl Joseph, Oakland Raiders; Keanu Neal, Atlanta Falcons

Special Teams

PK – Wil Lutz, New Orleans Saints

P – Riley Dixon, Denver Broncos

KR – Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

PR – Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs

ST – Tyreek Hill, Kansas City Chiefs