Handing out Baltimore Ravens midseason awards (MVP, OPOY, DPOY, and more)

Baltimore Ravens Rookie of the Year: Zay Flowers

This one is pretty obvious. First, who else would win this award? Trenton Simpson is active solely because of special teams. Tavius Robinson has played 214 snaps, but last week, he played just nine. The addition of Kyle Van Noy and the return of Odafe Oweh have pushed him aside, and when he was on the field, fans were screaming for an upgrade. 

Kyu Blue Kelly is no longer on the roster, and Sala Amuave-Laulu has not been active this season. The obvious answer is Flowers. This is not to say that Flowers has had a bad season, either. 

Flowers is second among NFL rookies in targets and catches. However, he is fourth in yards and ninth out of 14 qualified rookies in yards per route run. That is because his average depth of target is 11th, and 30% of his targets are screens. No player, rookie, or veteran has more targets on screen passes than Zay Flowers.

Flowers has been great, but now they need to see him take another step and show what he can do as a route runner down the field.