Cushing Two-Steps His Way to Defensive Rookie of the Year

The votes are in and the Houston Texans rookie linebacker Brian Cushing has easily won the Defensive Rookie of the Year in the NFL. The Texans selected Cushing with the 15th overall selection in the 2009 draft and it was easy to see early on that Cushing was well worth that selection and more.

Health was always an issue for the talented former Trojan who plays the game with a ton of physicality, but has also shown a very high football acumen that helped him achieve this award. The 6' 3" 245# pound Cushing is now part of one of the best young linebacker corps in the league which also boasts (MLB) DeMeco Ryans and (OLB) Zach Diles. The award was an easy handout with the sort of stats that Cushing compiled his rookie season where he compiled 134 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions. Though the Texans didn't finish going into the playoffs, but did finish with their first winning record of the franchise's young history. With the help of Cushing and the other very talented young team the Texans will be in the playoffs talk for the next few years to come.

Buffalo Bills (S) Jarius Byrd finished a distant second, but had a very good year on his own. Leading all rookies with 9 interceptions which was also tied for tops in the league. Former Cushing college teammate Clay Matthews Jr and Brian Orakpo finished 3rd and 4th respectively.