25 best Offensive Rookie of the Year winners ranked by playing career

25 best Offensive Rookie of the Year winners ranked by playing career: 8. Tony Dorsett – Dallas Cowboys

Tony Dorsett was great everywhere he played. He was great in college, getting into the College Football Hall of Fame, he was great for the Cowboys, getting into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and he even moved into second all-time in rushing for a career with his final few seasons with the Denver Broncos.

Dorsett won the Rookie of the Year award with 1,007 yards and 12 touchdowns in his first season. He rushed for 1,000 yards in eight of his first nine seasons. In the ninth season, he actually led the NFL in rushing in a strike-shortened season. The Cowboys had themselves a workhorse, and he was more than willing to take the ball over and over again.

Dorsett found the end zone in many different ways. Of his 91 touchdowns, 77 came on the ground. That was obviously where he did his most damage, but he added 13 touchdowns through the air. He kept opposing defenses on their heels because he could do a little bit of everything. He even took a fumble into the end zone once.

Dorsett’s rookie season is probably his most special because he took over the starting job and helped the Cowboys win the Super Bowl. He won the National Championship in college football the season before, the first to ever win those in back-to-back seasons. Dorsett’s career was great, and it’s hard to think of a better fit for this era of Cowboys football.