Detroit Lions’ Kerby Joseph nominated for Rookie of the Week

Today is election day in the United States, but as Detroit Lions fans, your voting responsibilities don’t end when you leave the polls, because safety Kerby Joseph has been nominated for Rookie of the Week.

Joseph finished Week 10 with several career marks, including 10 tackles, three passes defended, and two interceptions—joining an exclusive group of defensive backs to pick off Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers multiple times in a game. No surprise, Joseph won our Game Ball with a whopping 95% of the vote.

Joseph’s competition this week includes:

• RB Kenneth Walker, Seahawks: 109 rushing yards, 2 TDs
• RB Dameon Pierce, Texans: 139 rushing yards
• RB Tyler Allgeier, Falcons: 123 scrimmage yards
• TE Cade Otten, Bucs: 5 receptions, 68 yards, game-winning TD
• CB Sauce Gardner, Jets: 7 tackles, 1 interception, 1 pass defended
• S Kerby Joseph, Lions: 10 tackles, 2 interceptions, 3 passes defended

This may seem like a gimmie win for Joseph, as statistically, he is far ahead of the group, but Jets fans have been showing up in these polls so far this season. In the eight weeks this award has been handed out, a Jets rookie has won six (!) times, and Gardner himself has already won twice.

So, don’t let the Jets fans win this week. Make sure you vote—you can do it multiple times—and help Joseph bring home a well-deserved award.

VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE!

Looking toward the future, things appear bright for this young defense. It may surprise some that this is actually the fourth time in eight games that a Lions rookie defender has been nominated for Rookie of the Week. EDGE Aidan Hutchinson has been nominated for the award twice, after Week 2 and 7, while linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez was nominated following Week 8.

Listening to coaches and players gush over Joseph, further points to this just being the tip of the iceberg for what he, and the defense, can accomplish.

Coach Dan Campbell:

“Kerby’s been—for three weeks now—he has not come off the field and we’re just letting him grow, but he’s been so close. I swear every week, we talk about, ‘Man, he is (close).’ The first time he missed one of those interceptions, he was about an inch away, and then the next one he was about half an inch away, and so now, he’s starting to feel it. He’s got some instincts to him. Some ball hog instincts, that was good to see.”

Quarterback Jared Goff on Joseph:

“Kerby obviously, having a tremendous game. But we’ve seen that from him, he’s a great instinctive player. And it was only a matter of time before it showed up on the field and he got his chances and certainly made the most of them.”

EDGE Aidan Hutchinson:

“Kerby was balling out. Kerby’s a turnover machine so we love it.”

Safety DeShon Elliott:

“Kerb a big-ass kid. He’s a big-ass athletic freak kid. I think Kerb is gonna be playing in this league for a very long time. I’m so proud of that boy.”

Even Kerby himself humorously points to this just being the beginning:

Alright, make sure to vote for Joseph:

VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE! — VOTE HERE!