NEW ORLEANS -- The Seattle Seahawks would have been thrilled before the 2012 season if someone had told them quarterback Russell Wilson would finish third in offensive rookie of the year balloting.
They had reason to expect better after Wilson arguably outperformed Robert Griffin III and Andrew Luck while leading the Seahawks within 31 seconds of the NFC Championship Game.
Griffin got 29 votes to win the award. Luck drew 11. Wilson finished with 10.
The chart shows regular-season stats for Wilson, Griffin and the other Pro Bowl quarterbacks from the NFC (Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers were the others).
Griffin was certainly a strong candidate even if Wilson was better by season's end. He was more productive than Wilson early in the season and played at a high level consistently before suffering a knee injury late in the year. Wilson was better over the second half of the season and in the playoffs.