Tag: Coach of the Year

Cover photo taken from NY Post.

Most Valuable Player: Patrick Mahomes

Every single season that Patrick Mahomes plays in this league, I will pick him to win MVP. To suggest anything else is foolish.

And let’s be real, even if someone else ends up having a surge that wins them an MVP like Jalen Hurts almost had last year, we all know Mahomes is the best player in football. He’s the best player I’ve ever seen, and the best quarterback to ever throw a pass on an NFL field.

He’s entering his second year with a lot of the new weapons he was throwing to in 2022, he still has Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid is still dialing up the plays. There’s no reason why he shouldn’t have just as good of a season as he did last year — where he threw for 5,250 yards and 41 touchdowns and broke the single-season record for total yards — if not a better one.

Considering that the Chiefs will likely once again be the 1 seed in the AFC, and there really isn’t any other choice for MVP.

Offensive Player of the Year: Ja’Marr Chase

I don’t have it on the record, but my predictions for Justin Jefferson in 2022 were perfect. I told everyone I knew with a No. 1 overall pick in fantasy to take him because he was going to post insane numbers and win the OPOY award. Nobody listened, of course.

I was right, of course.

This year, my crystal ball points me to none other than his former LSU teammate Ja’Marr Chase, who might just be my favorite player in the NFL. If you still haven’t drafted yet, I’d ask you what you’re doing, but then I’d tell you to take him if you have the No. 1 pick. Chase has had an incredible start to his career with an incredible rookie year in 2021 and a 2022 season that saw him catch 87 passes for 1,046 yards and 9 touchdowns despite missing five games due to injury.

He has proven himself as one of the top receivers in the league, and his repertoire with Joe Burrow makes them one of the deadliest duos we’ve seen. If Chase stays healthy this season, he’ll have his best year ever. Even in an offense littered with playmakers, Chase stands out as the top weapon. In his third year — just like Jefferson was last year — I think he’ll put together the best season of any receiver in the league.

Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Bosa

In my opinion, Nick Bosa is the best defensive player in the league and the second best player in football. What he has done in his four years in the NFL thus far — 43 sacks in 51 games — is nothing short of remarkable, especially considering he missed almost all of 2020 with an ACL tear. It all culminated in an 18.5-sack DPOY campaign in 2022 and a fresh $170 million bag, making him the highest paid non-quarterback in NFL history. So why not make it back-to-back?

Bosa isn’t going to slow down just because he got paid. After all, he is the star edge rusher on the best defense in football. I don’t see him slowing down at all. In fact, I think it’s very possible that he could make a run for Michael Strahan/T.J. Watt’s single-season record of 22.5 sacks. There are some very talented pass-rushers in this league — Watt, Micah Parsons, Myles Garrett to name a few — but Bosa stands out above the rest, and I think we’re in for his best season yet.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jaxon Smith-Njigba

Biased pick? Maybe. But I’m not going to apologize.

I went into the draft saying that JSN was the best non-QB on the board, and I still believe that was the case. Although he hurt his wrist in the preseason, he doesn’t look like he’s going to miss any time. And although Seattle has two other great receivers in DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, I think the Ohio State product is going to rise to the top as Geno Smith’s favorite target in this prolific offense, making catches left and right with his precise route-running and using his shiftiness after the catch to rack up yards.

I just think JSN fits this offense like a glove and provides the type of skillset that will make him extremely deadly. 1,000+ yards is certainly on the table, and although there will be some other offensive rookies with great numbers like Bijan Robinson and Jordan Addison, it’s hard to believe doing that on a playoff team wouldn’t lock up the award.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Will Anderson Jr.

I honestly had no idea where to go with this pick. I feel good about a lot of defensive rookies this year — Joey Porter Jr., Devon Witherspoon, Emmanuel Forbes, Christian Gonzalez, Jalen Carter, and so many others. But I settled on Will Anderson because I think he’s in a situation where he can thrive more than anyone else.

He’s the guy off the edge for Houston, and he was hand-picked by new head coach Demeco Ryans because he knew that Anderson could be molded into one of the premier pass rushers in the NFL. Under the tutelage of Ryans, I think the former Alabama star is going to wreak havoc, especially in a division littered with terrible offensive lines. He has a real chance to get upwards of 15 sacks, which should easily land him this award.

Comeback Player of the Year: Damar Hamlin

This is a pretty simple calculus. The first snap Damar Hamlin plays in 2023 will win him this award.

After collapsing on the field in Week 17 of last year against the Bengals and nearly losing his life, Hamlin made the 53-man roster in Buffalo and is going to return to the field for the start of this year. That’s just incredible. The entire sports world rallied behind Hamlin when he first went down, and it’s going to be quite the sight when he goes in for his first snap. His ability to recover and bounce back from such a scary incident is really inspiring.

I personally don’t know if I’d ever play football again if something like that happened to me. But Damar Hamlin is coming back, and that fact alone should win him this award.

Coach of the Year: Doug Pederson

As I said yesterday, I think the Jaguars are going to take a massive leap in year two under Doug Pederson. They’re my AFC 3 seed, and I think they can make a real push at both the 1 seed and even the Super Bowl. Those are things I have never said about the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Pederson’s first season was a resounding success as the Jags won the division and a playoff game before being bounced by the eventual-champs in Kansas City. With an improved offense behind Trevor Lawrence, who is only getting better, and a defense that’s continuing to develop, the Jags will be at the forefront of NFL discussions all year long.

If they beat some of the top teams on their schedule and finish in front of teams like Cincinnati, Baltimore, Buffalo, or the New York Jets in the standings, then Pederson should have this on lock.