Tag: NFL Awards

2025 NFL Awards Predictions

I give my picks for each of the 2025 NFL season’s year-end awards, with plenty of chalk and surprises to go around.

Cover photo taken from The SportsRush.

Most Valuable Player: Patrick Mahomes

Boring, isn’t it? I know, I know. But, to put it plainly, it just feels like it’s his time again. This season screams 2022 for the Chiefs in my eyes: a year where everyone wrote them off before Mahomes ripped off an MVP season and they won the Super Bowl. More on that later, though. Even with Rashee Rice being suspended for the first six games of the year, I think this Kansas City offense is going to be much improved from a year ago thanks to way better pass protection and a less reckless Mahomes. He’s going to get back to his usual ways and have an efficient and productive season to claim this award for the third time in his illustrious young career.

Offensive Player of the Year: Derrick Henry

As much as I wanted to give OPOY to one of the younger backs in the league like Jahmyr Gibbs or Bijan Robinson, sometimes you’ve gotta trust the vets. Henry has shown no signs of slowing down and is once again going to reap the benefits of playing in the perfect offense for him. He could very easily have another 1,800-plus yard, 15-plus touchdown season because of how dynamic his backfield is with Lamar Jackson at quarterback. Plus, I’ve got this sneaky feeling that the Ravens wind up being the top team in the league this year, in which case Lamar could win MVP again. But, since I’m giving that to Patrick, I’ll give OPOY to the King.

Defensive Player of the Year: Will Anderson Jr.

This feels like the year that Anderson breaks out and emerges as one of the league’s elite pass-rushers. He’s been flirting with greatness ever since he was drafted with seven sacks as rookie followed up by 11 last season. 2025 just feels like where the fun begins. It helps to have another star pass rusher on the other end of the line in Danielle Hunter. I can see a world where Anderson leads the league in sacks with a number close to 20, anchoring what could be the best defense in the league. I can even see this award going to his teammate Derek Stingley Jr. if he winds up being the best player on that side of the ball. In any case, this Texans defense is going to be awesome again, and I think that materializes in someone in Houston taking home some hardware.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Ashton Jeanty

Again, it’s a little chalky, but it’s hard to say no to Jeanty right now. Cam Ward is in a tricky spot, there’s no clear-cut star WR that can take it and all the other sleepers are sleepers for a reason. It feels like Jeanty’s award to lose. He’s in a perfect situation and an offense that’s going to rely on him a ton. He’ll be an every-down bellcow who will get 20-25 touches a game and likely put up the best numbers we’ve seen from a rookie back since Ezekiel Elliott and Saquon Barkley at the end of the 2010s.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Mike Green

This award could honestly go an infinite number of ways. The safe pick is Abdul Carter, the flashy pick is Travis Hunter and there’s numerous talented first-rounders that could take it home. For some reason, Green’s name is calling out to me. Maybe it’s the fact that he’s a first-round talent that was an absolute steal for Baltimore in the second round. Maybe it’s the fact that the Ravens will be playing in a number of highly-profiled standalone games where Green will be able to make a name for himself. Maybe it was me blindly throwing a dart at a board. But I think he’ll have a high sack total on a great team, and that’ll be enough to get him the votes.

Comeback Player of the Year: Aidan Hutchinson

Yes, we like quarterbacks. JJ McCarthy and Dak Prescott each have a great shot to win this award because they’re both in positions to put up some really good numbers in elite offenses. But, sometimes the story is what wins this one. And for Hutch to come back from a horribly gruesome leg injury and put up the numbers that we know he can, I feel like it’d have to go to him. Could that injury deter him from being on the crazy run he was on before getting hurt last year? Maybe. But I’ll choose the route of optimism and say that he’ll be close to the league lead in sacks again — a testament to resilience, strength and mental fortitude.

Protector of the Year: Lane Johnson

Oh look, a new award! I’m fond of this one — I think it’s dope that offensive linemen will be recognized with some hardware, because they’ve eternally been the unsung heroes of football. Imagine if this was around when Orlando Pace or Anthony Muñoz were playing. In any case, this one goes to Lane Johnson as a combination of another dominant season at RT in Philadelphia and a bit of a lifetime achievement award for being one of the league’s best tackles for over a decade. Are there better, younger LTs out there? Maybe. If a guy like Tristan Wirfs took this home, you’d hear no argument from me. But this is the type of award that a guy like Johnson deserves for being so damn good for so damn long.

Coach of the Year: Matt LaFleur

I had very high hopes for the Packers this season before they traded for Micah Parsons. Now, those hopes have gone skyward. I think they’re going to make a real push at the 1-seed in the NFC and contend for a Super Bowl. With that being said, I’ll take LaFleur to take this award home as the head coach of the team that feels destined to make the most headlines in 2025. While I’m not the fondest of him, I think his offense is going to be really good this season, and his defense should be vastly improved. If Green Bay winds up as a top-two seed come January, the award should be his.

2023 NFL Awards Predictions

I give my picks for the 2023 NFL award winners, from some chalk selections to some surprising ones.

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.