NFLRT 2/2/2024

The questions and discussion… 

It’s time for the NFL regular season’s awards to be handed out and the finalists for each major award have been made public. With that in mind…

1) The finalists for NFL MVP are: Lamar Jackson (Ravens), Josh Allen (Bills), Christian McCaffrey (49ers), Dak Prescott (Cowboys) and Brock PR( 49ers).

Who is your MVP?  Why?

My MVP is Lamar Jackson. He led a high-powered NFL offense in Baltimore and did so by throwing more than running, which he has been known for.

He totaled almost 4,500 total yards of offense, passed for 3,678 yards, which is 500 more yards than he threw in his 2019 MVP season. He was the leading factor for the Ravens’ offense. While he wasn’t able to lead Baltimore to the Super Bowl, he had a vital part in the successful season they had.

He didn’t have big weapons, had to deal with a major injury to Mark Andrews and still made it work with Likely at tight end. He also had an aging Odell Beckham Jr, a rookie in Zay Flowers, a journeyman in Agholor and still made it work, throwing for 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions. He had his biggest games against his biggest opponents this year, in games against Seattle, Detroit, San Francisco and Miami.

He wins it this year. 

If you define MVP as the player who amasses the best stats then my pick NFL MVP won’t be your MVP. However if you define MVP as the player who was the most important part of a team… the guy who without him playing and performing at a high level the team doesn’t have success… then you will most probably agree with my pick.

And that guy is Lamar Jackson.

His 3,858 yards passing was just 15^th in the league… his 67.2% completion rate was 8^th… his 24 passing TDs was 11^th… although he only threw 7 INTs it wasn’t the lowest total for any starting QB… and his QB rating of 102.7 was third among all starters…

 But in my opinion without Lamar Jackson quarterbacking the Baltimore Ravens this season the team doesn’t make the playoffs or get to the Conference Final.

Jackson is my MVP in the NFL for this season.

2) The finalists for Defensive Player of the Year are: DaRon Bland (Cowboys), Max Crosby (Raiders), Myles Garrett (Browns), Micah Parsons (Cowboys) and T.J. Watt (Steelers).

Who is your Defensive Player of the Year? Why?

TJ Watt was is the Defensive Player of the Year.

He had 19 sacks and 36 quarterback hits which both led the NFL. He was a constant disrupter on defense including forcing four fumbles and had over 50 pressures on the season.

He was a constant animal for the Steelers’ defense and basically willed his way into the backfield all year long. As such a constant disruption and the biggest piece on the Steelers’ defense, he deserves this nod again.  

I’m taking the Browns’ Myles Garrett.

He finished the seson with 14.0 sacks, 17 tackles for loss and forced 4 fumbles.

He was very arguably the heart and soul of the Browns’ defense, and a team leader of the team if not the key leader of the entire team.

He’s my choice for this award.

3) The finalists for Offensive Player of the Year are: Tyreek Hill (Dolphins), Lamar Jackson (Ravens), CeeDee Lamb (Cowboys), Christian McCaffrey (49ers) and Dak Prescott (Cowboys).

Who is your Offensive Player of the Year? Why? 

Offensive Player of the Year goes to San Francisco 49ers’ running back Christian McCaffrey.

He had over 2,000 yards of total offense and was a lock to score a touchdown every week, only not scoring in three games this season, and only recording a single touchdown in eight games this season. Every other game has been a multi-touchdown game, including four touchdowns against Arizona in October. He had a total of 21 touchdowns this year, both rushing and receiving.

He was the vital part of the 49ers’ offense and was the best overall offensive player in the league.

If Tyreek didn’t miss multiple games, or if he was able to reach 2,000 receiving yards, he would’ve been a lock for this award. But since he didn’t, and suffered down the stretch, CMC wins this award pretty easily. 

If Tyreek Hill had stayed healthy and achieved surpassing 2,000 yards receiving for the season which would have obliterated the previous single season record for receiving yards then he would have been a no-brainer for this award.

But since he didn’t I’m going with the player who I consider year in and year out as one of the most explosive players on offense in the game today in Christian McCaffrey.

He led the NFL with 1,475 yards rushing; he led all starting running backs with a 5.4 yard average per shing attempt; he had 67 receptions for another 564 yards giving him 2,039 total yards from scrimmage; he only fumbled the ball twice despite being gang tackled  most times when he was brought down by the opposing defense, and he was tied for the most TDs (as a runner and a receiver) this seson with 21.

He wins this award for the 2023 season.  

4) The finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year are: Will Anderson Jr. (Texans), Jalen Carter (Eagles), Joey Porter Jr. ( Steelers), Kobie Turner (Rams) and Devon Wotherspoon (Seahawks).  

Who is your Defensive Rookie of the Year? Why? 

Defensive Rookie of the Year comes from the rejuvenated Houston Texans’ defense in Will Anderson Jr, who was an absolute animal on the front line for DeMeco Ryans coming out of Alabama.

He had seven sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and 22 quarterback hits. For his first year in the NFL, he came in as a wrecking bull and a huge addition leading their defensive front in getting to the quarterback and making a difference.

I always preach a dominant and forceful defensive line wins defensive battles and will lead a defense and he showed that by anchoring the defensive line for the Texans in which they showed massive improvements from the previous two seasons. It also helps that his head coach was a former LB for the Texans and knows the game in-and-out on that spectrum. Anderson’s transition to the NFL was very smooth, and he will get rewarded for his great season with a DROY award come NFL Honors time. 

Under the tutelage of former Texans linebacker, and now the Texans HC,   DeMeco Ryans, Will Anderson Jr. was outstanding in helping to lead a rejuvenated Texans defense this season as the Texans surpassed all pre-season predictions for their 2023 season which were mostly that they would be last in the AFC South.

The third overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Anderson boasted a defensive grade of 81.8 and led all rookies in total pressures (59) on the opposing team’s QB. Overall he had 7 sacks, 10 tackles for a loss and 22 QB hits.

He wins the DROY this season.

5) The finalists for Offensive Rookie of the Year are: C.J. Stroud (Texans), Jahmyr Gibbs (Lions), Sam LaPorta (Lions), Bijan Robinson (Falcons) and Puka Nacua (Rams). 

Who is your Offensive Rookie of the Year? Why 

Offensive Rookie of the Year comes from the same team as the defensive side of the football with quarterback CJ Stroud getting the nod.

He brought a revised offense to the NFL playoffs by scheming multiple comebacks and winning games in the last couple minutes of the game. He made the Texans’ passing attack something teams are fearful of with setting up a quality connection with young wide receiver Nico Collins. He didn’t really have a rushing attack to assist him, so the offense relied solely on him, and he came in from Ohio State leading the league in passing yards per game (273.6) while only throwing five interceptions on the entire season, including waiting until he had the record for most pass attempts to start a career before having the defense receive his pass, which was in Week Six against New Orleans in a match-up they still won, 20-13. He didn’t toss another interception until three weeks later in another win, where he led a late-game comeback against Cincinnati. The next week, against Arizona, he tossed three interceptions in yet another victory. That was it for interceptions. Didn’t toss one for the rest of the season in leading the Houston Texans to a playoff appearance, then won a playoff game, and finally was eliminated by the Baltimore Ravens.

This quarterback is going to be a top-five quarterback in the league, and will have a very successful career. This is the first trophy in what will end up being a full trophy case when he finally hangs up the cleats. 

Texans’ QB C.J. Stroud passed for 4,108 yards with 23 touchdowns and just 5 INTs for the 2023 season and arguably was the Texan’s leader on offense as the team won the AFC South and who knows how far they would have gone in the playoffs if not for meeting Lamar Jackson and a young Baltimore Ravens defense in the Divisional Round.

The record setting rookie QB wins this award going away from all the other offensive rookie contenders.

6) The finalists for Coach of the Year are: Dan Campbell (Lions). John Harbaugh (Ravens), DeMeco Ryans (Texans), Kyle Shanahan (49ers) and Kevin Stefanski (Browns). 

Who is your Coach of the Year? Why? 

Coach of the Year goes to the ex-player-turned-coach who featured two Rookie of the Year winners in Houston Texans’ coach DeMeco Ryans.

While I think Kevin Stefanski deserves a lot of recognition for the turmoil and injury bug, including switching of quarterbacks almost weekly until Flacco took over while still delivering them to the playoffs, Ryans was a big factor (outside of the players) in providing quality leadership to turn the Texans from one of the worst teams in the league, and almost an automatic win for opponents, into a dangerous, postseason-bound team.

They won the AFC South. They had a dominant passing attack. Their defense stood their ground with a very good pass rush and a quality secondary. To make a team who won 11 games in the last three seasons combined, almost match that total (they did if you include playoffs) to finish 10-7, this is a very deserving award for him. 

The Texans are nearly sweeping the awards this year…

 DeMeco Ryans in leading the previously moribund Texans who were either near or at the bottom of the AFC South for years to winning the division and then making it to the Divisional Round in the playoffs is my choice for Head Coach of the Year.

7) The finalists for Comeback Player of the Year are: Joe Flacco (Browns), Damar Hamlin (Bills), Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers), Matthew Stafford (Rams) and Tua Tagovailoa (Dolphins). 

Who is your Comeback Player of the Year? Why? 

I’ll probably catch a lot of disagreement with this pick and won’t be right since it’s almost a lock on who wins it, I really believe that Joe Flacco should win this award for what he did in the month of December for the Cleveland Browns.

Damar Hamlin is going to win this award, though. From having cardiac arrest happen on the Cincinnati field which ended the game mid-way through, to being able to come back and actually step onto the field and make an impact and tackles and contribute, is a story that really earns this award. And I have no quirks about giving him the award. He fully deserves it for this. He didn’t know if he was going to even see the next day, let alone be able to step on a field again, in uniform, and play. So the award isn’t going to an undeserving candidate just to make a story. While it’s a story, it’s fully warranted.

But I want to give this award to Joe Flacco for coming off the couch and leading the NFL in passing yards and bringing the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs. He gave them stability on offense, in which they couldn’t find a quarterback to lead them. He actually warranted conversation that the Browns should bring him back, and start him, next season. The last time he was on the field it looked like his career was over and he will only be remembered as a Baltimore Raven who won a Lombardi Trophy, got a huge contract, and never lived up to the price tag he earned. For him to comeback, at his age and where he was when the season began, can’t describe this trophy any better. While Hamlin will get the trophy, and rightfully so, Flacco would get handed the trophy if it was up to me. 

Damar Hamlin, for obvious reasons, will probably win this award but my Comeback Player of the Year goes to Baker Mayfield.

Without Baker at QB for the Buccaneers don’t even sniff winning the NFC South this season or come close to being in the playoffs.

After being mostly written off by most folks as a starting NFL QB the Bucs took a chance on him and he responded by starting in all 17 of the team’s games and posted career highs in completions (364), passing yards (4,044), passing TDs (28) and completion percentage (64.3) as Tampa Bay went 9-8 overall and captured the NFC South title. Mayfield completed 364 of 586 passes and had a passer rating of 94.6. With Mayfield leading the offense, the Bucs won five of their final six regular-season games to win the division and without a doubt reestablished himself as a star in the NFL.

He’s my Comeback Player of the Year.