Patrick Mahomes

Predicting the NFL Award Winners

   With the NFL announcing the nominees for the major 2022 season awards, here’s who we like to take home the hardware for each category:

Assistant Coach of the Year

Ben Johnson – OC, Detroit Lions

DeMeco Ryans – DC, San Francisco 49ers

Shane Steichen – OC, Philadelphia Eagles

   This is a tough one to pick, as all three coordinators have excelled in their current positions. So much so that they’re each being interviewed for head coaching gigs across the league. Ben Johnson helped run one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL, while Shane Steichen was key in dispelling any thought that an offense couldn’t run through Jalen Hurts.

   Despite their success, DeMeco Ryans gets my vote for this season. He was the man behind a dominant 49ers defense that got production from every level. They were 1st in points against, and had the 2nd best overall defense, allowing over 20 points just 3 times this season. Unfortunately for the 49ers, Ryans likely won’t return next season as he is a lead candidate to make the transition to head coach

Winner – DeMeco Ryans

Coach Of The Year

Brian Daboll – New York Giants

Doug Pederson – Jacksonville Jaguars

Kyle Shanahan – San Francisco 49ers

   Kyle Shanahan is an offensive mastermind who runs one of the scariest groups in the NFL and continuously manages to brush off major injuries like it’s nothing. But for me, this race comes down to the two coaches who did the most with the least.

   Doug Pederson was brought in to right the ship after a debacle of a year under Urban Meyer and was tasked with jumpstarting Trevor Lawrence’s development. No one could have predicted that he would lead this team to the playoffs, let alone a division title and a playoff win. The work that Pederson accomplished this season sets up a Jaguars franchise to become a legitimate contender for years to come.

   Brian Daboll may not have won his division, coming third in a tough NFC east, but dragging a depleted Giants roster who only managed 4 wins last season into the playoffs should be enough to earn Daboll coach of the year.

   With questions at almost every position, including quarterback, Daboll did a masterful job bringing this team together, culminating in Daniel Jones’ best game as an NFL quarterback in their first playoff appearance since 2016. With the potential of another offseason of roster turnover, the Giants organization can rest easy with Daboll leading the charge.

Winner – Brian Daboll

Comeback Player of the Year

Saquon Barkley – RB, New York Giants

Christian McCaffrey – RB, San Francisco 49ers

Geno Smith – QB, Seattle Seahawks

   Another tough category to judge. Geno Smith’s season was remarkable, and no one can claim that they predicted he would end the year as the Seahawks franchise single season leader in passing yards. As impressive as his season has been, it feels like a late career breakout and not necessarily a comeback.

   Saquon Barkely and Christian McCaffrey both had stellar seasons after each dealt with 2 injury plagued years. While Barkley had more rushing yards in 2022, McCaffrey topped him in all-purpose yards. This is super close but if I had to choose between the two I have to give the slight edge to McCaffrey. He put up excellent numbers while playing for a subpar Panthers team, and quickly became a focal point of the dangerous 49ers defense after a midseason trade.

Winner – Christian McCaffrey

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Aidan Hutchinson – DE, Detroit Lions

Sauce Gardner – CB, New York Jets

Tariq Woolen – CB, Seattle Seahawks

   Tariq Woolen deserves all the credit in the world for going from a 5th round draft pick to making the pro bowl in his first year. Aiden Hutchinson showed the tenacity and skill that proved the Lions were right in taking him 2 overall. Despite their remarkable performances, they both dealt with inconsistency, as to be expected with rookies.

   Sauce Gardner, however, stepped right into the NFL and became a premier shutdown cornerback, leading the NFL with 20 pass breakups. Lining up all around the field against the best wide receivers the league had to offer, Gardner proved he was up to the task time and time again. He was also the only rookie to be selected to the first team all pro since 1981. These three are all going to wreak havoc on defense for the foreseeable future, but Garder beats them out for the award this year.

Winner – Sauce Gardner

Offensive Rookie Of The Year

Brock Purdy – QB, San Francisco 49ers

Kenneth Walker III – RB, Seattle Seahawks

Garrett Wilson – WR, New York Jets

   All credit to Brock Purdy for what he has done, going 5-0 in the regular season after the 49ers suffered injuries to both Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, but the sample size is just too small to seriously consider him for the award.

   Personally I would have rather seen Chris Olave get a nomination. He tied the Jets’ Garrett Wilson in touchdown receptions and had 59 fewer receiving yards despite playing in 2 less games. Both receivers deserve recognition for their tremendous seasons while dealing with inadequate quarterback play.

   My pick for the award however goes to Walker. The second round selection of the Seahawks was a touchdown machine once he got rolling, finishing the season in the top 10 in the league, and 11th in total rushing yards. While Wilson was a key weapon to have for whoever was suiting up at quarterback for the Jets, Walker was the guy who the Seahawks could run their offense through, opening up the play action for Geno Smith. His all around contributions to a surprising offense earn him my vote for offensive rookie of the year. 

Winner – Kenneth Walker III

Defensive Player of the Year

Nick Bosa – DE, San Francisco 49ers

Chris Jones – DT, Kansas City Chiefs

Micah Parsons – OLB, Dallas Cowboys

   These are three absolutely elite defensive players. Chris Jones just continues to get better with age, racking up 15.5 sacks as an interior defensive lineman. Micah Parsons is quite possibly the most dynamic defensive player the NFL has seen in quite some time. He has the ability to do it all, while racking up 14 sacks of his own.

   While sacks aren’t the be all and end all for a defensive player, Nick Bosa’s 19 sacks while being the defensive leader on the best defense in football gives him the slight edge over Parsons. He wrecks plays in the backfield on a regular basis, and, despite fighting through double teams almost every snap, he still makes offensive coordinators sweat.

Winner – Nick Bosa

Offensive Player of the Year

Tyreek Hill – WR, Miami Dolphins

Jalen Hurts – QB, Philadelphia Eagles

Justin Jefferson – WR, Minnesota Vikings

Patrick Mahomes – QB, Kansas City Chiefs

   There’s been a recent trend in the past few years that the offensive player of the year award doesn’t automatically go to the quarterback that inevitably wins the MVP (spoiler alert). I think that trend continues this year.

   With all due respect to Jalen Hurts, who’s late season injury might have cost him his chance at both awards, and to Tyreek Hill, who had a stellar first season in Miami, Justin Jefferson’s dominance wins him the award in a tight race over Patrick Mahomes.

   His ability to take over games from the wide receiver position is unmatched. Although he didn’t lead the league in receiving touchdowns this season, he ran away with virtually every other receiving category and proved week after week that he is virtually matchup proof. 

Winner – Justin Jefferson

Most Valuable Player

Josh Allen – QB, Buffalo Bills

Joe Burrow – QB, Cincinnati Bengals

Jalen Hurts – QB, Philadelphia Eagles

Justin Jefferson – WR, Minnesota Vikings

Patrick Mahomes – QB, Kansas City Chiefs

   If the voting process continued into the postseason, this award could very well be handed to Joe Burrow for what he has done the past few weeks. However it’s a regular season award, and Burrow’s slow start might have given the eventual winner too much of a head start to catch up.

   Alternatively, Josh Allen finished off the season with inconsistent performances and too many turnovers to steal the trophy away. Jalen Hurts had an excellent season, but between missing games to injury and the Eagles choosing to rely solely on the run game in others, he probably takes his name out of the running.

   As outlined above, Justin Jefferson had another dominant season working as the league’s number one wide receiver. The reality is Patrick Mahomes fully deserves to win his second MVP trophy. After losing Tyreek Hill in the offseason the Chiefs still decided to ignore the run game for the most part and rely heavily on the Texas Tech alum.

   Mahomes led the league in yards and passing touchdowns. In fact, he threw a passing touchdown in every game this season, with essentially only Travis Kelce to act as a reliable target. We sometimes forget how fantastic Mahomes truly is because we have become accustomed to his excellence, but he should be going home with his second MVP trophy this year.

Winner – Patrick Mahomes

-Devon Gallant

Twitter: @DevGallant

Photo: All-Pro Reels. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.