With the NFL regular season coming to an end there are a few awards that will be given out to standout players next month right before Super Bowl LX.
The awards include, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, Protector of the Year, Coach of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and last but not least the Most Valuable Player award.
The OPOY is a very big award for offensive players who had a very good season. There are a few candidates for these awards that all deserve to win such as WR Puka Nacua, WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba, RB Christian McCaffrey, RB Bijan Robinson, RB Jonathan Taylor, and RB James Cook.
“I think the OPOY award will go to JSN,” freshman Cayden Kelley said. “He has just had way more production on a team with a worse QB and did more with less. He also led the league in receiving yards, so I think he’s the winner.”
The OROY award is for a rookie who had a great offensive season but couldn’t compete with the offensive seasons of the long time players. Some candidates for the award include TE Tyler Warren, QB Jaxson Dart, QB Tyler Shough, WR Tetairoa McMillan, WR Emeka Egbuka, QB Cam Ward, TE Harold Fannin Jr, RB Ashton Jeanty, and RB TreVeyon Henderson.
“I think Jaxson Dart will win the OROY,” Kelley said. “They usually favor QBs in the award and I don’t think anyone out performed him and was as offensive as he was. His offense was not as good as it could have been because Malik Nabers and Cam Skattabo both suffered season ending injuries.”
The DPOY is the award for the best defensive player in the entire NFL and this award has been won by some really big names and this year there are some new candidates. DL Myles Garrett, DL Maxx Crosby, DL Aidan Hutchinson, DL Jeffery Simmons, DB Kevin Byard III, DL Micah Parsons, DL Brian Burns, DL Danielle Hunter, and DL Tuli Tuipulotu.
“I think easily Myles Garrett runs away with this award,” junior Hunter Isotalo said. “He broke the sack record with 23 sacks on the year, and he easily was one of the scariest guys to face in the league this year.”
The DROY award is for a player who had one of the best defensive seasons as a rookie and there were lots of good prospects in this rookie class: LB Carson Schweisinger, DB Xavier Watts, DE James Pierce Jr, LB Jalon Walker, DB Nick Emmanwori, and LB Abdul Carter.
“This one is very hard. It’s between two of the best players at their position as rookies,” Isotalo said. “But I think Carson Schweisinger slightly edges out Nick Emmanwori. He just has been a threat whenever he’s on the field getting sacks, interceptions, and tackles. He has been so dominant so I think he wins the award.”
The newest NFL award is to recognize the best offensive lineman in the NFL and since it is a new award it is probably based on how many sacks a player let up and how many pancakes they get. There are some candidates for this award who deserve it. Such as RT Penei Sewell, RT Lane Johnson, LT Trent Williams, RT Zach Tom, and C Aaron Brewer.
“I think Penei Sewell will win Protector of the Year easily,” freshman Nolan Isotalo said. “He has just been so dominant on an injured Lions O-Line and will probably stay this good for the next 5 years.”
Last but not least we have the MVP award for the player who was most valuable to their team and had the stats to show how well they did. There are lots of players who deserve to win. Such as QB Matthew Stafford, DE Myles Garrett, QB Drake Maye, QB Trevor Lawrence, RB Christian McCaffrey, QB Sam Darnold, QB Jared Goff, QB Jordan Love, and QB Josh Allen.
“I think Matthew Stafford will win MVP this season,” Nolan said. “He has just way better stats against better teams than the other candidates, but I can see an argument for Maye because the Patriots were pretty bad last year. But I think it easily goes to Stafford.”
This NFL season had record breakers on both sides of the ball and lots of players did really well this year, and we will be looking on to next year for the new NFL season and new award winners.
