NFL Individual Awards- 2012

[Nate DaMac]

There's 4 weeks left in the season, time to start contemplating these.

Defensive Rookie of the Year-

I honestly have no idea here. I'll let one of you guys sort this out.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Tough one. RG3 has the better passer rating and better TD to INT ratio, but both Luck and Russell Wilson have their teams in the playoff hunt. Luck has 5 game-winning drives which is unheard of for a Rookie. I'd give it to Luck, but if last year is any indication (Newton getting the award over Dalton,) RG3 will get it due to the better numbers.

Defensive Player of the Year

The 2 most consistently great defensive players in the league right now are JJ Watts ad Von Miller with a shoutout to Aldon Smith who is leading the league in sacks. Miller has the better all around numbers, I'll go with him.

Offensive Player of the Year

Basically MVP Alternate since they never give Defensive players the MVP award. Lots of contenders here. You have Manning, Brady, and Rodgers all having MVP caliber years. I think I'd give it to either Calvin Johnson or Adrian Peterson simply because they have no shot at the MVP since they aren't QBs and they're likely missing the playoffs. They deserve something for the outstanding seasons they're having.

Comeback Player of the Year

Peterson is a strong candidate here, but I think I'll give it to Manning since AP never really missed any time. What he's doing this year is nothing short of phenomenal, but he had a good year last year too so he's not really making a comeback. Manning missed all of last year and had 4 neck surgeries. It's pretty amazing what he's doing right now.

Most Valuable Player

Hard to argue with Tom Brady here. He is among the leaders in all significant categories and has the best TD to INT ratio in the league. Not to mention his team has already clinched the division and is playing at an extremely high level. Manning, Rodgers, Peterson, and Johnson should all be considered, but Brady is my leader right now.

Of course, there are four weeks left so things can change rather quickly.

 

[Big Sexy]

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Not a lot of huge stand out defensive rookies but my vote would go to Luke Kuechly. He is 4th in the NFL in total tackles and has been the main reason why the Panthers defense has gone from 28th to 14th in the NFL in total defense from last year to this year. Honorable mention to Casey Hayward of the Packers who has 5 interceptions.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

RG3. He has better stats all across the board compared to Andrew Luck and Russell Wilson. Yes Luck and Wilson have their teams with better records right now but Wilson has a more talented team and Luck plays in a weaker overall conference.

Defensive Player of the Year

I'm going with Von Miller. The other candidates like Aldon Smith, JJ Watt, Tim Jennings, and Charles Tillman all play on great overall defenses that are filled with talent. Miller is playing dominant defense on a Denver team that doesn't have too many names striking fear into the opponent on that side of the ball.

Offensive Player of the Year

This is the award that guys who are having great individual seasons can win regardless of their teams record. That's why my top two candidates are Adrian Peterson and Calvin Johnson. Johnson is on pace to break Jerry Rice's single season receiving yards record and even has a chance to get over 2,000 receiving yards on the season. AP is dominating the opposition and has a chance to break the 2,000 yard mark rushing. Calvin has a great chance if he can get over 2,000 yards receiving but I'll put my fandom aside and give the award to Peterson.

Comeback Player of the Year

Peyton Manning and AP are neck and neck (no pun intended) but I'm going with Manning because, as Nate pointed out, Peterson never really missed much in season time.

Most Valuable Player

This goes to Peyton Manning. Rodgers and Brady are up there like always and Peterson has a chance if he gets the Vikings in the playoffs, but Manning is ahead of all of them. Peyton has come back and not missed a beat. The Broncos went from an average team that would have struggled to make the playoffs to a legitimate Super Bowl contender just because they went out and signed Peyton Manning. His numbers speak for themselves.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Defensive Rookie of the Year-

I'm not sure if it's because of how great the defensive draft class from last turned out to be or if it's because they've been so underwhelming, but this year's defensive draft class has done nothing for me.

I'll go with Big Sexy and say Kuechly because he's the only one who has somewhat played to the expectations associated with his draft number. That being said, Mark Barron and Morris Claiborne better have something up their sleeves for next year.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Absolutely, hands down, RGIII. Luck has the same amount of TDs as RGIII but has 14 more interceptions and has thrown the ball 180+ more times than Griffin has this year.

Luck's clutch when it comes to game-winning drives in close contests, but I'll take RGIII over him any day of the week.

Defensive Player of the Year

It is rare for a 3-4 DE to post double-digit sacks in a year. It is un-fucking-heard of for them to post 17 sacks with 3 more games still left to play in the season. Many people consider Richard Seymour to be the greatest 3-4 DE/DT ever and JJ Watt is on pace to outdo his total number of career sacks in 1/3 of the time.

After all is said and done, Watt will be considered the greatest 3-4 DE to ever play the game. I pick him.

Offensive Player of the Year/MVP

Give it to Peterson. He's done a great job this year and I hope he joins the 2K club.

Comeback Player of the Year / MVP

I'm giving both of these awards to Peyton Manning. Both Nate and Big Sexy have gone over why he's worthy, I won't say anymore.

 

[Megatron]

DROY: Kuechly. As stated earlier, there hasn't really been that head-above everyone else rookie like there was last year with Von Miller and Aldon Smith. Still, Kuechly is high up in tackles (as flawed of a stat as that is) and has lived up to his billing so far.

OROY: RGIII. As much praise as Luck has deserved for getting 9 wins already with 3 weeks to go, RGIII has already lead them to 7 (well he technically didn't finish the last win but he was there till the end) wins himself and has been far superior stats wise. Neither have great weapons, but RGIII's TD/INT ratio and completion percent put him over Luck.

DPOY: It's between Watt and Smith for me. Watt has been a game changer in every game this year aside from the NE one and Smith has a high chance of setting the sack record. If Smith gets up to 24 or 25 sacks (which is possible since he's already at 19.5). I'll go with Watt atm.

OPOY: This one is between Peterson and Megatron. If Megatron breaks Rice's record and Peterson doesn't get 2000, he gets it. If Peterson breaks Dickersons record, he gets it. I think Peterson has a little to much to get in only 3 games, so I'll be a homer and go Megatron. If Peterson doesn't get Dickersons record but does get over 2000, I could still see him get it.

Comeback: Really can't go wrong with Peterson or Manning. Both have been the most important players on their team. I'll go with Peterson, though, because although he only missed a few games last year, coming back from a torn acl after only 9 months is remarkable. Not only that, he's still shredding defenses that are trying to stack the box against him.

MVP: 4 horse race with Manning/Rodgers/Brady/Peterson, in some order. I'll go with Rodgers atm because they have been decimated with injuries to their big guns (Jennings/Nelson/Benson/Matthews/Woodson all have missed serious time) yet Rodgers still has the numbers and could potentially have the Packers into the first round bye with a little bit of help. His numbers have taken a slight dip from last year, but he still has a strong case.