NFL Mid Season Awards

[Big Sexy]

The thread title says it all. The categories are MVP, Offensive Player, Defensive Player, Offensive Rookie, Defensive Rookie, and Coach of the year.

MVP- This goes to Aaron Rodgers. He is the leader and the best player of a team that is undefeated. His numbers are spectacular and there really isn't a negative thing to say about him. Honorable mentions to Calvin Johnson and Peyton Manning. Yes that Peyton Manning. The word valuable has taken on a new meaning with him after watching the Colts this season.

Offensive Player- I don't like the MVP and offensive player being the same so I am going with Calvin Johnson. He is on pace for 94 receptions, 1,608 yards, and 22 touchdowns. Simply spectacular and he has shown that he is now the best receiver in the league. Honorable mention to Fred Jackson.

Defensive Player- Jared Allen. The Vikings suck but Allen has been a beast. He already has 12.5 sacks and is on pace to possibly break the single season sack record. Honorable mentions to DeMarcus Ware and Charles Woodson.

Offensive Rookie- Cam Newton without question. The number one pick has been better then advertised. He is having probably the best rookie season a qb has ever had. A completion % over 60, positive td to int ratio, and he is on pace for well over 4,000 yards passing. Honorable mention Andy Dalton.

Defensive Rookie- Von Miller. He is one of the very few bright spots on the Broncos roster. He'd be even better if he had anything resembling talent around him. Honorable mention Aldon Smith.

Coach of the Year- Jim Harbaugh. The 49ers may play in the easiest division in football but the former U of M and NFL qb has taken them to a level no one saw them reaching in his first year. He has even made Alex Smith look solid. Honorable mention to Jim Schwartz and Marvin Lewis.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

To be honest, Big Sexy. My picks are almost the same as yours. Except if it was allowed Peyton Manning would be MVP. The Colts are at a laughable 0-7 and have been humiliated on national television.

Defensive Player of the Year- Patrick Peterson, it's hard for me as a Broncos fan to put him over Von Miller but he has had some good play so far. 32 tackles and one interception. He has been the best defensive back on the Cardinals as a rookie also.

Comeback Player of the year- Plaxico Buress, has is tied for fourth in the NFL with 5 touchdowns after serving, I believe, 3 years in jail. Many questioned on if he could do well again and he proved me wrong because I thought he couldn't. He is even doing better than the season before he went to prison.

 

[Larry]

MVP - I got a two way tie for this one, both guys being RB's. I've got to give the MVP to either Frank Gore or Maurice Jones-Drew. In the case of Gore, his running has given the SanFran offense a new dynamic they were missing that's helped open up their passing game to balance the offense and makes this team better by his stand alone performance. In the case of Jones-Drew, he has given his team their only dynamic as Jacksonville struggles with the passing game, has a weak defense, and simply "can't-get-right". He's their one weapon though that they can count on to make them competitive, so for that he's got to be one of the leagues MVP candidates at least.

Offensive Player - Aaron Rogers. Is there any QB playing at the level of Aaron Rogers right now? Not really. There's some big passers, but look whose passing is transferring to points on the board and "W's" for their team at the most consistent level. The new A-Rod is far and away the biggest offensive ticket in the NFL.

Defensive Player - DeMarcus Ware. Beware of D-Ware! That's what every team in the NFL has to plan for when they go against the Cowboys. No matter what the rest of the team is playing like, DeMarcus Ware is consistently putting pressure on QB's and registering sacks. The Dallas defense wouldn't be quite as good without this one key player.

Offensive Rookie - Cam Newton. If you said anything else, you'd probably be lying to yourself. Who would or could have expected this guy to show up and make such a bang? While the "W" column hasn't been as nice to Cam Newton as our impressions of him this season, I'd say this will be a sophomore QB to be feared as he irons out some wrinkles in the off season and this team gets it a bit more together.

Defensive Rookie - Tyron Smith. Smith replaced injure prone Doug Free in the offseason for the Dallas Cowboys and got dropped into a situation with a team making a complete overhaul of their offense and defense in the off season entering his first year in the NFL which is a tall order of for any rookie. Not only is he adjusting to a league he isn't familiar with, but he's also been forced to learn and play a system that neither he or his team mates are familiar with, putting a heavy burden on that line. The rookie Smith, has adjusted very gracefully though, and shown that even as a rookie, he's got the stuff to replace veteran players with ease, holding his end of the line pretty tight thus far in the season.

Coach of the Year - I've been pretty serious with the rest of the picks so I'm going to have a little fun with this one. Coach of the Year goes to Sean Peyton of the New Orleans Saints. Why? He's the only coach I've seen thus far take a hit from the players and still grace the sideline, broken knee and all. He's also been doing a good job of taking this team who has been dealt some blows on the roster, and keeping them competitive and down right scary at times.

 

[The Bearded One]

MVP In the case of Jones-Drew, he has given his team their only dynamic as Jacksonville struggles with the passing game, has a weak defense, and simply "can't-get-right".

The Jags defense is far from weak. They are giving up the seventh fewest yards per game and the eighth fewest passing yards per game. They are also 10th in points per game allowed. The defense is actually pretty damn good this season.

All my picks would be the same as Big Sexy's. It's really impossible to argue against any of the players he picked for his mid-season awards. I was going to go with Andy Dalton over Cam Newton for Offensive Rookie of the Year, but I can't pull the trigger. Dalton has a better completion percentage and fewer interceptions than Newton, and he has also led his team to 5-2 record and are in the thick of the AFC North Divisional race. But the numbers Newton has put up this season are just unheard of for a rookie quarterback. I'll be the first to admit I though Newton was going to be a bust, and I couldn't have been more wrong.

 

[Megatron]

I know it's not 'Mid Season' anymore, but with only 1 week of games left (aside from Saints/Falcons) I felt this deserved a bump in case anyone felt there have been significant changes since the Week 8/9 period.

MVP: Aaron Rodgers. MVP lately has gone to the QB on a good team with great stats. Check all 3 down for Rodgers. While Brees' numbers will end up slightly better and did outplay Rodgers in the season opener, people will remember that the Packers won and that will be the deciding factor here.

Offensive POY: Slight homer pick but Calvin Johnson. He's been the best and most dangerous WR threat in the league, and while he slightly slowed down from the torrid pace he was making through about halfway through the year, that was partially do to teams putting 2 or 3 guys on him and Stafford not forcing it to him. Still, he's been hot since the Lions began their playoff push, including one of the best single games in Lions history in their comeback against the Raiders. Not only that, but he takes pressure off the other receivers and gives them 1 on 1 (or empty space) coverage.

Defensive POY: Jason Pierre Paul has had somewhat of an underrated season and if he's not there the Giants probably aren't in the position they're in right now. He came up biggest against the Cowboys, where he picked up a safety and blocked the potential game tying FG. He's been quite consistent all year with 15.5 sacks (which is 3rd best) and 81 tackles. Should Dallas win, Demarcus Ware could take it from him, since he does have more sacks and this is seen as a defensive MVP award. Right now, though, my vote would go to JPP.

Offensive ROY: Cam Newton. He has broken all of the rookie passing records (in less attempts) is already 1/3 of the way to the career rushing TD for a QB (Steve Young has 43) and is a huge stud. Not only that, but he's helped the Panthers improve from a 2 win team to a 6 win team. While Andy Dalton has put his team into a playoff position and has played remarkable himself, Newton has been the star this year.

Defensive ROY: Aldon Smith. He was a top 10 pick by Jim Harbaugh (the first pick by the regime, in fact) and he's soared immediately on the line. He only plays about half the downs, but the fact remains that he leads all rookies in sacks and is apart of the best defense in the NFL. Von Miller would have given a strong case had he not missed a few games a few weeks ago.

Coach of the year: There's a handful of candidates here such as the Titans Mike Munchak, Bengals Marvin Lewis, Broncos John Fox, and the Lions Jim Schwartz, I have to go with San Francisco's John Harbaugh. The guy has completely turned this team around with almost the same nucleus as last year. They went from 6 wins to either a 12 or 13 win (depending on next week) team, division champ, and a possible first round bye. He's done it by coaching a D that just allowed their first rushing TD of the season last week and by letting Alex Smith not have too much pressure on his shoulders due to their run game. His conservative type of play has lead his team to a top 3 seed in the NFC, which is more then the others can say. Schwartz and Fox would be my next choices.

 

[J.J.]

Noticed comeback of the year went unmentioned. I feel Victor Cruz should be considered. He was an undrafted receiver who looked very promising last preseason before hamstring injuriws slowed him down. Now fast forward a season later and he has become one of Eli's deep threats on top of putting up nearly 1400 yards and around 8 or 9 touchdowns. Not even Hakeem Nicks numbers are that impressive.

 

[Megatron]

I don't know if you could consider it a comeback when he didn't really make an impact before. It is a great story, sure, but this is more of a breakout season then comeback season. Willis McGahee could be a choice since he has his first 1,000 yard season in 4 years and has been the Broncos best back this year. Frank Gore is another candidate since he was sidelined with an injury and only had 850 last year. Had Victor Cruz been relevant before this year I would agree, but for comeback player of the year you normally have to have been good/relevant before falling off/getting hurt. Good story, not a good fit for the award.

 

[Big Sexy]

All of my choices would stay the same but because Jared Allen is an asshole and the Vikings only have three wins, I'm going to switch my defensive player of the year award to Jason Pierre Paul. 81 total tackles, 61 solo tackles, and 15.5 sacks plus a huge blocked field goal against Dallas gives him the nod.

 

[Unsold Bacon]

Hmmm.... don't know why I picked Peterson for DROTY. Miller was the obvious choice there. Makes me wonder what state of mind I was in but ya no doubt Von Is defensive rookie this year.