How to fix the NFL Award system
The NFL Award show is really dumb and pointless, so I decided to make up my own.
The NFL’s end-of-season awards are really dumb. They always leak the winners hours before the show, bring on some artist who peaked in 2015 (ok that was mean), and justify an award winner by explaining what the voters have morphed the prize into over the past several decades.
Other sports do this better. The MLB rewards position players for being both the best fielders and hitters at their position by giving out Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards, while still having larger catch-all awards like MVP and Rookie of the Year. College Football does the same in a sport where player evaluation is far more nuanced, and they honor past stars while doing so. The NBA’s is more basic, but they at least have the Most Improved Player award rather than the NFL’s hilarious Comeback Player of the Year award. Why should people decide whether or not the CPOY is Joe Flacco, who came back from his couch to lead the Browns to the playoffs, or Damar Hamlin, who came back from his heart stopping on a football field but played minimal snaps in 2023. That award specifically pisses me off.
So, what have awards become?
MVP: The best quarterback on one of the 5 best teams.
OPOY: The offensive skill position player with some of the most yards from scrimmage.
DPOY: The most dominant pass rusher.
OROY: The first round rookie who had a lot of yards.
DROY: The first round rookie who got to 7 sacks.
CPOY: A good player who wasn’t good the previous year.
COTY (Coach of the Year): The coach that exceeded expectations and surprisingly made the playoffs.
EOTY (Executive of the Year): The GM who killed the draft and whose team exceeded expectations.
ACOY (Assistant Coach of the Year): The coordinator who’s the next big thing in head coach searches.
See how this isn’t the most logical way to do things? Shouldn’t MVP be the most valuable player? Defensive player of the year being the best defender? I have qualms with every award (except for the Walter Payton Man of the Year which rewards character and philanthropy). So, I’m making my own.
Changing the Current Awards
The MVP, in my opinion, isn’t evaluating the most valuable player. I do think the deserving winner, Lamar Jackson, will win this year. However, I’d like to rework the MVP award to reward the player who provided the most value above replacement/average to the team. This will almost certainly be a quarterback, which is fine!
For the rest, OROY and DROY are fine, I just wish the voters didn’t bake in draft position into the award selection/voting. DPOY should probably be less biased towards pass rushers, but they often have the most noticeable impact so I get it.
I’d like for COTY to be repurposed to being “the coach who exceeded expectations and circumstances in the most meaningful ways.” Right now, Texans coach Demeco Ryans may win the award, but Ravens coach John Harbaugh is way out of the race. Why? I think that changing the organizational and coaching structure to go from a 10-win team to the best one in the league versus taking a 3-win team to 10 wins isn’t as big of a difference as we think. Last year, Kyle Shanahan took the last pick and transformed him into the quarterback of the most lethal offense in football. He lost the award to Brian Daboll, who made a bad team just okay. Impressive, but simply not the best coaching performance this year.
Lastly, I’d like to eliminate the Comeback Player of the Year award. It’s so stupid, and I explained why above. Here are what I would pick for these awards under my criteria.
MVP: Lamar Jackson (BAL)
OPOY: Tyreek Hill (MIA)
DPOY: Myles Garrett (CLE)
OROY: CJ Stroud (HOU)
DROY: Joey Porter Jr (PIT)
COTY: Sean McVay (LAR)
EOTY: Brian Gutekunst (GB)
ACOY: Jim Schwartz (CLE)
With that said, here’s what I’d want to add to the NFL awards show.
The “it was fun while it lasted” award: Tommy DeVito
I thought of this article idea because of Josh Dobbs, because the truth is that he should win the award. The rocket scientist turned quarterback, dubbed “The Passtronaut,” exploded onto the scene when he won a game where he was so new to his team that he had to learn his center’s timing on the sideline while his defense was on the field. In Atlanta, his coach was explaining how the plays worked as he called them!
With that said, Dobbs was just one of three quarterbacks to go from the bench to national stardom in such a short period of time. After Deshaun Watson had a season-ending shoulder injury, the Browns signed Joe Flacco off the street. At the ripe age of 38, Flacco’s arm still looked like he was 28, and he was slinging the football around the field. From weeks 13 to 17, Flacco led the league in passing yards and touchdowns, and was hilariously one of the three most dominant quarterbacks in this stretch. He crumbled in the postseason, however, throwing several interceptions en route to a playoff loss.
If it’s New York bias to say that the winner of this award is Tommy DeVito, then I’m biased. DeVito’s play was honestly less impressive than that of the other two, given his top performances were against horrible defenses like the Packers and Commanders. The difference between DeVito and the other two is the storyline generated by the QB’s rise to fame. Tommy DeVito quickly became a national star, using a common Italian gesture as a celebration and filming italian food rankings for the
Honorable mentions: Josh Dobbs, Joe Flacco
Bit of the year: DK Metcalf learning sign language.
The Seahawks passing offense didn’t catch many headlines, in large part due to the fact that it was basically what everyone expected it to be. However, when top WR DK Metcalf would score a touchdown, he’d have a more creative way of taunting. Rather than being penalized for trash talk verbally, he learned sign language to trash talk. This is next-level trash talk, and I support it wholeheartedly.
Waiver Wire pickup of the year: Joe Flacco
I feel like this one’s obvious, right? Flacco was signed in December after Deshaun Watson had a season-ending injury, and he led the Browns to a magical run to the playoffs. You typically don’t get a month of elite QB play from free agency that late into the season.
Aged like fine wine award: The Aaron Rodgers trade (by the Packers)
The Packers make finding a quarterback look so easy. They had Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre for over a decade, drafted Aaron Rodgers to replace him, and then had one of the league’s young stars waiting to replace him. Green Bay hasn’t had bad quarterback play for much longer than my lifetime. Meanwhile, the Jets fell apart. Rodgers got hurt after four snaps, and he discouraged the Jets from getting a viable backup QB so he could try to come back from an achilles tear. This trade makes the Packers look like geniuses while the Jets like fools, and Aaron Rodgers isn’t getting any younger.
Game of the year: Bucs @ Texans
Buccaneers at Texans was such a fun football game. Who would’ve predicted Baker Mayfield and CJ Stroud going blow for blow at the end of the game. The early November game ended as a 39-37 shootout where the Texans won mainly because they had the ball last. What makes this more fun than a regular shootout was Texans RB Dare Ogunbowale. After Houston’s kicker got hurt, Ogunbowale manned kick-offs and Field Goal duty, and shockingly didn’t make a single mistake in replacement of Ka’imi Fairbairn.
Honorable mentions: Seahawks @ Cowboys, Bills @ Jets.
Play of the year: Tylan Wallace’s game winning punt return.
It sucks that the top two candidates for this award were nullified by poor and/or inconsistent officiating, so I had to go to a third candidate. The powerhouse Ravens hosted a frisky Rams team in week 14, who seemed to have finally figured out how to beat Baltimore’s defense. The Rams took the game to overtime, but had to punt it to backup returner Tylan Wallace. In one of his first NFL punt returns, he took a punt 75+ yards to win the game with a walk-off touchdown.
Honorable mentions: Travis Kelce to Kadarius Toney lateral, Taylor Decker 2pt conversion.
ROI (return on investment) Award: Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy shouldn’t win MVP. He’s had to do a lot less than everyone else in the race, and overall he hasn’t shown the same level of excellence like Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen have. With that said, from a pure surplus value standpoint, the last pick in the 2022 draft playing like a top-half quarterback undoubtedly provides the most bang for your buck to any team. Purdy made less than a million dollars this year, and is one of the lowest cap hits on his team. Needless to say, Brock Purdy has been a great value pick for the 49ers and deserves this award.
Honorable mention: Puka Nacua
Positional Awards
I think what college football does best is awarding the best players by position. They named awards after legends of their time, and rewarded more collegiate athletes for incredible seasons.
Jerry Rice award: Tyreek Hill (most outstanding Wide Receiver)
Tyreek Hill dominated the league this year, and was nearly on pace for 2000 yards for the majority of the season. This is a no-brainer, although Ceedee Lamb gave him a run for his money at the end of the season.
Honorable mentions: Ceedee Lamb, Puka Nacua
Emmitt Smith award: Christian McCaffrey (most outstanding Running Back)
McCaffrey was without a doubt the best running back this season. He scored a touchdown in 17 straight games from 2022 to 2023, tying a record. He and Tyreek Hill should get awards this season, it’s a shame only one of them got one.
Dante Scarnecchia award: Philadelphia Eagles (most outstanding Offensive Line)
This is an award I’d like to see reward the best offensive line unit as a whole. The Eagles, to nobody’s surprise, dominated in the trenches all year long. Led by Jason Kelce, their line dominated so much that the league might ban their best play, as Jeff Stoutland’s unit continues to run over the league.
Lawrence Taylor Award: Myles Garrett (most outstanding Pass Rusher)
The first criticism of Myles Garrett is his low sack number compared to his AFC North counterpart TJ Watt. I’d like to put in a formal request to stop comparing the two just had. Myles Garrett had double the pass rush win rate AND double team percentage compared to TJ Watt. His assignments were way tougher, yet the same game-wrecking presence was still there. Garrett may not have the most sacks, but his gravity as a pass rusher showed the most dominance as his team’s defense was undeniably top 3 in the league.
Honorable mentions: Micah Parsons, TJ Watt
Ray Lewis award: Fred Warner (most outstanding Linebacker)
Not too surprising to see the best LB in the league dominate for another season. Warner’s ability to read out play-action and get to the right spot on defense is second to none, and nobody else even comes close. He allows the 49ers to play so freely up with their defensive line because he can take on so much responsibility, and he has no holes in his game.
Honorable mention: Roquan Smith
Rod Woodson award: Kyle Hamilton (most outstanding Defensive Back)
Baltimore’s second-year safety dominated on a play-by-play basis in 2023. He made key contributions in blitzing, tackling, and in coverage, where he combined with the Ravens other safety, Geno Stone, for 11 interceptions. He’s one of the most unique defenders in the league and deserves this award.
Devin Hester award: Brandon Aubrey (most impactful Special Teams player)
Special teamers deserve awards too. Cowboys rookie kicker Brandon Aubrey deserves some recognition for a perfect kicking season up to week 18, where his streak ended due to a blocked kick. No need for any in-depth analysis into 2023’s top kicker and special teamer.
Honorable mention: AJ Cole