As we all know, every team’s goal is to win the Superbowl. Winning the Superbowl as it should, gets the most recognition, and I am not here to argue that it isn’t the biggest achievement one can have in football. But how about the individual awards? The MVP, Defensive player of the year, Offensive player of the year, Comeback player of the year, and Offensive and Defensive rookie of the year just to name a few. These were the best performers in the entire NFL for the season and I believe they should often deserve some more credit. So, with that, I am going to be predicting who I think will win some of these awards!
MVP Prediction:
Patrick Mahomes
To me this is a no-brainer pick. The Chiefs are first in the AFC with a 9-2 record, and this is very much because of Patrick Mahomes. He can do anything. Throw a 50-yard pass, Run, lead a game winning drive, it sometimes seems as if he is not human when you watch the Chiefs. This would be his 2nd MVP award, and for good reason. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that he also leads the league in passing yards. Do I really need to say more?
Patrick Mahomes (shown above) is the core of the Chief’s offense.
Defensive Player of the Year
Micah Parsons
The Cowboys 8-3 record is in large part to their defense. Who is the leader of that defense? You guessed it, Micah Parsons. It’s crazy to think that he is a second-year player in the NFL with watching what he does on the field. He is currently second in the league for sacks and forced fumbles with 12 sacks and 3 forced fumbles. As a linebacker he can do anything. He can blitz, play man to man, defense or even a bit of both. This would be his second NFL award after winning the 2021 defensive rookie of the year. I’d say he’s off to a pretty good career start!
Offensive Player of the Year
Justin Jefferson
This was the hardest award to pick. With Tyreek Hill and Justin Jefferson having nearly identical seasons, it is just personal preference. I went with Justin Jefferson for two reasons. My first reason is because the Vikings are tied with the Chiefs for the second-best record in the NFL. Team success should always play a part in these awards in my opinion and the Vikings are looking for like legit contenders to win it all. That brings me into my second reason. While the Vikings do have other offensive threats such as Adam Thielen, T.J. Hockenson, and Dalvin Cook, the offense really runs through Justin Jefferson. He is only one yard behind Tyreek for leading the league in receiving yards and has six touchdowns. Justin Jefferson just passed the legendary Randy Moss for the record of the most receiving yards through a player’s first three seasons. He still has six games left in this season to add to that total. While the race for this award should come down to the wire, I expect Justin Jefferson to just narrowly come out on top.
Justin Jefferson (shown above) has been phenomenal this year.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Kenneth Walker III
As a Seahawks fan it makes me extremely happy to see that I am not the only one that believes Kenneth Walker deserves this award. Across the internet I have seen that people are favoring him to win this award. This is all for good reason. He came in this season as a backup to starting running back Rashaad Penny. When Penny sadly got injured, Walker was right there and ready to show everyone his skills. A great mix of speed, intelligence, and strength has helped him to be favored with this award. It’s great to see the run game being brought back to Seattle since Beast Mode (Marshawn Lynch) left.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Tariq Woolen
I swear I try not to put any bias into my posts. As I do have another Seahawk winning an award, I have the stats and reasoning to back it up. Tariq Woolen along with fellow rookie cornerbacks Coby Bryant and Michael Jackson have started to bring back the defense in Seattle. Woolen has the second most interceptions in the league this season. He has guarded receivers such as Deandre Hopkins, Mike Evans, and Davante Adams and has kept every single one of those receivers under 75 yards receiving for those games. He is starting to consistently show that he can’t only pick off the quarterback but also guard the very best receivers. I believe this will be the first of many awards for Tariq Woolen.