Predicting Who Will Win the NFL MVP, OPOY, and More at NFL Honors

With the NFL Honors taking place tomorrow, February 8 in Las Vegas I figured it would be as good a time as ever to try and correctly predict which players/coaches will receive which awards. Since I won our NFL regular season betting challenge and consider myself a “knower of ball” (pause), I feel like I’m qualified to take a crack at this.

If you decide to place any wagers based on what I write here please do it responsibly. There’s no need to lower your credit score to Lamar Jackson’s playoff winning percentage.

Speaking of the Ravens quaterback…

Most Valuable Player

Winner: Lamar Jackson

Somebody raise the sails because Captain Obvious has arrived. The race for MVP is a microcosm of sorts of the type of season the NFL produced.

Yes the league had some good moments and a few elite players and teams stuck out, but for the most part the entire 17-game regular season was an abomination to the game we grew up loving.

The two players behind Jackson in the award race are Brock Purdy, who is not only Mr. Irrelevant but has an uncanny resemblance to the guy who shot President Kennedy, and Dak Prescott, who shoots every single one of his backers in the foot every time he makes the postseason.

Don’t get me wrong Jackson is a known playoff choke artist too, but at least he looks like he’s having fun on the field. In a league where the top quarterbacks either don’t show emotion or are becoming annoyingly emotive, that’s a rarity.

Offensive Player of the Year

Winner: Christian McCaffrey

Tyreek Hill deserves his flowers. Unfortunately, the fact I worry about him tweaking a hammy every time he runs through a flower is enough to give the OPOY edge to the best running back in football.

The dude is currently a (-240) favorite to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl. That is unheard of.

McCaffrey just scores and scores and scores some more. We’ll see if he can finally get a ring to add to his fantastic resume.

*side note* He’s also a freaking unit of a man now. No wonder he’s been able to stay healthy, the guy looks like a caucasian Doug Martin.

Defensive Player of the Year

Winner: Myles Garrett

If you expected some hot takes in this prediction I do wholeheartedly apologize if I misled you in any way. The league was honestly so putrid this year that it’s hard to pick against the favorites for each award.

Myles Garrett was the best defensive player on the best defense in the league when he was healthy. Then he got hurt and was still the best defensive player on a top 5 defense in the league.

He led the Cleveland Browns to the playoffs with one pectoral muscle. Unfortunately, his 38-year-old quarterback ran out of Nugenix Total T in the postseason, flushing the Browns’ Super Bowl chances down the toilet.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Winner: CJ Stroud

All those “woke” podcasts and TikTok analysts out there saying Puka Nacua should win Offensive Rookie of the Year because of the records he broke need to stop making content, respectfully.

The Rams fifth-round-rookie had a great year but he didn’t lead a team coming off a two-win season to the Divisional Round of the postseason.

Coleridge Bernard Stroud IV did that, and he did it playing the hardest position in professional sports (If you want to argue that statement you’re also incredibly wrong). Stroud deserves the award, and he deserves the right to rant about prison reform and the incarceration of his farther for however long he likes.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Winner: Jalen Carter

I don’t like the University of Georgia very much. I dislike the Philadelphia Eagles even more.

Jalen Carter seems like a cool enough dude though. Congrats on the hypothetical win. I’m not sorry about your teams’ collapse this year.

Coach of the Year

Winner: DeMeco Ryans

“Oh look Mom Brian didn’t pick a favorite to win an NFL Honors Award!”

Kevin Stefanski is favored (and favored heavily) for this piece of metal and I really don’t know why. DeMeco Ryans took over a two-win team and led them to the postseason.

Sure, he had the help of the likely Offensive Rookie of the Year and my Defensive Rookie of the Year, but a 9 win turnaround his amazing no matter what personnel upgrades are made.

Kevin Stefanski did an incredible job leading the Browns to a postseason spot, but let’s not act like the defensive talent wasn’t insane and Joe Flacco, albeit straight off the couch with four kids, wasn’t an upgrade over Deshaun Watson.

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I don’t feel the need to get into Comeback Player of the Year. Damar Hamlin could have not recorded a tackle this season and he should still win the award in my opinion. I know my colleagues Matt and Jack disagree, however.

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