The NFL hosted its annual awards show, the NFL Honors, on Feb 8.
Moving through category by category, let’s recap this year’s award recipients and discuss whether or not they are deserving of it.
Starting off with the most prestigious award available, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson came away with the MVP award for the second time in his career. Honestly, I don’t think he deserved the award this season, despite his obvious talent. I think the award should have been given to the San Francisco 49ers running back, Christian McCaffery, who had an unbelievably successful season. However, I’m not surprised in the slightest that he was snubbed since it’s almost a given that the award will end up going to a quarterback.
I was hoping that if he were overlooked, they would give it to the Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, who had a more impressive year than Jackson statistically. Personally, I think the reasons the award went to Jackson instead is because of the legendary status people have been so quick to ascribe to him, as well as the fact that he’s already been given the award in the past, which can make him feel more established in the league than Allen. He also had the highest average yards per rush out of any player in the league, not just among quarterbacks, which is a truly impressive feat.
The Offensive Player of the Year was given to McCaffery, who I definitely believe deserved it. He led in almost every category amongst all of the running backs in the league this season.
The Defensive Player of the Year was the biggest disappointment, going to the Cleveland Browns defensive end, Myles Garrett. I’ll recognize my bias upfront as a Steelers fan, but I do think it was pretty clear that T.J. Watt was objectively the best choice, and I don’t even think it was all that close. The biggest evidence to this point statistically was that he led the league in sacks with 19 this season, which is five more than Garrett, for reference.
Houston Texans quarterback, C.J. Stroud took home the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which I think was well deserved. Of this year’s nominees, none I don’t think any of them had quite as electric of a rookie year as Stroud did. A couple of impressive statistics to note in favor of hishim winning are that he had the third most passing yards for a rookie in NFL history and set the record for the most pass attempts without being intercepted to start a career.
On the other side of things, the Houston Texans young talent continued to represent their team, with Will Anderson Jr., the defensive end, taking the award for Defensive Rookie of the Year. I don’t feel very strongly about this category, as I think there were a handful of nominees that I’d say were worthy.
Coach of the Year was a joke this season, going to the Cleveland Browns coach, Kevin Stefanski. This is the second time he’s been given the award, solely for being able to squeak the Browns into the playoffs. He handled their team’s string of unfortunate injuries as well as he could have, but I don’t think that’s a valid reason to give him the award.
The Browns continued to clean up at the Honors, with quarterback Joe Flacco getting the Comeback Player of the Year award. However, unlike Garrett and Stefanski, I think Flacco earned this one. I was astonished at the season Flacco had, considering his age and how he looked atin the end of his time with the Baltimore Ravens. I am genuinely stunned that the league didn’t give this to the Buffalo Bills safety, Demar Hamlin, after his near- death experience against the Cincinnati Bengals the season prior, but I’m not mad at this pick at all.
Overall, I think this year’s NFL Honors was pretty embarrassing, expressing many opinions that felt pretty out of touch with the current state of the league.
2024 NFL Honors
The NFL hosted its annual awards show, the NFL Honors, on Feb 8.
Moving through category by category, let’s recap this year’s award recipients and discuss whether or not they are deserving of it.
Starting off with the most prestigious award available, the Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson came away with the MVP award for the second time in his career. Honestly, I don’t think he deserved the award this season, despite his obvious talent. I think the award should have been given to the San Francisco 49ers running back, Christian McCaffery, who had an unbelievably successful season. However, I’m not surprised in the slightest that he was snubbed since it’s almost a given that the award will end up going to a quarterback.
I was hoping that if he were overlooked, they would give it to the Buffalo Bills quarterback, Josh Allen, who had a more impressive year than Jackson statistically. Personally, I think the reasons the award went to Jackson instead is because of the legendary status people have been so quick to ascribe to him, as well as the fact that he’s already been given the award in the past, which can make him feel more established in the league than Allen. He also had the highest average yards per rush out of any player in the league, not just among quarterbacks, which is a truly impressive feat.
The Offensive Player of the Year was given to McCaffery, who I definitely believe deserved it. He led in almost every category amongst all of the running backs in the league this season.
The Defensive Player of the Year was the biggest disappointment, going to the Cleveland Browns defensive end, Myles Garrett. I’ll recognize my bias upfront as a Steelers fan, but I do think it was pretty clear that T.J. Watt was objectively the best choice, and I don’t even think it was all that close. The biggest evidence to this point statistically was that he led the league in sacks with 19 this season, which is five more than Garrett, for reference.
Houston Texans quarterback, C.J. Stroud took home the Offensive Rookie of the Year award, which I think was well deserved. Of this year’s nominees, none I don’t think any of them had quite as electric of a rookie year as Stroud did. A couple of impressive statistics to note in favor of hishim winning are that he had the third most passing yards for a rookie in NFL history and set the record for the most pass attempts without being intercepted to start a career.
On the other side of things, the Houston Texans young talent continued to represent their team, with Will Anderson Jr., the defensive end, taking the award for Defensive Rookie of the Year. I don’t feel very strongly about this category, as I think there were a handful of nominees that I’d say were worthy.
Coach of the Year was a joke this season, going to the Cleveland Browns coach, Kevin Stefanski. This is the second time he’s been given the award, solely for being able to squeak the Browns into the playoffs. He handled their team’s string of unfortunate injuries as well as he could have, but I don’t think that’s a valid reason to give him the award.
The Browns continued to clean up at the Honors, with quarterback Joe Flacco getting the Comeback Player of the Year award. However, unlike Garrett and Stefanski, I think Flacco earned this one. I was astonished at the season Flacco had, considering his age and how he looked atin the end of his time with the Baltimore Ravens. I am genuinely stunned that the league didn’t give this to the Buffalo Bills safety, Demar Hamlin, after his near- death experience against the Cincinnati Bengals the season prior, but I’m not mad at this pick at all.
Overall, I think this year’s NFL Honors was pretty embarrassing, expressing many opinions that felt pretty out of touch with the current state of the league.