BY: Tony LiebertI could bore you with my predictions for each award and tell you that Andrew Luck will win comeback player of the year, Matt Nagy will win coach of the year, Saquon Barkley will win offensive ROTY, Darius Leonard will win defensive ROTY, Aaron Donald defensive POTY, and Patrick Mahomes will win offensive POTY and MVP. Instead I'm gonna tell you people that I think legitimately deserved more recognition for each award respectively. Comeback Player of the Year Adrian Peterson, RB, Washington Redskins Last season at the age of 32, Peterson suffered a season ending neck-injury late in the season while he was on the Arizona Cardinals. The majority of the league just assumed this was the end of Peterson's career. The Cardinals were Adrian's third team, 32 is way too old for a running back, and a neck injury of any extent is hard to come back from. Adrian thought otherwise. The Washington Redskins' newly acquired rookie running back Derrius Guice had torn his ACL in the preseason, and Peterson got a call. Adrian had a monster year, he had multiple 100 yard rushing games. Peterson finished the season with 1200+ yards from scrimmage and 13 total touchdowns. For a running back to come back from a neck injury and as dominant as Peterson was while being 33 years old is just downright ridiculous. Coach of the Year Bill Belichick, New England Patriots This season has arguably been Belichick's best work. The Patriots obviously have the greatest QB of all time in Tom Brady, but the job Belichick has done by getting the Patriots back to the Superbowl, with everything they have been through this season, such as having little to no weapons for the 41 year old Tom Brady to pass to. And then for his best weapon Rob Gronkowski spending the whole season looking very old, and warn down. Then for Belichick to adapt and no have the best running game in the league in the playoffs proves why, he is the greatest coach of all time... NO ARGUMENT. Giving the Coach of the Year award to Belichick is similar to the MVP award to LeBron. They are both the best at their craft in the whole league, it would just get boring to give it to them every year. Offensive Rookie of the Year Quenton Nelson, OG, Indianapolis Colts No I don't think Nelson should win rookie of the year, but I think he deserves recognition. Quenton Nelson this season had arguably one of the greatest seasons by a rookie offensive lineman of all time. I obviously can't tell you any stats that warrants him consideration for rookie of the year, but the tape shows that he deserves legitimate consideration. As a message to the majority of NFL fans, you need to appreciate great lineman play, and realize lineman play wins football games. Defensive Rookie of the Year Darius Leonard, ILB, Indianapolis Colts Leonard is really not under the radar for defensive ROTY award, but I think he deserves more praise. For him to not be on the Pro Bowl roster was just downright absurd. Leonard came into this years draft and was not very well known as a prospect. He was later selected 36th overall. In an article titled "NFL Draft 2018 Results: Reviewing This Year's Worst Picks" Bleacher Reports own Justis Mosqueda said, The Indianapolis Colts' selection of South Carolina State linebacker Darius Leonard with the fourth pick in the second round was one of the draft's worst moves. They took four second-rounders, so they had plenty of room for error, but this one stands out as a head-scratcher. After those expectations Leonard came in and led the league in tackles while also having 7 sacks, and for Leonard to not publicly have to award won, is to quote Justis Mosqueda, "Head Scratching." Offensive Player of the Year DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Houston Texans This season DeAndre Hopkins asserted himself as the best wide receiver in the entire NFL. Hopkins finished the year with 115 catches (third in league), 1,572 yards (second in league), and 11 touchdowns (fifth in league). I think the most ridiculous stat that Hopkins achieved this season was, that according to Pro Football Focus he played 99.3 of the Texans' possible snaps, and zero drops... yes, ZERO, I think that should tell you enough. Defensive Player of the Year Stephon Gilmore, CB, New England Patriots I think that Gilmore's success is a big reason why the Patriots are once again playing in the Super Bowl this Sunday. Gilmore is on a team that plays the most man coverage in the NFL, which can be a tough task for cornerbacks. With being out on an island most of the game, Gilmore produced 18 pass breakups which was the most in the NFL and five more than second place. I think in the modern NFL great defensive backs are what make a defense so good, and I think Gilmore was the best corner in the NFL this season. MVP Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams Patrick Mahomes obviously deserves to win MVP and will win it. For a QB to throw for 5,000+ yards and 50 touchdowns in their first season is just ridiculous. But for Aaron Donald to have 20.5 sacks from the interior defensive line position is not appreciated enough. I don't think you can really appreciate those numbers unless you have played football in the trenches. I can remember personally that I would break through the line in a split second and youth football, and the QB would still roll out of the pocket and avoid the sack. I know this is obviously a much smaller extent, but I think it helps appreciate how truly difficult it is to get to the quarterback from the interior position. I think that Donald and more position players deserve consideration for the MVP award, and not for a quarterback to win the award every season.
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May 2020
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