2023-24 NFL Awards

They made a change to the voting system for the NFL Awards this season, and, I must say, I like the new format.  In the past, the voters would make their one selection for each award.  Now, they do it similar to what the BBWAA does for baseball where they vote for their top three (top five for MVP) and points are assigned based on the number of first- second- and third-place votes the player gets.  So, now it's not the most votes.  It's the highest point total.

What I'm curious to see is if that'll actually have any impact on the results of the voting.  I would imagine it probably won't.  The frontrunners were clear by the end of the regular season, and now they're likely to get more support since the voters are ranking their top three candidates instead of choosing just one.  So, even with a new voting system, I'd imagine we'll have the same winners.

Another thing they've started doing (I can't remember if this is also new or if they did it last year) is announcing the five finalists for each award.  It's obviously the top five finishers in the voting, and it's not like any of the finalists are a surprise.  But still, it's nice to have a better picture of who was considered beyond just the winner.  (Which is especially true when the winner is unanimous.)

This is also the third straight year in which the NFL Honors are being held on Thursday, so I guess we can consider that a permanent change.  Although, this is the first time since the 2020 season (the last time CBS had the Super Bowl) that the Super Bowl and NFL Honors are on the same network.  In 2022, NBC had the Olympics, so the NFL Honors were on ESPN instead, while last year, NBC had the NFL Honors while FOX had the Super Bowl.

Anyway, there are a bunch of stupid awards to give them enough material to fill a two-hour show, but the focus is on the Hall of Fame announcement and the nine major awards.  Eight of them are presented by the AP, and the ninth is the NFL's highest honor, the Walter Payton Man of the Year, where all 32 teams nominate their candidate.  My predictions for the winners of those awards are...

MVP: Lamar Jackson, Ravens-Until Christmas, it really looked like it would be a neck-and-neck race for MVP between Lamar Jackson and Brock Purdy.  Then the Ravens absolutely destroyed the 49ers and Lamar left no question who the winner would be.  Baltimore had the best record in football this season, and their quarterback was the primary reason why.  He had 24 TD passes to just seven interceptions and had a league-best QB rating of 102.7.

Offensive Player: Christian McCaffrey, 49ers-It's no longer a lock that the MVP will also win Offensive Player of the Year.  Nor should it be.  Because they're two separate awards.  Case in point--there's no debate that Lamar Jackson was the most valuable.  Just as there's no debate that Christian McCaffrey was the best offensive player in the NFL this season.  He led the league in rushing and gained over 2,000 total yards when you add in receiving.  McCaffrey had 21 touchdowns and scored in 13 of his 16 games played.

Defensive Player: T.J. Watt, Steelers-J.J. Watt won Defensive Player of the Year three times in four years a decade ago.  Now his little brother T.J. will pick up his second in three seasons.  T.J. had three sacks in Week 1 against the 49ers and finished the season with 19.  He also forced four fumbles and recovered three.  The Steelers made the playoffs despite being outscored by 20 points this season.  That tells you how valuable T.J. Watt and the defense were.

Offensive Rookie: C.J. Stroud, Texans-Talk about an easy one!  The Texans took Stroud No. 2 in the Draft and quickly realized they had a franchise quarterback on their hands.  He threw for over 4100 yards and threw a grand total of five interceptions all year.  Five!  Stroud led Houston to an AFC South title and a playoff win.  As great as Puca Nacua was for the Rams, Stroud was just a touch better.

Defensive Rookie: Will Anderson, Texans-Can we see both Rookies of the Year come from the same team in back-to-back years?  Last season, it was the Jets with Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner.  This year, Houston's got C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson.  He isn't a lock the way Sauce was last year or Micah Parsons was in 2021, but he's the best of the lot.  Anderson played in 15 games, made 45 tackles and had seven sacks.

Comeback Player: Damar Hamlin, Bills-Damar Hamlin won this award the second he stepped on the field for the first time this season.  Nobody can forget the scary sight of his on-field cardiac arrest against the Bengals on that Monday night last January.  It's remarkable that he's even playing football again.  Even Joe Flacco, who'd be the likely winner under any other circumstances, has conceded that Hamlin is the only person who deserves to win.

Coach of the Year: Kevin Stefanski, Browns-Dan Campbell, John Harbaugh and Kyle Shanahan are all finalists.  In any other year, the case could be made for each of them to win.  But for the 2023 season, it's a two-man race between Kevin Stefanski and DeMeco Ryans.  The Browns and Texans were the two biggest surprises in the league this season, and they ended up facing each other in the playoffs.  Cleveland came even more out-of-nowhere, which is quite a testament to their coach.  

Assistant Coach of the Year: Mike MacDonald, Ravens-Assistant Coach of the Year is always a tough one, but Baltimore Defensive Coordinator Mike MacDonald is sure deserving of the nod.  The Ravens led the league in scoring defense, giving up just 16.5 points per game.  They allowed only 24 touchdowns all season, and only six of those were on the ground.  They held their opponent to 10 points or fewer six times and 20 or under 12 times (as well as in both of their playoff games).  Baltimore forced 31 turnovers, including five at San Francisco on Christmas night, and had three safeties, too.

Walter Payton Man of the Year: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs-We all know what Mahomes has done on the field, leading Kansas City to its fourth Super Bowl in five years.  What he's done off the field is just as impressive.  His foundation, 15 and the Mahomies, donated $1,500 for every Mahomes touchdown and also made a $1.625 million contribution to the Boys & Girls Club of America for facility improvements both in Kansas City and his native Texas.  Mahomes is also combatting illiteracy through his Read for 15 program, and he fulfilled 10 Make-a-Wish experiences during Training Camp.  Hate Mahomes and the Chiefs all you want, but this is exactly why he's one of the Faces of the NFL right now.