1. Most Valuable Player– Patrick Mahomes: This was a no brainer for me. It will be another year that a Quarterback is named the MVP of the league. The last non-Quarterback to win the award was Adrian Peterson for his massive 2012 season after tearing up his knee the year before. Patrick led all Quarterbacks in touchdown passes with 41 and led the league in passing yards with 5,250 yards which is a career-high and completed 67 percent of his passes. No Tyreek Hill, no problem. Talk about working with what was around you, that’s exactly what number 15 did. Patrick also averaged 308 yards passing per game. No other Quarterback averaged more than 280 on the season. The Chiefs aren’t playing this weekend without Patrick Mahomes and his performance this season. This will be his second MVP award.
2. Offensive Rookie of the Year– Garrett Wilson: His name is Garrett, Last Name Wilson! What a year this kid had! Coming into the draft, I referred to him as the best route runner in this draft class and he didn’t disappoint one bit. Garrett led all rookie receivers in receptions with 83, receiving yards with 1,103 and was tied for third with four touchdown receptions. What stood out to me the most was how he was able to remain consistent even with all the chaos the Jets had with their Quarterback situation! Garrett had three-100 yard receiving games, all which came with a different Quarterback. If he does win this award, he will become the first Jet to do so. What a season and his future is extremely bright.
3. Defensive Rookie of the Year– Sauce Gardner: Do any of you remember what I said when I was on the “Sports Cubicle”? You must have swagger with a nickname like Sauce and this kid has just that! His confidence levels remind me a bit of a young Deion Sanders. He was a star in college and that’s coming to fruition at the next level in the NFL. What a force he was for a Jets defense that was one of the best this season. Sauce racked up 75 combined tackles, 20 passes defended and two interceptions. He gave the Jets a true number one cornerback. Something they haven’t had since the days of Darrelle Revis. In his rookie season, Sauce was named to the All-Pro team becoming the first rookie to accomplish that feature. I can’t wait to see what he does in these next few years.
4. Offensive Player of the Year– Justin Jefferson: He is HIM. There’s no other way to describe it. He said he wanted to show that he was the best Wide Receiver in the game and 2022 was his year. Kevin O’Connell was the brains behind Cooper Kupp and his excellent 2021 campaign that saw him win the receiving triple crown (when a receiver leads the league in yards, receptions and touchdowns) and look what he was able to do with Justin this year. Mr. Griddy himself this year led the league in receptions (128), receiving yards (1,108) and was tied for 11th with eight receiving touchdowns on the year. This Minnesota offense was so electric because of Justin Jefferson. Hall of Famer and former Viking Cris Carter has stated that he’s seeing Justin do things that he didn’t see Randy Moss do and Randy is also a Hall of Famer. That’s really saying something. Justin set franchise records in receptions and receiving yards this season.
5. Defensive Player of the Year– Nick Bosa: Micah Parsons appeared to have this award on lock for most of the season. Then in came 97 from the San Francisco 49ers and he took it over from there. Nick has been an absolute beast these last two seasons. In 2021, he finished that year with 15.5 sacks. This year, he increased his sack totals to 18.5 which led the lead in 2022. He also led the league in Quarterback hits with 48 and he was tied for second in tackles for loss with 19. On a San Francisco defense that was ranked number one in the league, Nick was an absolute menace for opposing Offensive Lines. He’s already won Defensive Rookie of the Year and now, he will add another trophy to his collection.
6. Coach of the Year– Kyle Shanahan: Whenever a team loses their Quarterback, it’s usually tough to overcome. Earlier in the year, the 49ers lost Trey Lance to a broken ankle. In comes Jimmy Garoppolo. In December, Jimmy broke his foot and they had to turn to Brock Purdy as their starting Quarterback. Kyle Shanahan was still able to keep this group afloat. They won their final ten games of the regular season, clinched the NFC West division title, locked up the two seed in the postseason and were a game away from the Super Bowl with a third-string Quarterback. Let all of that marinate in your heads. The 49ers offense didn’t miss a beat and that was because of Kyle and his play-calling.
7. Comeback Player of the Year– Geno Smith: I’m so proud of him. I’m glad he didn’t write back whoever wrote him off because he played with a chip on his shoulder all year long and proved himself week in and week out. Geno had a career year as the Seahawks starting Quarterback. He led the Seahawks to nine wins, a playoff berth, threw for 4,282 yards receiving and 30 touchdowns to 11 interceptions. Also, he earned his first selection to the Pro Bowl and proved why he should remain the starting Quarterback for Seattle until he gives them a reason to move on from him.
