This is my personal choices for the NFL Awards throughout the 2024 regular season. I will go over all the usual awards like MVP, OPOTY, DPOTY, Coach of the Year, and Rookie of the Year, as well as some of my own awards I made up. I found this to be a pretty tough list to make really, some of the categories there are guys that are shoe-ins to win, but almost every category had multiple guys you could make an argument for. It’s just a shame that some of these guys had excellent seasons, but you just aren’t able to recognize everyone because the awards can only go to one guy, so I’ll have honorable mentions for every award I do give. Once again, remember, this is my list. That doesn’t mean it’s the right list or it’s yours or even what the NFL ultimately decides, this is just my opinion as an avid football fan and watcher. I’d love to hear some of yours too! So, without further ado let’s get into it.
Game Changer of the Year: Joe Burrow, QB #9, Cincinatti Bengals- So this is one of the categories I made up. Basically, to me, the game changer award is given to a player who made all the difference for their team. A player that turns the tides for their team when they’re on the field and gives them a much better chance to win. No one comes close to touching Joe Burrow in that category this season. You could make the argument that every QB is a game changer for their team and while that’s kind of true, not the way Burrow was for his team this year. He played his ass off despite a weak line and not a good defense and gave his team a chance to make the playoffs (when they weren’t very good) up until the very last week of the season. The Bengals were probably like a 4- or 5-win team this year without Joe and Jamarr’s efforts and it’s just a shame that the season both those guys had and the numbers they put up will likely be overshadowed and forgotten now because they aren’t making the playoffs. Both had legendary, career like years and put the team on their backs.
Comeback Player of the Year: Sam Darnold, QB #14, Minnesota Vikings- Coming into this year, I don’t think anyone expected much from the Vikings. In most analyst’s projections before the year kicked off, they had them finishing dead last in the NFC North and I think a big part of that was Sam Darnold. JJ McCarthy (their highly prospected rookie QB) got hurt before the season started so they had to turn to their backup, Sam Darnold. The Vikings fanbase all let out an audible sigh after hearing that news I’m sure because the only Sam Darnold football fans knew at this point was the New York Jets version of him and that was…not very good. Well Sam went on to prove this season that maybe the NY Jets were the problem and not him as he passed for over 4000 yards and 35 touchdowns this season and led the Vikings to 14 wins and now a playoff appearance. No one saw that coming, basically everyone wrote off Sam Darnold before this year, and just like that he revived his career and his image in the NFL, and I personally think that’s pretty awesome.
Coach of the year: Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions- There are definitely multiple coaches that could have taken this award this year, but my first year doing this, I had to give it to Dan Campbell, especially considering the years the Lions had in 2024. He completely changed the image of that team around in a matter of a few years and brought hope back to the Lions fanbase that they haven’t had in 50 plus years. The Lions are the #1 seed in all of the NFC this season heading into the playoffs, if someone would have said that 5 or 6 years ago, we’d guess they were high on crack, but under Coach Campbell that is the reality. Plus, you can just see and feel the love and trust he has in his guys, and they give him so much love and respect back because of it. Not to even mention, the number of injuries this team has faced this year, and they just kept coming and winning games. The Lions are a well-oiled machine under him and look more dangerous than they ever have before, he may be a likely candidate many years moving forward, but Campbell has to take the award this season for me.
*Honorable mentions: (Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings), (Mike Lafluer, Green Bay Packers), (Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers)
Rookie of the Year: Brock Bowers, TE #89, Las Vegas Raiders- There was multiple contenders for this award as well, it felt like some rookies really stepped up and shined this season around the league, but I wanted to shine some love onto Brock Bowers. Not only was he the 1 glimmering piece on the Raiders this season, but he had one of the best years for not only a rookie, but for all of the tight ends around the league. He led all tight ends in the league this year for targets, receptions, and yards and proved he can be a game changer for an offense no matter who is throwing the ball to him. He consistently got open, gave Raiders fans something to cheer for this year, and also gave some hope for the future on what was overall a terrible year for that team. They may need to rebuild the squad from the ground up, but Bowers will be an essential piece in that in the years moving forward.
*Honorable mentions: (Jayden Daniels, QB #5, Washington Commanders), (Ladd McConkey, WR #15, Los Angeles Chargers), (Jared Verse, LB #8, Los Angeles Rams)
Special Teams Player of the Year: Chris Boswell, K #9, Pittsburgh Steelers- Bos was admittedly on fire this year. That’s hard to admit as a Browns fan, but we had a terrible season anyways so who cares. Boswell nailed 41 of his 44 field goal attempts this season and ended with the best field goal percentage in the league (93.2%) while attempting the 2nd most field goals of anyone in the league as well (behind only Brandon Aubrey at 47). That in itself is pretty impressive and shows how dialed in he was this season. Boswell feels like he’s been in the league a long time, he’s 33 now, and may have just recorded one of his best, if not statistically his best season of all time. I think that deserves some recognition, and kickers just don’t get enough love in general in my opinion for the overall impact they can have on the game. The Steelers may not have been one of the most exciting offenses to watch this year, but Boswell was a big part in helping ensure his team got to the playoffs.
*Honorable mentions: (Cameron Dicker, K #11, Los Angeles Chargers), (Kavontae Turpin, punt and kick returner #9, Dallas Cowboys), (Corey Bojorquez, P #13, Cleveland Browns)
Defensive Player of the Year: Trey Hendrickson, DT #91, Cincinatti Bengals- Now we’re getting into some of the toughest categories to decide on. There were multiple players that felt like they deserved recognition for their defensive skills this year and seriously felt like they could and should win this award. At first glance, giving this award to a Bengals defensive player in the 2024 season sounds crazy, and I agree that as a whole the Bengals defense DID NOT have a good year this year. But that was besides Trey Hendrickson who once again showed up and balled out this season, all year long. He had 2 forced fumbles, 6 deflected passes, was 2nd in the league behind only Myles Garret for tackles for losses at 19, and led the league in sacks at 17.5 on the year. Last year he finished 2nd in the entire league in sacks behind only TJ Watt so it’s neat that he got the honors this year. It feels like for the past number of years Myles Garrett, TJ Watt, and Trey Hendrickson have been unbelievably consistent and put up the numbers to be in the defensive player of the year conversation year after year, but Trey is the least talked about of the 3, so I feel like he deserves the credit for the season he had. Regardless of how the rest of the defense around him looked, he created problems for QBs on the weekly.
*Honorable mentions: (Kerby Joseph, S #31, Detroit Lions), (Myles Garrett, DE #95, Cleveland Browns), (Xavier McKinney, S #29, Green Bay Packers)
Offensive Player of the Year: Saquon Barkley, RB #26, Philadelphia Eagles- Saquon Barkley’s first year with the Eagles was quite a memorable one! He rushed for over 2,000 yards on the season and had a good chance of beating Eric Dickerson’s all-time rushing record this year if he hadn’t sat out week 18 to be fresh for the playoffs. This year felt like the revival of the running back in a lot of ways, it was kind of started by CMC last year, but Saquon Barkley and Derrick Henry both went off this season and proved their best days are in fact not over just yet. They just needed a fresh start on a new team and a chance to play with some real contenders. Giants and Titans fans, I’m sorry. Hate to kick you when you’re down, but it’s not like you don’t know. Saquon was a star from his first season in the league, but he’s been injury plagued a lot throughout his run. Not only did he stay healthy this year, he set career numbers this season on the Eagles. Rushing for 2,005 yards, 13 touchdowns, and averaging just over 125 yards a game! Not to mention he got a chance to show some of that athleticism off as well throughout the season, the backwards hurdle anyone?! There were quite a few contenders for this award. The offenses around the league were a lot of fun to watch this year, but I had to give the edge to Saquon on his career season.
Honorable mentions: (Jamarr Chase, WR #1, Cincinatti Bengals), (Derrick Henry, RB #22, Baltimore Ravens), (Jared Goff, QB #16, Detroit Lions)
League MVP: Lamar Jackson, QB #8, Baltimore Ravens- I’ll be the first to say, I don’t necessarily think Lamar should have won this honor last year. I had a couple of players over him and I’ve always liked Lamar and respected him as a dynamic player but I just didn’t feel he was the MVP of 2023. This season on the other hand, his stats are pretty undeniable. I understand that there are certainly other players in the conversation for this prestigious award this year, but Lamar had his best year of his career this year. He passed for over 4,000 yards for the first time in his career, threw for 41 touchdowns (the most of his career), rushed for over 900 yards, and only threw 4 interceptions all season! That’s wild, there’s guys who played half as many games under center and threw more interceptions. Lamar makes the game of football just fun to watch as well (unless he’s playing against your team that is), he’s a dynamic dual threat player that can create plays with his arm and his legs like no one we’ve seen before, aside from maybe Micheal Vick. He feels like he could be in the conversation for MVP almost every year just with the type of player he is, and while I don’t think he should win every year by any means, it’s hard to deny him that honor this season. There are other players that are certainly in the conversation, and I honestly debated between a few for a while but after looking at the numbers and how dynamic the Ravens offense has been this season as a whole with him at the helm, I think he earned it in 2024.
*Honorable mentions: (Josh Allen, QB #17, Buffalo Bills), (Saquon Barkley, RB #26, Philadelphia Eagles), (Joe Burrow, QB #9, Cincinatti Bengals)
We’re officially at the end of the 2024 NFL regular season and it was a pretty fun one! My Cowboys and Browns certainly didn’t perform up to par and my fantasy season could’ve been better, but we saw a breakout of some teams and players, some more highlight moments, a lot of heartbreak and a lot of exhilaration, but now we’re in the most intriguing and exciting few weeks of the season. The NFL playoffs! Wild card weekend is upon us, and I couldn’t be more excited to get this going. The NFL playoffs are always so bittersweet because I’m always bummed to see the season coming to an end, but I get so wrapped up in the playoffs for these few weeks and they always provide us with some exciting matchups, so I’m feeling ready! Neither of my teams even being in this year is a bummer but also provides me with a chance to just enjoy some hopefully good football stress free. If your team is still involved in the race right now, good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor. What a season it has been, we will talk on the flipside!
