2022 Season Awards Tournament: MVP, ROY, DPOY, COY (AFC North)
Each year, I go division by division and nominate who I believe is each team’s candidate for the major NFL awards and then we discuss/declare who the division’s major award winner is for the season…and that player goes onto the divisional Final Four with a chance to go to the Super Bowl/Finals for a chance to be declared my seasonal award winner.
We go division-by-division each day, then to the Final Four for each conference, then the finals to name our winner the day the NFL announces their winners. *And my choices are usually different up and down the line in each category, so enjoy a different take on the NFL awards.
*MVP (any position)
*Coach of the Year (any coach on the staff, not just the head coach)
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: MVP
AFC North
CIN: QB Joe Burrow
BAL: QB Lamar Jackson
PIT: LB T.J. Watt
CLE: RB Nick Chubb
This one isn’t too difficult…
Lamar Jackson was gone for like half-a-season, so he’s out. T.J. Watt is so important to the Steelers, but he also missed about half-a-season. Nick Chubb was a top runner in the league early…then fizzled out as Deshaun returned.
Joe Burrow is as good a player as there is in the NFL…arguably the best player in the NFL, regardless of position. The clear winner.
AFC North Winner = Joe Burrow, CIN moves on to the AFC Final Four.
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Rookie of the Year
AFC North
CIN: CB Cam Taylor-Britt
BAL: OL Tyler Linderbaum
PIT: WR George Pickens
CLE: PK Cade York
The winner should’ve been George Pickens -- he’s the best player of this group, but the Steelers pulled back on him a la rookie year Chase Claypool. After a slow start, then a quick rise with Kenny Pickett, Pickens then faded away the 2nd-half of 2022 season. It’s a damn shame.
Cade York was good-not-great at kicker for the Browns in 2022.
Cam Taylor-Britt was pressed into the starter’s role when Chidobe Awuzie went down, and CTB did a very good filling in. I was about to give the nod to Taylor-Britt for helping get his team to the AFC North title and beyond, but Tyler Linderbaum started all 17 games and graded really well. Linderbaum gets the coin-flip nod here.
AFC North Winner = Tyler Linderbaum, BAL moves on to the AFC Final Four.
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Defensive Player of the Year
AFC North
CIN: LB Logan Wilson
BAL: LB Roquan Smith
PIT: LB T.J. Watt
CLE: DE Myles Garrett
The Pitt defense was so much different with Watt, but this wasn’t a banner year for TJW…he may have played through an injury that held his normal output down.
Myles Garrett got a lot of sacks, per usual, but the Browns defense didn’t shine much this year.
Roquan Smith was good with Chicago and with Baltimore but comparing middle linebackers -- Logan Smith the heart and soul, for the second year in a row, of the Cincy defense…a really good, better-than-Baltimore kind of Bengals defense. To honor what Wilson and the Cincy defense has done -- Wilson gets my nod here.
AFC North Winner = Logan Wilson, CIN now goes on to the AFC Final Four.
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Coach of the Year
AFC North
CIN: HC Zac Taylor
BAL: HC Jim Harbaugh
PIT: HC Mike Tomlin
CLE: HC Kevin Stefanski
Kevin Stefanski is out right away…had a decent team that he kept in the race (on the fringe) somehow, but Deshaun Watson is his guy…and it never looked great any given week of the Deshaun run. Stefanski is going to lose his job over Deshaun, down the road.
Mike Tomlin did it again, you have to hand it to him…another winning season -- this time with Mitch Trubisky and Kenny Pickett. They played a weak schedule down the stretch and saved the season -- and almost got into the playoffs. He’s a legit option here.
Jim Harbaugh is also a legit option…he had the Ravens leading the division over Cincy for a while, but then lost Lamar, and wound up in the wild card. Baltimore gave Cincy the most trouble of any team this year…more trouble than KC or Buffalo did.
Zac Taylor got his team peaking again at the right time…the best team in the NFL down the stretch, for a 2nd year in a row. Taylor quickly fixed their O-Line issues off their (0-2) start and he made it work on defense as they lost their top corner midseason. Many deserving candidates, but Taylor is building sustained excellence in all phases of coaching -- so, he deserves the nod.
AFC North Winner = Zac Taylor, CIN goes on to the AFC Final Four.
