2022 Season Awards Tournament: MVP, ROY, DPOY, COY (NFL Finals)
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
FINALS
NFC: QB Jalen Hurts, PHI
AFC: QB Patrick Mahomes, KC
How do you pick a winner here? We all know Patrick Mahomes is the top passer in the league…most yards, most TDs. He’s a given as a top guy in the league, but before you write off Jalen Hurts…we can’t take lightly that he did have far fewer passing yards, but he had a lot more rushing yards than Mahomes…and Hurts led all QBs with 13 rushing TDs.
Both teams won 14 games…were their conference’s #1 seed.
Do we split the vote?
No.
We give it to Patrick Mahomes with the thinking -- Mahomes did all his damage with a lesser O-Line and lesser weaponry around him. It’s remarkable that Mahomes just kept rolling big numbers minus Tyreek but PLUS the worst outside WR duo in the NFL, Juju and MVS.
2022 Season Winner = QB Patrick Mahomes, KC
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Rookie of the Year
FINALS
NFC: QB Brock Purdy, SF
AFC: CB Sauce Gardner, NYJ
Sauce Gardner is the better player, by far. You do the 2022 NFL Draft over…you take Gardner WAY ahead of Purdy, and I’m a huge Purdy fan…but let’s be real.
However, Sauce had a great season…but Purdy had a season that will have 30-for-30 documentaries and/or movies made about. ‘Brock Purdy’ will be ‘term’ going forward -- as every 2nd/3rd-string QB is compared to how Purdy-like they are. You have to acknowledge Purdy here…I don’t care that he only played a half-a-season -- that half was magical/one of a kind.
2022 Season Winner = QB Brock Purdy, SF
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Defensive Player of the Year
FINALS
NFC: CB Tariq Woolen, SEA
AFC: CB Sauce Gardner, NYJ
This is the new NFL…the top rookies are coming in and are instantly better than the rookies of yesteryear AND better than most of the existing players in the league. No more, ‘three year rule’ and ‘learning’/’developing’. It’s game on right away.
I looked at this decision from several different angles…cover metrics, picks, TDs allowed, QB rating allowed, thinking of their 2022 play in my mind -- and I keep going back and forth. Then I thought…I love them both, so why not split it? So, I will. Co-winners…which is stunning that we’re splitting this between two rookies. Today’s athletes are so much better than the past…more of them on the way in 2023.
2022 Season Winner = CB Tariq Woolen, SEA and CB Sauce Gardner, NYJ
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2022 Season Awards Tournament: Coach of the Year
FINALS
NFC: HC Dan Campbell, DET
AFC: HC Doug Pederson, JAX
Both these coaches had a great 2nd-half of the season run…two of the better teams in the NFL down the stretch. I could give it to Pederson for winning the division, but…hell…Detroit had the same record as the Jags…they couldn't help the division they were in!!
I’m going to lean it towards Pederson for this reason -- Dan Campbell has been there for two years doing his tinkering and working with a promising young GM. While Pederson walked into a dysfunctional ownership family and a weird GM (a GM that other coaching candidates didn’t want to see stay if they were gonna commit to the Jags)…and Pederson walked in and in a year (or less), turned it all around despite all the barriers. A stunning job by Pederson.
2022 Season Winner = Doug Pederson, JAX
