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.
We also have FFM’s Ross Jacobs’ nominees by team, by division, by conference and his eventual winner to share along with my nominees and winners.
Two notes on the voting:
*MVP (any position, but usually offense)
**Coach of the Year (any coach on the staff, not just the head coach)
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NFC EAST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: MVP
PHI: RB Saquon Barkley, PHI
WSH: QB Jayden Daniels, WSH
DAL: WR CeeDee Lamb, DAL
NYG: WR Malik Nabers, NYG
We got a group of worthy players here for sure, but we have to eliminate the WRs (Lamb, Nabers) right away for several reasons. One issue being they had to deal with injuries much of the season but mostly the problem is obvious...they just weren’t in the class of Saquon-Jayden for the 2024 season.
How do you pick between Saquon and Jayden? Both worthy contenders to win the entire tournament.
I will default to two thoughts...
1) If both of these players got hurt, gone for the season, the Saturday before the Week 1 opener...how many wins would it cost either team? Maybe 1-2 wins with the Eagles? Maybe 5-7+ with the Commanders?
2) How easily could I replace either player, in that scenario above? Kareem Hunt might have gone in and rushed for 1,500+ yards for the Eagles? Where am I finding a QB at, on the fly, to come anywhere near replacing Jayden.
For that reason, I pick Jayden Daniels as the MVP winner here.
NFC EAST Winner = QB Jayden Daniels, WSH...who moves on to the NFC Final Four.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
PHI – Saquon Barkley
WAS – Jayden Daniels
DAL – Micah Parsons
WAS – Jayden Daniels
NFC East Winner: Saquon Barkley
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NFC EAST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Rookie of the Year
PHI: CB Quinyon Mitchell, PHI
WSH: QB Jayden Daniels, WSH
DAL: OL Cooper Beebe, DAL
NYG: WR Malik Nabers, NYG
Well, this is a slam dunk...if JD is the MVP, then he’s certainly the ROY of this division.
But just to note...Quinyon Mitchell had a great season, and Malik Nabers really was fantastic...but you can’t stop Jayden here.
NFC EAST Winner = QB Jayden Daniels, WSH...who moves on to the NFC Final Four in a second category.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
PHI – Quinyon Mitchell
WAS – Jayden Daniels
DAL – Cooper Beebe
NYG – Malik Nabers
NFC East Winner: Jayden Daniels
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NFC EAST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Defensive Player of the Year
PHI: CB Quinyon Mitchell, PHI
WSH: LB Frankie Luvu, WSH
DAL: EDGE Micah Parsons, DAL
NYG: DL Dexter Lawrence, NYG
The first player we can eliminate is Dexter Lawrence...hot start (9.0 sacks in first 7 games), cold finish (0 sacks next/final 5 games) and then hurt/gone for the year after 12 games. He was great, but not gonna win the divisional award here.
I’d watch Dallas games and forget Micah Parsons was still playing, but when I watched Washington games...Frankie Luvu’s jersey was always on screen, around the ball, making plays in the pass game, run game, blitz game. Of the two linebackers here, I’ll advance Luvu’s overall game and presence.
Luvu v. Quinyon? I’ll always take a corner over a linebacker, for their critical importance to a defense...the most important thing to a defense, a shutdown corner. So, rookies are running wild in the NFC East...they took all the player awards. Zack Baun and Jalen Carter should be noted here as impact players...maybe the 1s-1b-1c for the award all come from the Eagles. But I place a premium on CB, so I default to Quinyon...who was being put as a shutdown on #1 WRs as a rookie, he earned such respect so quickly.
NFC EAST Winner = CB Quinyon Mitchell, PHI...who moves on to the NFC Final Four.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
PHI – Zach Baun
WAS – Bobby Wagner
DAL – Micah Parsons
NYG – Dexter Lawrence
NFC East Winner: Zach Baun
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NFC EAST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Coach of the Year
PHI: D-C Vic Fangio, PHI
WSH: HC Dan Quinn, WSH
DAL: HC Mike McCarthy, DAL
NYG: none
Mike McCarthy did a decent job holding the team together after Dak went down/out, but he’s not beating out the other nominees, not even close.
I don’t think the NYG staff warrants any nominee. Brian Daboll butchered so many decisions this season from QB to kicker to not fixing the O-Line issues...he had a good team with lots of young talent, and he drove it into the ground.
Whereas, compared to Daboll, Dan Quinn took a bunch of young talent and put a playoff team together, after years of darkness for that franchise. What Quinn did in 2024 was a minor miracle.
Vic Fangio got away from Mike McDaniel and went back to being a defensive guru. I thought maybe Fangio was the issue in 2023, but now I believe Mike McDaniel was the issue...and Fangio got to go to Philly and built the best defense in the league, by season’s end, from what was the worst defense in the league to end last season.
Fangio is deserving, but you gotta hand it to Dan Quinn for the overall fix of an entire team.
NFC EAST Winner = HC Dan Quinn, WSH...who now moves on to the NFC Final Four.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
PHI – Vic Fangio
WAS – Dan Quinn
DAL – John Fassel
NYG – Shane Bowen
NFC East Winner: Vic Fangio
