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 WEST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: MVP
LAR: WR Puka Nacua, LAR
SEA: WR D.K. Metcalf, SEA
ARI: RB James Conner, ARI
SF: QB Brock Purdy, SF
Wow...just sitting back and looking at this list, it’s astonishing how unexciting it is this year for this division. It was Brock Purdy’s worst year in the NFL. D.K. Metcalf was a game changer out of the gates, but then they went away from him and didn’t make use of their game changer. It’s really down to Puka vs. Conner.
Puka was the best player in the division...he had some amazing moments, and the Rams took off when he was back fully healthy. But James Conner was the most steady player in the division -- he WAS the offense for Arizona.
When Puka played 50%+ of the offensive snaps in games in the regular season, the Rams were (7-2)...and he was so good, so important, so dominant at times -- I’m giving it to him, despite the games he had to miss with injury.
NFC WEST Winner = WR Puka Nacua, LAR is on to the NFC Final Four.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
LAR – Puka Nacua
SEA – Julian Love
ARI – Budda Baker
SF – George Kittle
NFC West – Puka Nacua
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NFC WEST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Rookie of the Year
LAR: DE Jared Verse, LAR
SEA: DT Byron Murphy, SEA
ARI: WR Marvin Harrison, ARI
SF: OG Dom Puni, SF
We can eliminate Byron Murphy pretty quickly...he really didn’t have much of an impact for Seattle in 2024.
Marvin Harrison was important in that he drew coverage attention away early in the season, until defenses figured out he wasn’t very good...then he was just a random dud most of the season.
Dominick Puni started all 17 games and had nice blocking grades in 2024, especially in the run game. A very valuable asset in 2024. It’s Puni versus Jared Verse for the award. Verse was statistically OK, but visually/tape/impact-wise he was really good. There were a couple games this season where Verse did something late in the game to get the win...a sack or a forced fumble or key pressure to halt a drive. By a narrow margin, I’ll give it to Verse...but Puni has a claim to this because the OG position is so critical.
NFC WEST Winner = DE Jared Verse, LAR
*Ross Jacobs votes:
LAR – Jared Verse
SEA – Tyrice Knight
ARI – Marvin Harrison
SF – Dominick Puni
NFC West – Jared Verse
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NFC WEST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Defensive Player of the Year
LAR: DE Jared Verse, LAR
SEA: DL Leonard Williams, SEA
ARI: SAF Budda Baker, ARI
SF: CB Deommodore Lenior, SF
I think Lenior had a nice season for SF...and got a very nice contract extension in-season to confirm that...but he wasn’t the best defender in this division.
Budda Baker is always great/key, but he was not the top defender in the division.
Jared Verse was terrific for LAR, but he nor anyone else can hold a candle to what Leonard Williams did this season. Near career highs in sacks (11.0) and QB hits (30) with a career-high 16 TFLs, also a career-high 3 PDs and a 92-yard INT return TD for a topper. He was a menace for Seattle this season.
NFC WEST Winner = DL Leonard Williams, SEA, who is moving on to the NFC Final Four.
*Ross Jacobs votes:
LAR – Kobie Turner
SEA – Julian Love
ARI – Budda Baker
SF – Fred Warner
NFC West – Julian Love
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NFC WEST: 2024 Season Awards Tournament: Coach of the Year
LAR: HC Sean McVay, LAR
SEA: HC Mike Macdonald, SEA
ARI: HC Jonathan Gannon, ARI
SF: HC Kyle Shanahan, SF
Not even worth a lot of typing about...what Sean McVay did in this division, fighting through all the early injuries to his team...and they were crushed early, then racing to the division title -- easy win for McVay here.
NFC WEST Winner = HC Sean McVay, LAR
*Ross Jacobs votes:
LAR – Sean McVay
SEA – Mike Macdonald
ARI – Jonathan Gannon
SF – Chris Foerster
NFC West – Sean McVay
