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.
*Coach of the Year (any coach on the staff, not just the head coach)
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AFC NORTH: 2025 Season Awards Tournament: Offensive Player of the Year
BAL: RB Derrick Henry, BAL
CIN: QB Joe Burrow, CIN
CLE: TE Harold Fannin, CLE
PIT: QB Aaron Rodgers, PIT
The names on here are infamous, but they really don’t feel like OPOY material this year...except for King Henry. When Burrow was out, Flacco was the top FF QB for 4-5 weeks. Cincy can lose games with 300+ yards passing with Burrow or Flacco. But Henry really changed games when they gave him the ball...and when they didn’t.
AFC North Winner = RB Derrick Henry, BAL
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AFC NORTH: 2025 Season Awards Tournament: Rookie of the Year
BAL: SAF Malaki Starks, BAL
CIN: LB Barrett Carter, CIN
CLE: TE Harold Fannin, CLE
PIT: DT Derrick Harmon, PIT
Yikes, this is a tough call.
Harmon didn’t do much, so he’s not winning it. Carter and Starks became solid starters, but Fannin is the only one of them who really stood out/made waves.
AFC North Winner = TE Harold Fannin, CLE
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AFC NORTH: 2025 Season Awards Tournament: Defensive Player of the Year
BAL: CB Nate Wiggins, BAL
CIN: CB D.J. Turner, CIN
CLE: EDGE Myles Garrett, CLE
PIT: CB Joey Porter Jr., PIT
These three CBs had great seasons...Pro Bowl seasons...but there’s Myles Garrett as the non-CB, the big name of the group...and I absolutely do not care. Get all the sacks you want, they do not matter that much in the big picture of a defense or a team winning. So, Garrett, the NFL’s certain choice, is out of the running for me. I don’t worship sacks like the NFL does. For every sack, Garrett probably causes 2-3x more issues trying to get to the sacks and creating space/opportunity in his area.
The best of the three really fine corners here...I’m going Turner because every time I watched Bengals games he really was locking down opposing WRs very impressively.
AFC North Winner = CB D.J. Turner, CIN
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AFC NORTH: 2025 Season Awards Tournament: Coach of the Year
BAL: HC John Harbaugh, BAL
CIN: D-C Al Golden, CIN
CLE: D-C Jim Schwartz, CLE
PIT: HC Mike Tomlin, PIT
Quite the collection of options...
You have to give it to Mike Tomlin...he did IT again. Winning record...playoffs...gets away from this roster implosion and will get a ton of money in a year or two to coach wherever he’s like to.
AFC North Winner = HC Mike Tomlin, PIT
