Offensive & Defensive Rookie of the Year | 2017 NFL Honors
Kevin C. c*x/Getty ImagesPaul KasabianCorrespondent IFebruary 4, 2017
The NFL has a habit of turning every little thing in the league calendar into an event, for better (e.g. the NFL draft, which is still addicting even though we are basically just watching people read off names five to 10 minutes at a time) or worse (showcasing a random and bad divisional game every Thursday night).
Throw the NFL Honors into the better category, if only because it"s an organized (and sometimes entertaining) way to present all the awards in one place (why MLB chooses to randomly and haphazardly reveal its MVP winners in a one-off news report the week before Thanksgiving, for example, is beyond me), and it helps kill time until the Super Bowl.
Here"s a look at this year"s nfl honors information, as well as predictions for the top seven categories. You can check out each category here on the NFL Honors webpage.
NFL Honors Information
When:Saturday
Time:8 p.m. ET
TV:Fox
Host: Comedian Keegan-Michael Key
Live Stream: Fox Sports Go
AP Comeback Player of the Year
Green Bay Packers wide receiver Jordy Nelson and Pittsburgh Steelers running back Le"Veon Bell are the two best candidates for this award, as they both endured season-ending knee injuries in 2015, only to return and dominate this season. Nelson caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and 14 touchdowns, while Bell finished fifth in the league in rushing (1,268 yards) despite missing four games.
They are both deserving candidates, but Nelson has already won the PFW/PFWA Comeback Player of the Year award, which might foreshadow Saturday night"s winner.
Give the edge to Nelson, but either player is a good choice.
AP Defensive Rookie of the Year
Rick Scuteri/Associated PressNo contest here. San Diego defensive end Joey Bosa is the easy choice, as he racked up 41 tackles and 10.5 sacks in just 12 games. That stat line is made even more impressive by the fact he sat all of training camp due to a contract dispute and missed the first four games with a hamstring injury.
The rookie learning curve didn"t apply to Bosa (who is only 21 years old), however, and he quickly became a star.
AP Offensive Rookie of the Year
See above. Just replace Bosa and his stats with Ezekiel Elliott and his stats.
In all seriousness, the Dallas Cowboys running back was the No. 1 key to his team"s nine-win turnaround, accumulating 1,994 yards from scrimmage in 15 games while helping lead Dallas to a 13-3 record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC postseason.
Elliott has a great offensive line and another fantastic rookie (quarterback Dak Prescott) to thank for his individual success, but he enjoyed one of the best first years of any NFL player in recent memory.
AP Defensive Player of the Year
The best defensive player in football is Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald, who is one of the best run-stoppers and interior pass-rushers in the game. That deadly combination helped him achieve Pro Football Focus" best grade (95.6) for any defensive player this season.
If you"re wondering what he did last year, he got a 99.9 score out of 100, per Pro Football Focus. That"s pretty good.
He"d get my vote if I had one. The issue is that Donald plays for a bad Rams team that finished 4-12, while other Defensive Player of the Year candidates (Oakland Raiders linebacker Khalil Mack, for instance, who won the PFW/PFWA award and Sporting News award for this category) played on postseason teams.
Still, Donald is just too good, and given the amount of tape and advanced statistics we have at our disposal to study players, maybe the voting body will give him more recognition even though he doesn"t play on national television.
Maybe I"m just being stubborn (that"s probably the case, actually), but I"m sticking with a Donald prediction even though Mack is sweeping this category so far.
AP Offensive Player of the Year
Stephen Dunn/Getty ImagesArizona Cardinals running back David Johnson should win this award running away. He accumulated 2,118 yards from scrimmage and 20 touchdowns, leading the league in both categories.
Johnson did this even though the rest of his offense was largely poor, as quarterback Carson Palmer, a banged-up offensive line and every wide receiver not named Larry Fitzgerald had down and/or inconsistent seasons for the Cards.
Elliott could win this, as could Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan or Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, but Johnson"s mind-boggling stats are too hard to ignore.
AP Coach of the Year
It"s a two-man race between Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett and New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick.
The edge goes to Garrett because he led a nine-win turnaround year to year, the best improvement in the entire NFL. Dallas finished with the second-best regular-season record and the No. 1 seed in the NFC playoffs.
Belichick should get credit for leading the Pats to a 3-1 record while quarterback Tom Brady was suspended (and a 14-2 record overall), but funny enough, he handicaps himself from winning this award by doing so well year after year, as a marked improvement from the previous season is what usually secures this honor (check the list here).
I"m sure Belichick doesn"t mind, though.
AP Most Valuable Player
Ryan is clearly winning the MVP. He is a massive minus-1000 favorite to win, per OddsShark. The second-closest competitor is Rodgers at plus-500. In other words, the NFL engraved Ryan"s name on the trophy weeks ago.
Eric Gay/Associated PressThe Falcons quarterback led his team to an 11-5 record and the second seed in the NFC playoffs. He threw 38 touchdowns and only seven interceptions while completing 69.9 percent of his passes. Even more impressive, he tossed 12 touchdowns and no interceptions in the last four games of the regular season, all Falcons wins.
There are a handful of worthy MVP candidates this year, but Ryan is the clear-cut front-runner because he checks all of the boxes.
Source: http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2691084-nfl-honors-2017-tv-schedule-live-stream-coverage-final-predictions
