The regular season is over. The 2023 Playoffs are in full swing. That means its officially awards season in the NFL.
There’s a long list of accolades reserved for pro football’s best players, ranging from the Hall of Fame fodder of a regular season Most Valuable Player award to the still-pretty-good-ness of a Pro Bowl invitation. This year’s Associated Press All-Pro teams have been published and we already know who’ll be playing dodgeball and hitting long drives at the Pro Bowl, but several awards remain in limbo.
That includes the Pro Football Writers Association — a guild in which I’m a member. The PFWA’s awards come out next week, starting with All-NFL teams and continuing all the way to the comeback and most improved players of the year. I got to vote for each of those awards. Here’s who I’m backing after the 2022 season, along with the closest runners-up in each major category.
NFL MVP: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
2. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
3. Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
Mahomes continued to thrive even without Tyreek Hill in the lineup, finishing 2022 head and shoulders above the rest of the league’s quarterbacks. Hurts was 14-1 as a starter and boosted by a tremendous supporting cast but his value was clear; the Eagles were 0-2 when he sat due to a shoulder strain. Allen remains an impossible physical specimen capable of lifting his team to great heights but also prone to moments of nonsensical, turnover-gifting gunslinging.
Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings
2. Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
3. Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders
Jefferson was the biggest game-changing non-quarterback in the league; a player who lifted up his entire offense with ridiculous catches. That gave him the edge over Hill. The longtime Chief was an indispensable piece of Miami’s playoff run and Tua Tagovailoa’s rise, but ultimately not as impactful as his NFC counterpart. Jacobs deserves recognition for his 2022 breakthrough even if he couldn’t drag the Raiders with him.
Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers
2. Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
t3. Matthew Judon, New England Patriots and Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Bosa was the best player on the best defense in the league and had more sacks or quarterback hits than anyone — the latter by an enormous margin (48 to 35). Parsons was the tide that lifted up his entire defense and made the Cowboys fearsome even on days their offense failed to drop into gear.
Judon’s success wasn’t just his own 15.5 sacks but that he cleared room for Josh Uche to have a breakout campaign (11.5 sacks). Crosby was the bright spot in the Raiders defense, leading the league in tackles for loss despite being the one guy every opposing coordinator gameplanned against.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Garrett Wilson, New York Jets
2. Kenneth Walker II, Seattle Seahawks
3. Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers
Wilson had 1,103 receiving yards in his NFL debut, which would have been impressive even if his quarterbacks hadn’t been Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, Mike While and Chris Streveler. Walker had 992 rushing yards and nine touchdowns in the final 12 games of his rookie season to emerge as the latest link in a steady chain of high-performing Pete Carroll tailbacks. Purdy would have taken home this award if he’d played in a few more games. Instead he’ll have to settle for a spot in the playoffs and a 6-0 record as a starter.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Sauce Gardner, New York Jets
2. Tariq Woolen, Seattle Seahawks
3. Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions
Gardner was an All-Pro selection after allowing just 5.3 yards per target and a 62.7 passer rating in coverage. Between him, Wilson and Breece Hall, who was the offensive rookie frontrunner before Week 7’s torn ACL, the Jets might walk away with one of the greatest draft classes of all time.
Woolen was supposed to be a project after converting to cornerback midway through his college career and lingering to the fifth round of last year’s draft. He had six interceptions and 16 passes defensed as a rookie (the Seahawks also had a historic draft, and we haven’t even gotten to Charles Cross and Abe Lucas yet).
Hutchinson was a Swiss Army Knife for Dan Campbell’s depleted defense, filling multiple roles up front and even dropping into coverage to fluster opponents. He finished 2022 with 9.5 sacks and three interceptions.
Comeback Player of the Year: Jared Goff, Detroit Lions
2. Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers
3. Saquon Barkley, New York Giants
There weren’t too many traditional candidates here. Geno Smith kinda fits but, spoiler, he’s coming up next. Instead, let’s talk about Goff.
He was a write-off in the Matthew Stafford trade; a player whose onerous contract helped convince the Rams to ship two first round picks north alongside him. But after a below-average 2021 he rebounded to become one of the league’s most efficient passers. His 29 touchdown passes and 99.3 passer rating were each the highest he’s seen since 2018 — his last Pro Bowl season.
Most Improved Player of the Year: Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks
2. Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars
3. Jalen Hurts, Philadelphia Eagles
Smith isn’t my comeback player of the year because “comeback” suggests he’d played at this level before. That is false. The Smith we saw in 2022 was significantly better than any version of Smith we’d seen in the past. In terms of leap made, it’s hard to argue anyone took a larger step forward than Smith, a journeyman backup who finished the year as a top 10 quarterback.
Lawrence made the leap to borderline great, despite some turnover concerns, and made Urban Meyer look stupid in the process. Not that this takes much work, but I still appreciated it. Hurts left no doubt about his viability as a starting quarterback and reached new heights with a pumped-up cast of home run hitters in the Philadelphia lineup.
Coach of the Year: Brian Daboll, New York Giants
2. Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers
3. Nick Sirianni, Philadelphia Eagles
Daboll made Daniel Jones a playoff quarterback. Shanahan and Sirianni both made good teams better and ruled the NFC. But Brian Daboll took Danny Dimes and a receiving corps whose top targets were Darius Slayton, Richie James and Isaiah Hodgins, and pushed them to the postseason. Amazing stuff.
My All-Pro team, offense
Quarterback: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
Running Backs: Josh Jacobs, Las Vegas Raiders and Nick Chubb, Cleveland Browns
Wide Receivers: Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings and Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
Tight End: Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Center: Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles
Guards: Joel Bitonio, Cleveland Browns and Mike Onwenu, New England Patriots
Offensive Tackles: Lane Johnson, Philadelphia Eagles and Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
The number of choices here are in accordance with PWFA guidelines. Would I have liked to add a third wideout or a second tailback? Absolutely! Unfortunately, that wasn’t an option.
My All-Pro team, defense and special teams
Defensive Ends: Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers and Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Defensive Tackles: Chris Jones, Kansas City Chiefs and Daron Payne, Washington Commanders
Outside Linebackers: Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys and Matt Judon, New England Patriots
Inside/Middle Linebacker: Matt Milano, Buffalo Bills
Cornerbacks: James Bradberry, Philadelphia Eagles and Jaire Alexander, Green Bay Packers
Safeties: Jordan Poyer, Buffalo Bills and Minkah Fitzpatrick, Pittsburgh Steelers
Placekicker: Daniel Carlson, Las Vegas Raiders
Punter: Michael Dickson, Seattle Seahawks
Kickoff Returner: Keisean Nixon, Green Bay Packers
Punt Returner: Marcus Jones, New England Patriots
Special Teamer: Jeremy Reaves, Washington Commanders
