NFL Awards (part 2)

NFL Awards

2012 Regular Season

NOTE: Greg and Andrew provide their take on who deserves awards in the NFL this season. For each category, each blogger will provide their top three choices. Enjoy!

Greg Branda’s Ballot:

NFC Offensive Rookie of the Year

3. Alfred Morris (Washington) – I only have Morris 3^rd on this list because playing QB as a rookie in the NFL is one of the tougher things to do in sports. Morris had a magical season, rushing for a rookie record 1,613 yards and 13 TDs.  Morris is a great story, and deserving to be on this list.

2. Russell Wilson (Seattle) – Led the Seattle Seahawks to the playoffs at the QB position, while supplanting Matt Flynn as the starter. Threw for 26 TD against only 10 interceptions while rushing for 489 yards as well.  Truly is fun to watch- also gets credit for making the replacement officials leave with his ‘Fail Mary’ pass at home against Green Bay.

1. Robert Griffin III (Washington) – Led the Redskins to the playoffs, threw 20 TD passes with only 5 interceptions while rushing for 815 yards. RGIII had a remarkable statistical season.

AFC Offensive Rookie of the year

3. Justin Blackmon (Jacksonville) - Had he played on a better team and produced consistently all season long I would have had him higher, but he didn’t really come on until late in the season and was inconsistent.  He still led all Rookie WR in receptions (64) and yards (865).

2. T.Y. Hilton (Indianapolis) - Incredible season for T.Y. Hilton and I hope this is not seen as Indianapolis bias. Hilton had 50 receptions, which was second among rookie receivers in receptions and also was second in yards (861). He also caught 7 TD passes for a playoff team.

1. Andrew Luck (Indianapolis) – Led the previously 2-14 Colts to the playoffs, with 6 game winning drives in the 4^th quarter or overtime. Some will argue that he didn’t have as great a statistical season as RGIII or Russell Wilson, but he was also asked to do more with less than both of those other QBs were. His stats: threw for 4,374 yards, 23 TDs and 18 Int’s and is the first overall pick at QB to start a playoff game in NFL history.

NFC Defensive Rookie of the year

3. Lavonte David (Tampa Bay) – Great weakside linebacker who ended the season with 139 tackles, leading the Tampa defense in tackles.

2. Harrison Smith (Minnesota) - Really progressed well throughout the entire season and was a big reason Minnesota’s pass defense improved throughout the season.

1. Luke Kuechly (Carolina) – Was my pre-season pick for this award, and finished the season with 164 total tackles to lead the entire NFC.

AFC Defensive Rookie of the year

3. K.J. Wright (Seattle) - Rookie Linebacker for Seattle out of Utah State. Has really stabilized the inside of the NFL’s stingiest scoring defense.

2. Jerrell Freeman (Indianapolis) - Older rookie that came over this season from the Saskatchewan Roughriders of the Canadian football league. Finished second in the AFC in combined tackles with 145 and was a stalwart in the middle of the Colts defense all season.

1. Vontaze Burfict (Cincinnati) - Undrafted because of character issues and playing issues, but Mike Zimmer and Marvin Lewis have transformed this guy into a force in Cincinnati’s defense. Ended the season with 127 combined tackles.

NFL Rookie of the year

1.     Andrew Luck

2.     Robert Griffin III

3.     Russell Wilson

4.     Alfred Morris

5.     Doug Martin

6.     T.Y. Hilton

7.     Justin Blackmon

8.     Ryan Tannehill

9.     Brandon Weeden

10. Trent Richardson.

NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year

1.     Luke Kuechly

2.     Vontaze Burfict

3.     Jerrell Freeman

4.     K.J. Wright

5.     Harrison Smith

6.     Lavonte David

7.     Mark Barron

8.     Morris Claiborne

NFC Offensive Player of the Year

3. Aaron Rodgers (Green Bay) – Held this team together through a myriad of injuries yet again, and though his numbers this year weren’t as great as last years, he was still far and away the best QB in the NFC.

2. Calvin Johnson (Detroit) – Greatest statistical season ever for a receiver. Was un-coverable for a majority of the year, and did it in a season when Matthew Stafford simply wasn’t that great.

1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota) – Toss up between he and Calvin. Since his team made the playoffs he gets the edge since he had the second best season ever as a RB less than a year removed from two torn major ligaments in his knee.

AFC Offensive Player of the Year

3. Andrew Luck/Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis) – I know, I know, everyone is thinking these two don’t belong in the same conversation as the other two, and maybe individually they don’t. Here’s what I know: last season the Colts were 2-14, and were terrible on offense and defense. They didn’t get that much better on defense and they brought in Andrew Luck as their QB (along with several other offensive pieces that looked great as well). But these two (Wayne and Luck) combined for 106 catches/receptions (31.3% of Luck’s completions), 1,355 yards (31% of Luck’s yards for the year), and 5 TD’s (21.7% of Luck’s TD passes).

2. Tom Brady (New England) – Brady also had a great season and, oddly enough, helped Peyton’s team get that #1 seed by thrashing Houston near seasons end.

1. Peyton Manning (Denver) – Peyton had one of the most statistically great seasons of his career, and led his team to the #1 overall seed in the AFC. Sounds familiar.

NFC Defensive Player of the Year

3. Clay Matthews and Charles Woodson (Green Bay) – The Packers defense wasn’t the same without these two in the lineup. It was totally different in the playoff win over the Vikings when both of these players played.

2. Charles Tillman (Chicago) – Tillman was great all year. He tackled, covered, and forced fumbles (10) all at the same time. The Bears defense might be old but they still get the job done.

1. Aldon Smith (San Francisco) – An argument could be made for Justin Smith at #1 since after he went out Aldon Smith did next to nothing, but he was still the most unblockable defensive lineman throughout the entire season in the NFC.

AFC Defensive Player of the Year

3. Jerod Mayo (New England) – Tackling machine. Helped lead an improved Pats defense this season.

2. Von Miller (Denver) – Was even better in his sophomore campaign than his freshman one. Throw in that Elvis Dumervil did not play well this year and he is even more impressive.

1. J.J. Watt (Houston) – Was the most dominant player every time he stepped on the field, except for week 16 (yes, week 16, everyone get a bye week so the NFL season is actually 17 weeks long) against the Vikings.

NFL Offensive Player of the year

1.     Calvin Johnson

2.     Adrian Peterson

3.     Peyton Manning

NFL Defensive player of the year

1.     J.J. Watt

2.     Von Miller

3.     Aldon Smith

4.     Charles Tillman

5.     Jerod Mayo

6.     Clay Matthews/Charles Woodson

NFL Comeback player of the year

1.     Peyton Manning

2.     Adrian Peterson

(Need I list others?)

AFC Coach of the year

3. Gary Kubiak (Houston) - Probably would’ve been #1 had the Texans actually taken home the #1 seed as they should’ve.

2. Joe Philbin (Miami) - Led the Miami Dolphins to a 7-9 record this year when they were given no chance before the season started. Did a heck of a job.

1. Bruce Arians (Chuck Pagano) (Indianapolis) – Arians led the Colts in Pagano’s absence and led them well. Pagano might win this award but it is actually Arians’ award.

NFC Coach of the year

3. Mike Shanahan (Washington) – Led the Redskins to 7 wins in a row after the bye week and to the playoffs even with an injured RGIII. Kyle Shanahan also gets a portion of this award for the hybrid offense that they came up with that implemented Shanahan’s zone blocking in with the pistol and zone read offenses.

2. Mike Smith (Atlanta) – Led the Falcons to the #1 seed in the NFC and a playoff berth. Was consistent and has been so over his tenure in Atlanta.

1. Pete Carroll (Seattle) – Made the gutsy call of going with a rookie QB (Russell Wilson) over a highly paid veteran (Matt Flynn) and set the stage for his team’s success all year long.

NFL MVP

3. Russell Wilson/Andrew Luck/RGIII - Rookie QBs all excelled this season, Tannehill and Weeden included. These three all led their teams to the playoffs and this class of rookies may be looked at as the best ever.

2. Peyton Manning (Denver) - Broncos would probably still be in the playoffs without him but he has impacted this team significantly.

1. Adrian Peterson (Minnesota) – Simply amazing. The Vikings would be terrible without him.

By: Greg Branda