Most Valuable Player
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
- 2022 Finalists: Josh Allen(QB, Buffalo Bills), Joe Burrow(QB, Cincinnati Bengals), Jalen Hurts(QB, Philadelphia Eagles), Justin Jefferson(WR, Minnesota Vikings), Patrick Mahomes(QB, Kansas City Chiefs)
- 2022 Winner: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs
- Thoughts: In my mind, this was a two man race between Hurts and Mahomes. Despite the electric player he is, I think Allen had too many turnovers to win MVP. I’m so glad Mahomes won the MVP Award over Jalen Hurts. Look, I will be one of the first people to admit when I’m wrong. Hurts did improve this offseason, more so than I thought he would. I can not and will not take away Hurts unbelievable ability to lead his team or the hard work he put in this offseason, but I still believe that the level of success he achieved this year was driven by the addition of AJ Brown, arguably the best defense in the league, and one of the easiest schedules in the NFL. If he can continue to make strides in future offseasons the way he did this year, it is possible he will win an MVP at some point in the future, but he’s still got work to do from a passing standpoint. Mahomes deserved this MVP.
Offensive Player Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
- 2022 Finalists: Tyreek Hill(WR, Miami Dolphins), Jalen Hurts(QB, Philadelphia Eagles), Justin Jefferson(WR, Minnesota Vikings), Patrick Mahomes(QB, Kansas City Chiefs)
- 2022 Winner: Justin Jefferson, WR, Minnesota Vikings
- Thoughts: Yeaaaaaa… no real surprise here. We suspected Jefferson was going to have a crazy season with first year head coach Kevin O’Connell, and he definitely did not disappoint. We are just glad it didn’t go to a QB.
Defensive Player Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Micah Parsons, LB, Dallas Cowboys
- 2022 Finalists: Nick Bosa(DE, San Francisco 49ers), Chris Jones(DL, Kansas City Chiefs), Micah Parsons(LB, Dallas Cowboys)
- 2022 Winner: Nick Bosa, DE, San Francisco 49ers
- Thoughts: As much as we like Parsons and personally would’ve given him DPOY both of the last two seasons, it’s hard to win when you are as versatile as Parsons. He doesn’t play off the ball enough to rack up crazy tackle or INT numbers and doesn’t line up off the edge enough to get the sack numbers of a DE. Bosa is definitely deserving of this award though, he was dominant and an absolute force this season.
Offensive Rookie Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Kenny Pickett, QB, Pittsburgh Steelers
- 2022 Finalists: Brock Purdy(QB, San Francisco 49ers), Kenneth Walker III(RB, Seattle Seahawks), Garrett Wilson(WR, New York Jets)
- 2022 Winner: Garrett Wilson, WR, New York Jets
- Thoughts: We have a question… how is Wilson a finalist, but Olave isn’t? Their stats were nearly identical. Olave was short of Wilson by 61 yards despite having 11 less catches and fewer games played. It wasn’t very hard to see that Wilson was going to win based on the finalists and with the Qb play around him it cannot be faulted that he did win. Despite all Purdy did in his time starting, neither him nor Walker played enough games. Purdy probably wins if he starts the whole season or even two more games.
Defensive Rookie Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Nakobe Dean, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
- 2022 Finalists: Sauce Gardner(CB, New York Jets), Aidan Hutchinson(DE, Detroit Lions), Tariq Woolen(CB, Seattle Seahawks)
- 2022 Winner: Sauce Gardner, CB, New York Jets
- Thoughts: We had a feeling Sauce was going to take it home; however, we will admit we thought Woolen had a chance. It depended on what the voters were looking at more, being lockdown or stats. Gardner was more lockdown, but I believe Woolen had better stats than Sauce. We do feel bad for Hutchinson though, who would probably have won in a normal year especially because he had 9.5 sacks and 3 INTs on his rookie resume. Unfortunately, he was a rookie in the same year as two of arguably the best rookie CBs we’ve seen in recent memory.
Comeback Player Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Michael Thomas, WR, New Orleans Saints
- 2022 Finalists: Saquon Barkley(RB, New York Giants), Christian McCaffrey(RB, San Francisco 49ers), Geno Smith(QB, Seattle Seahawks)
- 2022 Winner: Geno Smith, QB, Seattle Seahawks
- Thoughts: Much like a catch, there is no set criteria for Comeback Player of the Year. Many people think of player’s coming back from injury when they think of Comeback Player of the Year. There are extremely mixed feelings around the football community about players who win this award who aren’t really coming back from anything. For example, Ryan Tannehill breaking out in Tennessee after having to deal with Adam Gase in Miami. Now Geno Smith having a breakout season after being a career backup. Don’t get us wrong Geno put together a season that proved a lot of people wrong, but if we are talking about a comeback we think it should’ve been Barkley or CMC or even Brian Robinson.
Coach Of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): Brandon Staley, Los Angeles Chargers
- 2022 Finalists: Brian Daboll(New York Giants), Sean McDermott(Buffalo Bills), Doug Pederson(Jacksonville Jaguars), Kyle Shanahan(San Francisco 49ers), Nick Sirianni(Philadelphia Eagles)
- 2022 Winner: Brian Daboll, New York Giants
- Thoughts: Okay… let us start by saying Congrats to Brian Daboll. He absolutely deserves this award. First off, we thought Daboll hit home runs with the coordinators he brought in(Mike Kafka and Wink Martindale). Daboll also proved what he was capable of as he brought the Giants back to the playoffs for the first time in a while and broke the Boat Curse, while having a practice squad WR room and a QB many fans wanted to move on from. In general it was a stacked group to pick from, maybe the most stacked of any of the awards.
However, in our personal opinion, we would’ve given it to Doug Pederson. Here’s why: Pederson took over an absolutely awful franchise. A franchise who’s 2021 kicker… or uhm coach, managed to somehow destroy something that was already burning down. He managed to ruin the only thing the team had left… any sense of a team culture. Insert Doug Pederson. He took a team who had the first overall pick each of the last two seasons, and had a combined 4 wins in those 2 seasons. Everyone knows that in one year Pederson took the Jags to their first winning record since their 2017 Sacksonville season where they made it to the AFC Championship game. Everyone knows Pederson led the Jags to AFC South Champs for the first time also since 2017. But not everyone factors in that he had to rebuild the locker room, morale, and culture of the Jacksonville Jaguars all before he could even think about the roster, gameplanning, or anything football related. Pederson not only won, but he rebuilt the foundation of that organization, turned Trevor Lawrence into a MVP contender, and should have them as the AFC South favorites for the foreseeable future.
Assistant Coach of The Year
- The Gridiron Review Way Too Early Prediction(5-31-22): NA
- 2022 Finalists: Ben Johnson(Detroit Lions), DeMeco Ryans(San Francisco 49ers), Shane Steichen(Philadelphia Eagles)
- 2022 Winner: DeMeco Ryans, San Francisco 49ers
Thoughts: Ryans definitely deserved this award, he was an absolutely great defensive coordinator and assistant coach. So many good things came out about Ryans when he was hired as the new Houston Texans Head Coach. All-Pro LB and arguably the best LB in the NFL, Fred Warner, gave Ryans all credit for being the player he is today. We wouldn’t have been shocked if Ben Johnson won, but we are happy it was Ryans.