2023 NFL Award Picks

With the Super Bowl right around the corner, it’s time to look at some of the amazing efforts we’ve seen throughout the season to get to this point. Each year, the NFL awards the 7 main awards to the players & coaches who have been the best of the best in their respective groupings. We’ll be breaking down our predictions for who should win each award ahead of the NFL’s award ceremony. 

MVP: Patrick Mahomes – Kansas City Chiefs

The 2 front runners for the MVP are squaring off against one another in the Super Bowl. Both have made a great case for why they should win this award and it’ll be a close one. We think that Jalen Hurts had the better season, but Patrick Mahomes is more deserving of this award. This award stands for most valuable player and if you took Mahomes out of the equation in Kansas City, there is no way this team would be in the position they are in now. The same could be said about Hurts, but Hurts had a lot more help than what Patrick Mahomes had. Hurts had Brown & Smith, Mahomes had Kelce. Hurts had Miles Sanders to rely on, the Chiefs went through several backs throughout the year and did not establish a strong run game putting more pressure on Mahomes. With the magic plays that Mahomes made to get them into the Super Bowl, he is most deserving of this title as the Chiefs would not be close to being a contender without him. 

Offensive Player of the Year: Justin Jefferson – Minnesota Vikings

The NFL leader in receiving yards, Justin Jefferson had another dominant season under his belt. Justin Jefferson set a career high in receiving yards with 1,809 which was high enough to place him in the top 10 best receiving seasons of all time. Through his first 3 seasons, Jefferson leads all receivers in history with the most yards through those first 3 years with over 4,800 along with the most receptions as well with 324. Jefferson has been consistent all season outside of a couple poor showings which was no fault of his own but rather who was under center at quarterback that made mistake after mistake in the couple games they were crushed. Jefferson was double and triple covered often this year and still put up a clinic. 

Defensive Player of the Year: Nick Bosa – San Francisco 49ers

This is arguably the toughest award this year to call as there are several players who have had incredible seasons and in other years, would most likely win the award for the seasons they had. The top 2 that this award comes down between is Nick Bosa and Micah Parsons. Micah Parsons is coming off a defensive rookie of the year campaign and capitalized on that by being top 10 in sacks and a player teams needed to change their game script around. Parsons has a very promising career in the NFL and he should win this award in the near future. This year, Bosa narrowly edges him out as Bosa led the league in sacks with 18.5 and was second in tackles for a loss with 19. Bosa would be quick to rush and make opposing quarterbacks have to quickly throw the ball causing forced throws to happen to escape the sack. This effort led the 49ers all the way to the NFC Championship game as Bosa was a leader on the NFL’s best defense. 

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Garrett Wilson – New York Jets

There are a few solid candidates for offensive rookie of the year with impressive showings from Garrett Wilson, Chris Olave, and Kenneth Walker amongst others. The first of the bunch, Garrett Wilson had to deal with Zach Wilson, Joe Flacco, and Mike White as his quarterbacks this year and still led all rookie wide receivers in yards. Garrett Wilson quickly became the #1 option on the Jets offense and has a bright future ahead of him. With an upgrade in quarterback on the horizon, Wilson could catapult himself into the upper tier of receivers. 

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner – New York Jets

Continuing with the New York Jets, we go to the other side of the field with defensive back Ahmad “Sauce” Gardner. The New York Jets had a home run of a draft getting not only Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner but they also landed a stud running back in Breece Hall. The Jets are a quarterback away from being a scary team and their defense this year reminded us of the Jets defense from nearly a decade ago that took them all the way to the NFC Championship. Sauce is showing early remnants of former NY Jets great Darrelle Revis. Despite not having as many interceptions as other players like Tariq Woolen, Sauce led the league in passes deflected with 20. He had stellar lockdown defense in his first year and opposing receivers had a very difficult time when being covered by him. 

Comeback Player of the Year: Geno Smith – Seattle Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks were supposed to be one of the worst teams in the NFL this year after several departures including the trading away of franchise quarterback Russell Wilson. Instead, the Seahawks finished with a better record than the Broncos and made the playoffs. Another part that makes it that much sweeter for the Seahawks is Geno Smith had a far better year than his predecessor and ended up earning his first career pro bowl nod which he rightfully deserved. Geno Smith was a key factor in their success and turned his whole career around. Smith should enter next year as the starting quarterback after he wins the comeback player of the year for the season he’s put together for the Seahawks. 

Coach of the Year: Brian Daboll – New York Giants

Another team that was not supposed to be good this year was the New York Giants. The Giants were slated to be the worst team in the NFC East and a long shot to make the playoffs yet they earned the 6th seed. The Giants also surprised many by winning their wild card playoff matchup against the favorite Minnesota Vikings. The turnaround that Brian Daboll has made with this organization has been incredible. If management can get Daniel Jones a wide receiver or two, this team can be dangerous in upcoming years.