Recounting the NFL Awards

By carolinianweb on January 24, 2018 • ( 0 )

Antre Stephenson
Staff Writer

Sports_AntreStephenson_NFL_KeithAllisonFlickr

Photo credit: Keith Allison/Flickr

This NFL season has been a complete roller coaster, not knowing what is going to happen next. That is always a good thing because it keeps fans intrigued, and it makes the game of football that much more exciting. Now to the good part, which is the NFL awards. When it comes to the NFL awards a lot of these awards can go in a myriad of different directions with the resume of many players. For an example, Philadelphia Eagles’ quarterback Carson Wentz was hands down the NFL MVP. However, the campaign of Wentz being the NFL MVP came to a halt, because of an injury that had him sidelined late in the season and which forced him to miss the final three games. Many think he still should get the award because he completed over sixty percent of his passes this season, throwing for over three thousand yards as well as 33 touchdowns to seven interceptions while having a QBR (quarterback rating) of 101.9. Not to mention his play this year has been phenomenal with highlight plays and a winning season while going 11-2 this season before getting injured.

Others would say that the MVP this year should be longtime New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Brady has played the entire season, while throwing for over 4,500 yards, having thirty-two touchdowns, only eight interceptions and having a QBR of 102.8 while leading his team to a 13-3 record this season. So if it was not for the injury to Wentz this MVP race possibly could be looking very different right now. But as of today, Brady would be my MVP.

That is the exact same situation for the NFL Rookie of the Year award. Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, three year starter out of Clemson, played in seven games this season before suffering a season-ending knee injury in practice. He threw for over 1,000 yards, nineteen touchdowns and eight interceptions while having a QBR of a 81.5. Then there was this running back from the New Orleans Saints by the name of Alvin Kamara who came out of nowhere this year as a rookie. He was drafted in the third round, pick No. 67. With 120 carries he managed to get 728 yards, eight touchdowns and an average of 6.1 yards every carry. If Watson was able to finish this year out, he would have won the award by a wide margin. Since injuries happen and it is a part of the game, the next rookie that was up had not only impressed his teammates but everyone around the NFL; Alvin Kamara.

Last but not least, Coach of the Year. This award could go to many of NFL coaches around the league because of how many times coaches are fired and new head coaches are hired. This award can go two ways just like the other awards. The Los Angeles Rams head coach, Sean McVay is the youngest NFL head coach in NFL history at 30 years old when he was hired. He took the Rams from 4-12 last season to 11-5 this season. Another head coach considered for Coach of the Year would be (my personal selection) Doug Marrone of the Jacksonville Jaguars. He took the Jags from 3-13 last season to 10-6 this season while knocking off the Pittsburgh Steelers twice, including in the playoffs to meet the New England Patriots in the AFC championship game.

This season has definitely had its up and downs, from Aaron Rodgers pretty much being injured almost all year, to Odell Beckham being injured pretty much the entire season as well. Elliott getting suspended. A lot of stars were affected someway or another by an injury this year. Overall, this has been a great season. A lot of players made their names household names by their production this season.