NFL Predictions: Predicting major player award winners approaching Week 13
As we approach Week 13 of the 2024 NFL Season, let's try to predict the major player award winners this year. While there are some clear-cut favorites for certain player awards, others are very much up for grabs at this point. Week 13 is quickly approaching, so players are running out of time to make their case.
The MVP award may be the most interesting one, as we could be approaching a territory where a non-QB can actually win it for the first time since 2012. There are several other individual player awards that we also tried to predict here as well.
Let's do that indeed and predict the major player award winners approaching Week 13.
NFL Predictions: Predicting major player award winners approaching Week 13
Offensive Player of the Year - Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Don't look now, but Saquon Barkley is on pace to break the single-season rushing record. He is very easily on pace to at least crack the 2,000-yard mark, and this does feel like the 2023-Christian-McCaffrey season here in 2024 with Barkley on the Philadelphia Eagles if that makes sense. I have been critical of Barkley as being an overrated player and was against the Eagles signing him to this deal, but here we are.
I was dead wrong on the Barkley and the Eagles. They have won seven games in a row and are perhaps a top-2 team in the NFL at this point. Both sides of the ball are working, and it would be nearly impossible to give the OPOY award to anyone but Barkley at this point.
Defensive Player of the Year - Patrick Surtain II, CB, Denver Broncos
I struggled to find someone else that jumped off the page. Danielle Hunter of the Houston Texans is feeling up the stat sheet, but the Texans only have an average defense. Patrick Surtain II is the anchor of this Denver Broncos defense. The unit ranks 3rd in the NFL in points allowed, and Surtain has allowed an opposing passer rating of 47.4 this year. He's got three interceptions, one defensive touchdown, and eight passes defended.
The main issue that defensive backs have for the Defensive Player of the Award is that much like the MVP, this DPOY usually goes to the best pass rusher, as the MVP typically goes to the best QB. However, it's hard to find a pass rusher that is deserving of the award given that there aren't a ton of elite, top-end pass rushers on some of the top defenses in the NFL.
Reigning DPOY Myles Garrett, and even TJ Watt, the last two winners, are having good seasons, but nothing really is jumping off the page if that makes sense. I do not think it is out of the question for Surtain to win the award in 2024.
Offensive Rookie of the Year - Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos
How could you not give the award to Bo Nix at this point? He has obviously passed Jayden Daniels, as the Broncos are trending upward, and the Washington Commanders have now lost three games in a row. Nix has been the more productive player this season and is getting better almost weekly.
You could argue that the stud tight end on the Las Vegas Raiders, Brock Bowers, should be the favorite for this award, but like it or not, this is a QB-driven league, so Nix probably in the driver's seat here.
Defensive Rookie of the Year - Jared Verse, DL, Los Angeles Rams
Jared Verse is playing out of his mind. He's got 4.5 sacks, 11 tackles for loss, and 14 QB hits in his first year in the NFL. While the Los Angeles Rams are not a great team, Verse is the clear-cut favorite to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. The Rams took him with the 19th overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
His teammate, Braden Fiske, is also playing quite well, but Verse is the favorite in my eyes.
Comeback Player of the Year - Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Joe Burrow played in just 10 games in 2023 and had that season-ending wrist injury. Through 11 games in 2024, he's thrown for 27 touchdowns against four interceptions and has a 106.9 passer rating. He is having yet another elite season throwing the football and if it was not for a bottom-5 defense, the Cincinnati Bengals would be atop the NFL world.
They are 4-7, so while Burrow is way out of contention for the MVP at this point, winning the Comeback Player of the Year does feel likely. In 10 games in 2023, he had just 15 touchdown passes.
MVP - Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
It's hard to give the MVP to another player at this point. Lamar Jackson has had an elite year through the air. He's thrown 27 touchdowns against just three interceptions and again has his Baltimore Ravens team among the best in the NFL. Jackson and the Ravens won a huge Monday Night Football game against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 12, and given that he's already matched his 2023 MVP production, it would be hard to not give it to him for a second year in a row.
But Jackson surely has his eyes set on a Super Bowl run and may not care at all about another MVP.