We’re officially into the back-half of the season and have a good sense of which players are making the biggest impact in 2025. It’s been a wholly bizarre year from week-to-week, and offense has been down around the NFL — which is partially why everything has been so unpredictable.
Today we dive into the major end of season awards to see who could be taking home hardware from the 2025 season — while also looking at who should be winning the award if things were fair.
Most Valuable Player
Matthew Stafford, QB — Los Angeles Rams
Should be: Jonathan Taylor, RB — Indianapolis Colts
We all know that MVP is synonymous with best quarterback, and based on Stafford’s current tear he’s in the best position to win the award this year. Completing over 67% of his passes and being on track for over 4,500 yards is one thing — but it’s Stafford’s ludicrous 25 touchdowns and 2 interceptions that sets him apart from everyone else in the NFL. If this holds he’ll have thrown for 47 this year, which will be the most since Aaron Rodgers threw 48 for the Packers in 2020 when he won MVP.
Jonathan Taylor won’t win this award because running backs always get overlooked in the MVP race. If Saquon Barkley didn’t win last year, then it’s difficult to imagine Taylor taking home the award in 2025. It’s ridiculous, but here we are. The Colts running back has been the most important element of their breakout season, and he’s poised to rush for 26 touchdowns this year — with an outside chance of breaking LaDainian Tomlinson’s single season record set back in 2006.
Offensive Player of the Year
Jonathan Taylor, RB — Indianapolis Colts
Should be: Drake Maye, QB — New England Patriots
We project that Taylor will essentially get the runner’s up prize for his monumental season, rather than taking home the top hardware. If he fails to either break the 2,000 rushing yard mark, or starts to trend below Tomlinson’s record line this award becomes a lock as a consolation prize. It’s still a nice achievement, but not what he deserves for making the Colts one of the best teams in the NFL.
Rather than simply flip-flopping Stafford and Taylor, I’m putting Drake Maye as the deserving OPOY this year. There’s no doubt Stafford has been tremendous, but Maye has been otherworldly at generating offense with a less-than-stellar cast while still pushing the ball downfield vertically. There’s a big difference between throwing for 4,500 yards with Davante Adams and Puka Nacua, to what Maye is doing where he’s on pace to finish with 4,300 yards and 32 TDs while throwing to Stefon Diggs and Kayshon Boutte.
Defensive Player of the Year
Myles Garrett, DE — Cleveland Browns
Should be: Myles Garrett, DE — Cleveland Browns
Nobody in the NFL is like Myles Garrett. There have been some great defensive performances this season, and there’s a strong possibility we could see Brian Burns, Nick Bonnito, or Jordyn Brooks come for the crown — ultimately everything falls back to the only part of the Browns worth watching.
Garrett is on pace to finish with 21 sacks and a ludicrous 19.5 stuffed runs this season. He is a human wrecking ball in both phases of the game unlike anybody else in the league. While it’s possible Garrett could be overlooked for being on a bad team, he shouldn’t be. As much as the Cleveland Defense holds teams to stops they would be a playoff team if their offense could do literally anything with the ball. We can’t blame Garrett for the failures of others.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Emeka Egbuka, WR — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Should be: Emeka Egbuka, WR — Tampa Bay Buccaneers
This one isn’t really close. Emeka Egbuka has been the perfect addition to the Bucs’ passing offense and taken a ton of pressure off the team in the wake of Mike Evans’ injury. Egbuka is a brilliant do-everything receiver who has home run speed, paired with incredible route running to make space in the small areas. It’s also helped a lot that he’s developed a quick rapport with Baker Mayfield as one of his favorite targets. It’s ridiculous that he lasted as long as he did in the draft with so many receiver-needy teams.
As it stands Egbuka is on pace for 1,279 receiving yards and 11 touchdowns. There’s also a chance this goes higher, especially with his usage rate climbing.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Abdul Carter, DE — New York Giants
Should be: Carson Schwesinger, LB — Cleveland Browns
There is no doubt that Abdul Carter will be a force in the NFL. He’s shown incredible flashes in limited snaps, locked behind Brian Burns in the depth chart and with Kayvon Thibodeaux taking the opposite side. In a perfect world he’d get the snaps needed to separate from the pack, but that hasn’t happened. Nevertheless I see a scenario where Carter finishes with five or six sacks, and that will be enough to put him over the top.
Schwesinger has been the best all-around defender from this rookie class this season. Middle linebacker has become an under-appreciated position in the NFL, but he’s putting his stamp on the Browns defense by being a do-everything player making an impact against the run and pass. As it stands he’s projected to finish with 140 tackles, 3.0 sacks, and 2 interceptions.
Comeback Player of the Year
Christian McCaffrey, RB — San Francisco 49ers
Should be: Daniel Jones, QB — Indianapolis Colts
It’s been great to see Christian McCaffrey come back from injury after being out for most of last season and effectively sinking the 49ers hopes in 2024. He’s going to finish with over 2,000 all-purpose yards once more, and is still the best all-around running back in the NFL. There is no doubt that he bounced back from a bad injury, and under the new rubric for this award he fits the bill perfectly.
Daniel Jones is a guy who deserves this award in the spirit of it, but likely won’t get the nod because he didn’t come back from an injury — which has been made a point of emphasis. This was a player who started the offseason as fighting for a job, and now he’s the starting quarterback on one of the best teams in the AFC. Jones has been a phenomenal passer and leader for the Colts, steadying the ship and pairing with Jonathan Taylor to turn them into a force. He’ll be left out of the picture.
Coach of the Year
Mike Vrabel — New England Patriots
Should be: Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots
I can see a strong case for Shane Steichen of the Colts too, but for Vrabel to arrive in New England and turn a terrible team into the AFC East leader is just phenomenal. There isn’t a random arrival or surprise performance that caused the Pats to break out in 2025, but rather a steady hand to lead a young, impressionable team and make them a force.
The amount of trust he’s placed in Drake Maye to run the offense is downright impressive, and from there we have myriad stellar performances all around the team. The fact Vrabel left Tennessee, the team imploded, and now he’s in New England and bringing them to greatness is a testament to his coaching ability. He’s my pick for the award in 2025.
