NFL Awards: Newsday's Tom Rock makes his selections for top honors

The last time we took a stab at naming the winners of these awards at the midway point of the season, Joe Flacco was unemployed. Now he is a playoff quarterback. So yes, things change very quickly in the NFL.

Flacco, though, stands out as the clear Story of the Year. After seeming to be washed up from two unfulfilling seasons with the Jets and not even receiving a call from them when they were in dire need of a veteran quarterback, Flacco bided his time, remained patient and eventually landed with the Browns. In just five games, he has thrown 13 touchdown passes and won four straight games to help Cleveland barrel into the postseason.

Flacco already is a Super Bowl-winning quarterback but is still getting used to his newly refound status as a go-to guy. He joked this past week about being old enough to be the father of some of his current teammates.

The balance and confidence he has brought to Cleveland in the last two months has paid off and, perhaps, could continue to provide dividends for the Browns throughout the next month. The regular season may be over, but clearly his story is not.

There were plenty of other fun narratives throughout the league that caught our attention, from Tommy DeVito here with the Giants to Puka Nacua out in Los Angeles, from Joshua Dobbs flashing for two teams to the absurdly high injury rate among star players that has altered the league’s landscape heading into the playoffs.

Here, though, are our choices for the various NFL awards that will be officially handed out during Super Bowl week in Las Vegas, as well as a look back at who we predicted would win them before the season began and at the midpoint of the season.

MVP

LAMAR JACKSON RAVENS

He’s the best player on the best team heading into the playoffs, so yeah, he’s the most valuable. But when you really take a look at what Jackson has done this season, essentially transforming himself from the erratic wad of chaos who won this award in 2019 to the disciplined passer he is now (albeit one who still can make dynamic things happen off script; he leads the Ravens in rushing yards), it’s as if two different players are up for this award four years apart. The fact that he has brought the Ravens the top seed in the AFC while Mark Andrews, J.K. Dobbins and Keaton Mitchell have been sidelined by injuries makes it all the more impressive. There is a case to be made for others in this category — Dak Prescott, Josh Allen and Brock Purdy all had stellar seasons — so it’s not a complete runaway for Jackson, whose stats are not at the top of all the major categories. But in a year when so many of the league’s top quarterbacks either were injured (Aaron Rodgers, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert) or struggled (Patrick Mahomes) and overall offensive production is down, Jackson has been consistently very, very good. In the NFL, it doesn’t get more valuable than that.

Preseason: Joe Burrow

Midseason: Jackson

OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

CHRISTIAN McCAFFREY
49ERS

It would have been easy to stick with my preseason and midseason choice and just taken the victory lap. Hey, Tyreek Hill leads the NFL in receiving yards with a week to go. But the ankle injury that stymied him in the second half of the year and probably will prevent him from breaking the single-season receiving yards record opened the door for McCaffrey to sneak in. McCaffrey leads the league in rushing by 315 yards (he won’t play this weekend) and accounts for a league-leading 30.4% of his team’s scrimmage yards with 2,023. That the team happens to be the top seed in the NFC with a roster of other weapons who are Pro Bowlers at their positions makes his slice of that pie stand out even more. He’s stayed healthy (he had to come out of last week’s game with an injury) and consistent and has scored a touchdown in all but three games this season. The objective of offensive football is getting in the end zone, and McCaffrey’s 21 touchdowns give him this nod.

Preseason: Hill

Midseason: Hill

DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

MYLES GARRETT BROWNS

Forget the highlight-reel tackles, sacks, pass rushes and bone-crunchers. The play that stands out for Garrett this season is one in which the ball wasn’t even snapped. It came early in the season against the Titans and Garrett was prowling the line of scrimmage, jumping from one side of the set to the other. The Titans were so committed to not allowing him a one-on-one opportunity that they shuffled their tight ends right along with him. Eventually those countermoves caused Tennessee to take a delay-of-game penalty. Yes, an NFL offense was happier to be assessed a 5-yard penalty than to allow Garrett to almost assuredly wreck their play as designed. Since then, Garrett has stood out as the centerpiece of one of the league’s great defenses.

Preseason:

Micah Parsons

Midseason: Garrett

COACH

OF THE YEAR

KEVIN STEFANSKI

BROWNS

It felt as if this award changed hands on a week-to-week basis. Whether it was Dan Campbell or DeMeco Ryans or Mike McDaniel or Shane Steichen, there were so many candidates who kept jostling for the lead. Over the last month or so, though, one of them has stood out. Stefanski took a team that easily could have fractured at any of a half-dozen points and pulled it together to win 11 games (so far) and clinch his second playoff berth since taking the job (and winning this award) in 2020. Heading into Week 18, the Browns had placed almost a dozen players on IR in the regular season alone, not to mention the ones who were done before the season began. All-Pro running back Nick Chubb, (supposed) franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson, starting offensive tackles Jack Conklin and Jedrick Wills, and their backup, Dawand Jones, have been erased from the picture. The Browns, though, have become the team no one wants to face in a meaningful January game. Think about how many teams completely melted away under big quarterback injuries this season: the Chargers, the Jets, the Bengals. The Browns already were the first team in NFL history to make the playoffs while starting four different quarterbacks, and they have gotten to the point that they are starting a fifth on Sunday in a game that won't impact their playoff seeding. Stefanski did that.

Preseason: Dan Campbell

Midseason: Campbell

OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

C.J. STROUD

TEXANS

He singlehandedly turned the Texans from a rebuild to a team that is right there, delivering on the promise of the No. 2 overall pick a year earlier than just about anyone in Houston could have hoped for. Playing the toughest position in football, he went the first eight games with just one interception, led a number of fourth-quarter comebacks and displayed the kind of poise and character that franchises are always trying to find. Puka Nacua, who is on the verge of setting two rookie records, gave him a run, but Stroud had a higher level of difficulty at QB.

Preseason: Jahmyr Gibbs

Midseason: Stroud

DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

JALEN CARTER EAGLES

This has become a really tight race with Houston’s Will Anderson surging and Kobie Turner of the Rams putting up a

solid first season. But Carter has become more of a game-wrecker than just about anyone thought he would be (or, in the case of Eagles opponents, hoped he wouldn’t be). He, like the rest of the Eagles’ defense, has cooled off a bit. He generated 31 quarterback pressures through nine games but has had only 13 since. His 30 tackles, six sacks, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery this season combined with the remarkable athleticism he shows for someone of his size should be enough to give him this award.

Preseason: Will Anderson

Midseason: Carter

COMEBACK PLAYER

OF THE YEAR

DAMAR HAMLIN BILLS

Football is a sport with a 100% injury rate, so every season there are dozens of stars who return to form after suffering torn ACLs, ruptured Achilles, even concussions. Some even come back from issues such as cancers or other diseases. But the fact that Hamlin was even able to see another NFL game, never mind play in one, after his heart stopped — twice! — on the field a little more than a year ago is as close to a medical miracle as the sport has ever seen.

Preseason: John Metchie III

Midseason: Tua Tagovailoa

EXECUTIVE

OF THE YEAR

ERIC DeCOSTA

RAVENS

It’s amazing to think back and realize that Lamar Jackson could have been on any of the 32 teams in the NFL this season. All they had to do was make him an offer when he was being held under the franchise tag. He probably would have taken it, too. In March, after all, he formally requested a trade. But DeCosta and the Ravens were able to navigate those rocky times and signed Jackson to a long-term contract. Throw in that each of Baltimore’s first three draft picks (Zay Flowers, Trenton Simpson and Tavius Robinson) have made significant contributions along with some key free-agent signings (Odell Beckham Jr., Nelson Agholor, Kyle Van Noy, Ronald Darby) and it’s been a heck of a year for DeCosta.

Preseason: DeCosta

Midseason: DeCosta

By Tom Rock

tom.rock@newsday.com@TomRock_Newsday

Tom Rock began covering sports for Newsday in 1996 and became its NFL columnist in 2022. He previously was Newsday's Giants beat writer beginning in 2008.