The Pro Football Network staff have cast their votes for this season’s awards, highlighting the best performers in the NFL. While the debate for the MVP will continue for weeks until the award is officially presented, other categories already feature intense competition.
The Defensive Player of the Year race includes a wealth of strong candidates, and the highly touted rookie quarterback class has seen one standout rise above the rest.
Here’s how our staff voted for the 2024 PFN Season Awards.
PFN’s NFL MVP
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens (10 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills (4 votes), Patrick Mahomes (1 vote)
Josh Allen is the overwhelming favorite to win his first MVP by the odds at most sportsbooks. However, our staff saw Lamar Jackson as more deserving of his third MVP award instead.
On a purely statistical level, this shouldn’t be a surprising argument. Jackson has outperformed Allen by both advanced and traditional metrics. Jackson leads Allen in QB+ (100.0 to 92.2), EPA per dropback (0.31 to 0.24), passing touchdowns (41 to 28), yards per attempt (8.8 to 7.7), and touchdown-to-interception ratio (10.3 to 4.7), among other categories.
To put the cherry on top, Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens handed Allen and the Buffalo Bills their largest loss of the season, a 35-10 trouncing back in Week 4.
Of course, the MVP is a narrative award as well. Buffalo had a superior record to Baltimore even with the head-to-head loss, despite 2024 being perceived as a re-tooling year for a Bills team that traded away top receiver Stefon Diggs. And fair or not, some voters will give a tie to Allen given that he has no MVP trophies, while Jackson has two.
The biggest prize between the two will be decided if their teams meet in an expected Divisional Round showdown. Until then, we’re really picking between a pair of historically excellent seasons for one award.
PFN’s Offensive Player of the Year
Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia Eagles (15 of 15 Votes)
Saquon Barkley was a unanimous winner by the Pro Football Network staff and received all 15 votes. With apologies to Ja’Marr Chase and Derrick Henry, this shouldn’t be a huge shock given the out-sized impact Barkley had during his first season in Philadelphia.
The Philadelphia Eagles’ running back accounted for 34.8% of his team’s scrimmage yards, easily the highest by any player this season. In fact, no other player had more than 30% of his team’s scrimmage yards.
On top of that, Barkley became the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards and did it despite sitting out the team’s 17th game. With how much he defined the Eagles’ ascent back to Super Bowl-contender status after their collapse at the end of 2023, Barkley has the hardware coming his way after the season.
PFN’s Defensive Player of the Year
Trey Hendrickson, Cincinnati Bengals (7 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Pat Surtain II, Denver Broncos (5 votes), Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles (1 vote), Xavier McKinney, Green Bay Packers (1 vote), T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers (1 vote)
The Cincinnati Bengals fielded one of the worst defenses in the league. The Bengals ranked 28th in PFN’s Defense+ metric, 25th in scoring defense, and fired defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo after the season.
Through all that, Trey Hendrickson led the league with 17.5 sacks. He was the first Bengals player in franchise history to lead the NFL in sacks, and the first over-30 player to do so since Robert Mathis of the Indianapolis Colts in 2013.
Hendrickson was truly the only star propping up a woeful unit, accounting for 48.6% of the Bengals’ sacks this season. That was the highest share of his team’s sacks in a season since 2014 when J.J. Watt had 53.9% of the Texans’ sacks. Watt won his second of three DPOY awards that season.
Overall, five different players received a vote for this award, the most of any category. That illustrates how there’s no clear runaway candidate. Denver Broncos cornerback Pat Surtain II was the other player besides Hendrickson to receive multiple votes. However, Stephon Gilmore (2019) is the only defensive back to win the award in the last 14 years.
PFN’s Coach of the Year
Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings (9 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions (5 votes), Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams (1 vote)
His team may have lost the NFC North, but Kevin O’Connell earned our Coach of the Year votes after leading the Minnesota Vikings to a 14-3 season behind an unlikely resurgence from Sam Darnold.
The Vikings finished with the ninth-ranked offense despite rookie first-round quarterback J.J. McCarthy never playing a snap after tearing his meniscus in the preseason. Darnold instead experienced a career resurgence, with Brian Flores’ defense also taking a huge leap.
The Vikings were masters of winning close games, finishing 9-1 in one-score games. Only the Kansas City Chiefs (11-0) were better in close games this year. Since O’Connell took over as Vikings head coach in 2022, Minnesota is 26-9 (.743) in one-score games, the third-best mark over that stretch behind the Chiefs and Eagles.
Dan Campbell will get a lot of love for this award as well with the Detroit Lions finishing off a 15-2 season despite myriad injuries. Either way, much like the NFC North battle itself, this figures to be one of the tightest races contested between the Lions and Vikings.
PFN’s Comeback Player of the Year
Joe Burrow, Cincinnati Bengals (8 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Sam Darnold, Minnesota Vikings (7 votes)
The Comeback Player of the Year award is the strangest one the NFL hands out. There is really no clear criterion for it, with some recent winners taking it home after suffering a major injury (Alex Smith, Andrew Luck), and others just playing well after long stretches of poor performance (Joe Flacco, Geno Smith, Ryan Tannehill).
This ended up being the closest vote for us, with a single vote separating two very different cases. In the end, PFN is awarding Joe Burrow his second career Comeback Player of the Year award. Burrow also won in 2021 after leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl following a torn ACL in 2020.
Of course, Burrow fits the “bounced back from injury” narrative for this award. Darnold would be more in line with winners who have had unexpected breakout seasons. At this point, there may as well even be an ex-New York Jets aspect to determining this award (with Geno Smith and Chad Pennington having been past winners).
Ultimately, there’s really no wrong answer between Burrow and Darnold. It really just boils down to what question you choose to ask for this award.
PFN’s Offensive Rookie of the Year
Jayden Daniels, Washington Commanders (12 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders (3 votes)
The Offensive Rookie of the Year has gone to a quarterback in three of the last five years. Realistically, if a quarterback delivers a strong performance for a capable team, it’s hard for other positions to steal this award away.
Jayden Daniels more than met that criteria. Brock Bowers is already an All-Pro level tight end, an incredibly rare feat for a rookie at any position, but that doesn’t mean the Las Vegas Raiders tight end was the more impactful player.
Daniels finished ninth in PFN’s QB+ metric, one spot ahead of Patrick Mahomes. He ranked eighth in EPA per dropback, sandwiched between Burrow and Jalen Hurts. By any measure, Daniels was a top-10 quarterback from Day 1 who turned around a moribund franchise.
As great as Bowers was, a rookie immediately emerging as a fringe MVP-level quarterback is possibly an even more rare feat. Daniels has the Washington Commanders facing a bright outlook for the first time this century, perhaps his greatest achievement of all.
PFN’s Defensive Rookie of the Year
Jared Verse, Los Angeles Rams (12 of 15 Votes)
Others receiving votes: Quinyon Mitchell, Philadelphia Eagles (3 votes)
The Los Angeles Rams nearly drafted the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2023, with Kobie Turner finishing third in a tight three-way race with Will Anderson Jr. (the eventual winner) and Jalen Carter.
This year, PFN believes the Rams are deserving of the DROY winner. Jared Verse has paired with Turner to give Los Angeles a dynamic, young pass-rushing duo. Among rookies, Verse ranks first with 77 pressures, which is a more accurate representation of his pass-rushing impact than his 4.5 sacks. In fact, that pressure total ranks fourth among all players behind Trey Hendrickson, Myles Garrett, and Jonathan Greenard.
Quinyon Mitchell was the other rookie receiving votes from our staff. The former Toledo corner has emerged as a rock-solid cornerback for the much-improved Eagles’ defense, solidifying a huge weak spot from 2023. Even with zero interceptions, Mitchell’s impact on Philly’s coverage has been obvious enough to warrant serious consideration for this award.