MVP: Matthew Stafford (Rams)
During the summer, there were concerns that the 37-year-old Stafford would be hindered by a lingering back injury that caused his reps to be capped during training camp. He made everybody that doubted his ability to stay healthy and play at a high level look like idiots as he ended up having the best season of his 17-year career in 2025. He led the league in passing YDS (4,707) and TD's (46) while finishing second in QBR (109.2) behind likely MVP runner-up Drake Maye as the Rams had their best season since winning the Super Bowl in 2021. Best of all for Stafford, this season will further solidify his case for making the Hall of Fame-which has been and will remain a spirited debate topic as his career winds down or possibly even ends following this magical season.
Honorable Mentions: Drake Maye (Patriots), Trevor Lawrence (Jaguars), Justin Herbert (Chargers)
Offensive Player of the Year: Jaxson Smith-Njigba (Seahawks)
There's one man above all that Sam Darnold and Klint Kubiak can thank for their profiles being raised around the league with the Seahawks stellar offensive play in 2025 and his name is Jaxson Smith-Njigba. Every team that played the Seahawks this season knew they were going to feed JSN (Cooper Kupp and A.J. Barner were the next leading receivers on the team and they finished the season with lines of 47/593/2 and 52/519/6 respectively) and threw everything they had into stopping them. Despite these valiant efforts, he still killed them nearly every week-hauling in a whopping 119 receptions for a league-high 1,793 YDS and 10 TD's. Zooming in further on these numbers only make them more impressive as he posted 100+ YDS in 9 games and only had 1 game all season where had below 70 YDS (Week 13 against the Vikings-where he nabbed just 2 receptions for 23 YDS). Any conversation surrounding the best WR's in the league this offseason that doesn't include JSN don't deserve to be taken seriously.
Honorable Mentions: Bijan Robinson (Falcons), Puka Nacua (Rams), Trey McBride (Cardinals)
Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett (Browns)
When the league shifted to a 17-game schedule in 2021, it was inevitable that Michael Strahan's single season sack record of 22.5 that was set back in 2001 was going to fall. In the final week of the 2025 season, it finally did and to the surprise of very few, Myles Garrett was the man that did it. Playing on yet another miserably bad Browns team buried just how locked in Garrett was this season as he shattered his new career highs across the board by logging 23 sacks, 33 TFL's and 39 QB hits all while facing increased attention from opponents as the only real threat on a Browns front that otherwise struggled to rush the passer (the next three players on their list of team sack leaders combined for just 16 total). Someday we'll truly appreciate just how great Garrett was, but for now, we'll just keep mourning the fact that he's stuck in football purgatory with seemingly no way out.
Honorable Mentions: Cameron Heyward (Steelers), Will Anderson Jr. (Texans), Jack Campbell (Lions)
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Tetairoa McMillan (Panthers)
McMillan ended up doing enough in the latter stages of the season to fend off the likes of Colston Loveland, Emeka Egbuka and Tyler Shough for this honor. After battling some inconsistency out of the gate, the 1st round pick out of Arizona emerged as the reliable WR1 the Panthers desperately needed around mid-October and ended up becoming the only rookie to clear 1,000 YDS receiving this season in dramatic fashion when he reeled in a 40-YD reception from Bryce Young in the 4th quarter of their Week 18 contest with the Bucs. As long as his rapport with Young continues to improve, McMillan should be even better in 2026.
Honorable Mentions: Colston Loveland (Bears), Tyler Shough (Saints), Emeka Egbuka (Buccaneers)
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Carson Schwesinger (Browns)
Beyond Myles Garrett, the biggest bright spot of the Browns flawed but frisky defense may've been their rookie inside linebacker out of UCLA. Schwesinger quickly established himself as a sideline-to-sideline impact player-registering 156 combined tackles, 2.5 sacks, 9 QB hits and 3 passes defensed in 16 games. With Jim Schwartz likely not returning as DC after being passed over for their head coaching gig, it'll be interesting to see if Schwesinger can adapt to a different system that is potentially less aggressive than the one he thrived in this year.
Honorable Mentions: Xavier Watts (Falcons), Jihaad Campbell (Eagles), Malaki Starks (Ravens)
Coach of the Year: Kyle Shanahan (49ers)
No disrespect to the remarkable turnaround efforts that Liam Coen, Ben Johnson and Mike Vrabel led this season, but only one coach in the league made the playoffs and had a chance at getting the top seed in the hypercompetitive NFC after half of their roster died during the season. Shanahan's ability to deal with a cartoonishly high volume of injuries of the short-term, long-term and season-ending variety and field a team that was not only competitive but thrived for the bulk of the season is the kind of brilliant coaching that this award is designed to honor.
Honorable Mentions: Liam Coen (Jaguars), Ben Johnson (Bears), Mike Vrabel (Patriots)
Comeback Player of the Year: Aidan Hutchinson (Lions)
The real award tomorrow night is probably going to go to Dak Prescott and that's completely fair. He quietly put together one of the best seasons of his career this season for a decent Cowboys team who was let down by their league-worst defense and it's especially impressive that he pulled this off after having a poor, injury-shortened season in 2024. I just happened to be more impressed with the play of Hutchinson-who picked up right where he left off when he went down with a broken leg 5 games into what was shaping up to be a dominant 2024 campaign by earning his first career All-Pro selection after posting 14.5 sacks, 14 TFL's, 35 QB hits, 4 forced fumbles, a fumble recovery and an INT.
Honorable Mentions: Dak Prescott (Cowboys), Christian McCaffery (49ers), Stefon Diggs (Patriots)
All-Pro Teams:
Quarterback
1st team: Matthew Stafford (Rams)
2nd team: Drake Maye (Patriots)
Running Back
1st team: Bijan Robinson (Falcons)
2nd team: James Cook (Bills)
Wide Receiver
1st team: Jaxon Smith-Njigba (Seahawks), Puka Nacua (Rams)
2nd team: Amon-Ra St. Brown (Lions), Ja'Marr Chase (Bengals)
Tight End
1st team: Trey McBride (Cardinals)
2nd team: Kyle Pitts (Falcons)
Tackle
1st team: Garett Bolles (Broncos), Penei Sewell (Lions)
2nd team: Tristan Wirfs (Buccaneers), Darnell Wright (Bears)
Guard
1st team: Joe Thuney (Bears), Quinn Meinerz (Broncos)
2nd team: Quenton Nelson (Colts), Chris Lindstrom (Falcons)
Center
1st team: Creed Humphrey (Chiefs)
2nd team: Aaron Brewer (Dolphins)
Edge Rusher
1st team: Myles Garrett (Browns), Will Anderson Jr. (Texans)
2nd team: Micah Parsons (Packers), Aidan Hutchinson (Lions)
Defensive Tackle
1st team: Cameron Heyward (Steelers), Jeffrey Simmons (Titans)
2nd team: Leonard Williams (Seahawks), Travis Jones (Ravens)
Inside Linebacker
1st team: Jack Campbell (Lions), Demario Davis (Saints)
2nd team: Devin Lloyd (Jaguars), Zack Baun (Eagles)
Cornerback
1st team: Devon Witherspoon (Seahawks), Mike Jackson (Panthers)
2nd team: Cooper DeJean (Eagles), Quinyon Mitchell (Eagles)
Safety
1st team: Kyle Hamilton (Ravens), Derwin James (Chargers)
2nd team: Jalen Pitre (Texans), Kevin Byard (Bears)
Kicker
1st team: Will Reichard (Vikings)
2nd team: Brandon Aubrey (Cowboys)
Punter
1st team: Jordan Stout (Ravens)
2nd team: Daniel Whelan (Packers)
Return Specialists:
1st team: Ray Davis (Bills), Marcus Jones (Patriots)
2nd team: Isaiah Williams (Jets), Chimere Dike (Titans)
Special Teamer:
1st team: Devon Key (Broncos)
2nd team: Carson Bruener (Steelers)
Long Snapper:
1st team: Rex Sunahara (Browns)
2nd team: Ross Matiscik (Jaguars)
Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 Predictions:
Willie Anderson, tackle (Team: Cincinnati Bengals)
Drew Brees, quarterback (Teams: San Diego Chargers, New Orleans Saints)
Roger Craig, running (Teams: San Francisco 49ers, Los Angeles Raiders, Minnesota Vikings)
L.C. Greenwood, defensive end (Team: Pittsburgh Steelers)
Torry Holt, wide receiver (Teams: St. Louis Rams, Jacksonville Jaguars)
Luke Kuechly, inside linebacker (Team: Carolina Panthers)
Darren Woodson, safety (Team: Dallas Cowboys)
Who I'd Vote for If I Had a Ballot:
Drew Brees
Torry Holt
Luke Kuechly
Kevin Williams, defensive tackle (Teams: Minnesota Vikings, Seattle Seahawks, New Orleans Saints)
Marshal Yanda, guard (Team: Baltimore Ravens)
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