Fathead Blog

With the Super Bowl only a few weeks away, it’s time to take a look back at the NFL season and make some predictions for the league’s 2010 awards.

Most Valuable Player

This is likely a three-horse race between three quarterbacks – Tom Brady of the New England Patriots, Mike Vick of the Philadelphia Eagles, and Aaron Rodgers of the Green Bay Packers.

It’s no surprise that Brady ended up here.  He’s been one of the league’s best quarterbacks over the past decade and had some pretty good receivers to work with in Randy Moss and Wes Welker.  Brady had to deal with the early loss of Moss (who was traded), but still found a way to excel.  In leading the Patriots to a league-best 14-2 record, he passed for 36 touchdowns (second best in his career) and threw only 4 interceptions, by far the fewest he’s had in a 16-game season.

Mike Vick ending up in this discussion was a surprise, however.  At the beginning of the season, Vick wasn’t even slated to be the team’s starter.  But with an early injury to Kevin Kolb, Vick took over and never looked back.  On the season, he threw for more than 3,000 yards and 21 touchdowns while rushing for 9 more scores.  All of those numbers were career highs, and Vick managed to accomplish all of that playing in only 12 games.  He not only looked like the Vick of old, he looked even better.

Aaron Rodgers also has a shot at landing the award.  He threw for nearly 4,000 yards and 28 touchdowns.  The fact that he put up those numbers without a major running threat all season (after the early-season injury to Ryan Grant) and led his team to the playoffs will definitely help his campaign, and he should be a legitimate candidate.

This is a close race, but my vote goes to Brady because his team had the most success in the regular season.

Offensive Player of the Year

This is another tough one to call.  In addition to the three quarterbacks mentioned above in the Most Valuable Player race, there’s Houston Texans running back Arian Foster, who led the league in rushing with more than 1,600 yards and 16 touchdowns and Atlanta Falcons’ wide receiver Roddy White, whose 115 receptions and nearly 1,400 yards receiving made him, statistically, the best pass catcher in the NFL.

Foster had the benefit of defenses needing to respect a great passing game, and White benefitted from the Falcons’ rushing game, so I’ll rule both of those players out.  Vick did it all this season with his arm and his legs, having his best season ever.  I’ll take him by a hair over Brady for this award.

Defensive Player of the Year

I see this as a race between Dallas Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware and Green Bay Packers linebacker Clay Matthews.  Matthews’ numbers (13 ½ sacks, 60 tackles, and an interception) don’t quite equal those of Ware’s (15 ½ sacks, 66 tackles, two forced fumbles, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown), but the Packers had a much better season, and Matthews was a big part of that.  My vote goes to Matthews.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

This award is probably coming down to a pair of Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookies – running back LeGarrette Blount and wide receiver Mike Williams.  Blount had 1,007 yards, averaging 5.0 yards per carry, and ran for 6 touchdowns, while Williams led the team’s passing attack, racking up 964 yards and, maybe more importantly, 11 touchdowns.

Williams gets the edge in my book due to his ability to find the end zone so frequently.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Ndamukong Suh has a bit of competition from guys like Cincinnati Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap (24 tackles and 9 ½ sacks), Cleveland Browns strong safety T.J. Ward (2 INTs and 123 tackles), and New England Patriots cornerback Devin McCourty (7 INTs and 82 tackles), but Suh is probably the winner here.

Despite playing on the interior part of the defensive line, Suh was the only rookie to get into double-digit sacks (with 10), and he racked up 66 tackles.  He didn’t stop there, though.  Suh also added an interception and recovered a forced fumble for a touchdown.  For his efforts, he was named as a starter to the Pro Bowl, but will not play due to injury.

Coach of the Year

Atlanta Falcons’ Mike White or Kansas City Chiefs’ Todd Haley will probably win this award.  White led the Falcons to an NFC-best 13-3 record, while Haley took a Chiefs team that was 4-12 in 2009 and turned them into division champs, going 10-6.

While White had a team with several offensive weapons in Matt Ryan, Michael Turner, and Roddy White, Haley had a bit less to work with.  For that reason, Haley gets my vote for turning a franchise around that was a laughingstock the year before.