NFL 2018/19: Who will win all the major NFL awards this season?
We are just one day away from the season-opener in Philadelphia to kick off the 2018 NFL season and I wanted to take a lot at the top three candidates to take home the trophy for MVP, Defensive Player of the Year and all the other awards.
MVP
1. Aaron Rodgers
2. Philip Rivers
3. Matt Ryan
At points last season I thought Antonio Brown and Todd Gurley had a shot at winning the MVP trophy, but let’s be honest – this is a quarterback award and that’s why I have three QBs as my top candidates. There are the two signal-callers of the number one seeds of each conference and at the top, I have the guy, who is capable of playing at a higher level than anybody else in the league.
Matty Ice won the highly touted award two years ago, when he threw for 38 touchdowns and almost 5000 yards en route to leading the Falcons to the Super Bowl. Last season his numbers took a major dip and the turnovers went up, but I have never seen a quarterback have that many unfortunate bounces leading to interceptions. There is no way that will repeat itself and Steve Sarkisian’s play-calling and game-planning has to improve heavily as well if he wants to retain his job.
It has been a little longer since Philip Rivers was a serious MVP candidate, but this might be the best squad he has ever had around him since entering the league. Keenan Allen is a stud, Tyrell Williams is an excellent number two, Melvin Gordon is a top-ten back, last year’s seventh overall pick Mike Williams has been making noise in camp and should be a redzone beast, plus the defense has elite edge-rushers and cover-guys to get him the ball back. You can pretty much book a completion percentage of 65+, 4500+ yards and 30+ TDs.
However, at the top is that man again. I have predicted that Rodgers would win the MVP award every single year since he first took home the trophy back in 2011. Ever since that season, I thought he was the most dominant player in football. Rodgers is the most talented passer I have witnessed from inside the pocket as well as on the move and his ability to manipulate defenses is second only to Tom Brady’s. With Davante Adams emerging as a true number one receiver, Randall Cobb hoping for a bounce-back year out of the slot, the free agency addition of Jimmy Graham as their go-to weapon near the goal-line and a couple of talented pass-catchers out of the backfield, Rodgers is destined for another monster year.