NFL Hands Out Hardware

Ah its that time of year once again. The time when the NFL honors the best of the best from the season that was. This year, in what was a crazy 2020, the NFL gave fans a welcome distraction from everyday life. Took a bit of a strange direction to get there, but it got there and completed its regular season, and playoffs, without missing a beat. Now it was time for the NFL to celebrate the best of the best. Saturday night, the league handed out the hardware, honoring individual achievement in a great team sport. Here's the full list of winners from the NFL Honors, this past weekend.

Art Rooney Sportsmanship Award: Carolina Panthers QB Teddy Bridgewater

AP Assistant Coach of the Year: Buffalo Bills offensive coordinator Brian Daboll

Deacon Jones Award: Pittsburgh Steelers pass rusher T.J. Watt

Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson

Pepsi Rookie of the Year: Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert

What happened with him is pretty cool. He was supposed to be on the bench most of the year, learning how to play the position. He was sitting behind Tyrod Taylor. But in week two a freak injury took Taylor out of the Chargers lineup and Herbert went in. He never went back to the bench. He finished the year with 4,336 pass yards, 31 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Those 31 touchdowns were the most ever thrown by a rookie QB in NFL history. He also rushed for 234 yards too. The guy was good, very good.

AP Defensive Player of the Year: Los Angeles Rams DL Aaron Donald

He's won this award three times for a reason. Donald was the key cog in the best defensive team in the league. He was trying to hit everything that moved on the opposition. 13.5 sacks, 14 tackles for loss and 28 solo tackles. And all this and more coming from an inside linemen. Impressive. Most impressive.

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Los Angeles Chargers QB Justin Herbert

See above.

AP Offensive Player of the Year: Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry

It seemed like whatever momentum Henry was able to generate in last year's playoffs, he kept going this year. He was the motor that was powering that Titans offense. He lead the NFL in rushing TD's with 17, carries with 378 and yards with 2,022. He also added 19 catches for 114 yards. Henry did it all for the Titans offense and made life for Ryan Tannehill a lot easier. Henry has put up numbers that are getting better and better in each year he's been in the league. He's got a bright future ahead of him.

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Washington DE Chase Young

He was taken as the 2nd overall pick for a reason. He's a lot in the same mold as Aaron Donald, in that he can be a lineman who really changes a game and how an offense plans for it. Young had 7.5 sacks, recovered three fumbles on the year and had ten tackles for loss. The guy disrupted so much for opposing teams in the 15 games he played its hard to ignore how bright a future this kid has.

AP Coach of the Year: Cleveland Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski

Getting the Browns to where they finished this year gives the first year head coach the right amount of praise and the award. Sean McDermott of Buffalo deserves a lot of credit for helping Buffalo manage to get to the next level. Here's why Stefanski beat him out. McDermott has had this team since 2017 and has been building around his players to fit his system. Stefanski just finished his first season in Cleveland, and took a team that had 6 wins a year ago, and lead them to 11 wins, and a playoff spot for the first time since 2002. Hell this was the first time that Cleveland has had a winning season since 2007.

AP Most Valuable Player: Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers

Rogers numbers during the season were almost video game like. 48 touchdowns and just five picks. FIVE. And those numbers came on 526 pass attempts during the season. Oh and he also completed 75.1% of his passes from week nine of the regular season on. He finished the year throwing for 4,299 yards, he lead the league in TD's completion percentage and passer rating. He had outplayed Patrick Mahomes and Derek Henry, both of whom earned votes for league MVP. But Rogers was playing at another level and helped guide the Pack to the best record in the NFC and second best record in football.