NFL Awards 2024

The NFL awards have produced more controversy in 2024 than any other year in recent memory. Fans of many teams have their opinions on players that should have made the cut, and on players who got voted in that were undeserving. Whether it was the Defensive Rookie of the Year award, Most Valuable Player, Coach of the Year, or even Assistant Coach of the Year. Many awards left fans with questions as to how these awards are decided by the voters. We take a look at who won and why in 2024.

Offensive Rookie of the Year Award

To the surprise of no one at all, quarterback Jayden Daniels has won Offensive Rookie of the Year for the 2024 season. Daniels was selected 2nd overall in the 2023 NFL draft after winning a Heisman Trophy and a litany of other awards, while playing his final collegiate season for LSU. 

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During his rookie season, Daniels helped a 4-13 team in 2023 finish 12-5 and went on to win two playoff games. Leading his team to the NFC Championship game in his first NFL season. While he fell just one game short of a Super Bowl berth, along the way he cemented himself as one of the best young quarterbacks the NFL has ever seen. 

Starting all 20 games the Commanders played in, Daniels passed for a cumulative 4,390 yards, 30 touchdowns and just 10 interceptions. He completed 68.3% of his 594 total passing attempts. He rushed for 1,026 yards, and 7 touchdowns as well.

Not only did he win Offensive Rookie of the Year honors but he was named to the Pro-Bowl as well. Not bad for a rookie quarterback who once was caught up in a recruiting scandal at Arizona State which helped prompt him to transfer to LSU. All that is now just a distant memory as Daniels moves into what should be a promising sophomore season. 

Defensive Rookie of the Year Award

Jared Verse was selected 19th overall by the Los Angeles Rams in 2024. He was the 4th defensive player selected in an offensive heavy draft. Verse is another player who is no stranger to winning awards having been named Second Team All-CAA in 2020, First Team All-CAA in 2021, and First Team All-ACC in 2022 and 2023. The two-time All-American was also named CAA Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2020. 

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Four years later he is now the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year. Another player who made a Pro-Bowl in his first season, Verse hit his stride at the end of the season. In the wildcard round he returned a fumble 57 yards for a touchdown, which helped his team win 27-9 over the Vikings. The following week against the Eagles he collected 2 sacks. During the regular season he had 66 tackles, 11 for a loss, 18 QB hits, 4.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries, and 2 passes deflected. 

He added 6 tackles, 3 for a loss, 2 sacks, 2 QB Hits, and his fumble recovery for a touchdown. Verse appears to have a bright future in the NFL. 

Offensive Player of the Year Award

Saquon Barkley had a historic season in 2024. Playing in 16 games during the regular season, Barkley rushed 345 times for 2,005 yards and 13 touchdowns. Always a dangerous player with the ball in his hands the Eagles also targeted him 43 times. He caught 33 passes for 278 yards and 2 more touchdowns. 

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Barkley was in the conversation for MVP although it was a foregone conclusion that the award would go to a quarterback. Barkley went on to have an unbelievable 3 game stretch to help the Eagles land in the Super Bowl for the second time in just three seasons. This included 66 carries for 442 yards and 5 touchdowns on the ground. He was targeted 8 times catching 7 of them for 35 more yards. 

Collectively with one more game to go Barkley has accounted for 451 touches, 2,760 total yards, and 20 touchdowns there is a real chance for Saquon to hit 3,000 total yards this season playing in a total of 20 games. 

Defensive Player of the Year Award

Patrick Surtain II or PS2 was selected 9th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft. Having played his college football at Alabama, the 6’2 202 pound cornerback was an impact player from his freshman year. Starting all three seasons of his collegiate career, Surtain managed to produce 117 tackles, 7 for a loss, 4 interceptions, 27 pass deflections, 4 forced fumbles, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 defensive touchdown. 

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1887686604166144129?s=46

Somehow during his NFL Career it seems Surtain has taken the next step and been even better than he was in college. Missing just one game over the past four seasons, Surtain has collected 232 tackles, 4 for a loss, 47 pass deflections, 11 interceptions, 2 forced fumbles, 1 fumble recovery, and 2 touchdowns. 

In 2024 he produced 45 tackles, 1 for a loss, 1 forced fumble, 1 recovery, 11 pass deflections, 4 interceptions for 132 yards and 1 touchdown. PS2 as he is known, was targeted 63 times this season allowing just 38 receptions for 326 yards and 2 touchdowns. All career lows. Per Pff.com he allowed a 74.5 QB rating when targeted in 2024. Given that Surtain only spent 3 seasons in college, he is set to turn 25 years old heading into his 5^th season in the NFL. He has a very long and bright future ahead.

https://premium.pff.com/nfl/players/2024/REGPO/pat-surtain-ii/83119/defense

Comeback Player of the Year Award 

Joe Burrow was named comeback player of the year after missing 7 games in 2023 after suffering a torn ligament in his wrist on November 16^th in the first half of the Bengals week 11 game. After Burrow left the field, Jake Browning would step in and lead the Bengals to a 4-3 record the rest of the way in 2023. The Bengals finished the 2023 season 9-8.

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Not only did Burrow have to fight his way back from wrist surgery before the 2024 season, he also lost his Offensive Coordinator Brian Callahan to the Titans where he is now the Head Coach. Rather than hire an outside coaching candidate, the Bengals chose to elevate former quarterback coach Dan Pitcher.

Pitcher has been the quarterbacks coach with the Bengals since Burrow was selected first overall in 2020. They also promoted former Assistant Quarterbacks Coach Brad Kragthorpe to Quarterbacks Coach for the 2024 season. Kragthorpe had actually worked with Burrow dating back to his first season at LSU before jumping to the NFL. Promoting from within would ultimately look like a genius decision, and I don’t believe it will be long before Pitcher is viewed as a head coaching candidate.

Burrow is easily one of the best quarterbacks in the league, but Pitcher’s offense catered to everything the quarterback wanted from his “new” offensive scheme in 2024. Despite coming off of an injury, Burrow would go on to start 17 games for the first time in his five year career. He also managed career highs in completions, attempts, completion percentage, passing yards, touchdowns, yards per game, and quarterback rating.

While I was not initially on board with the decision to name Burrow the Comeback Player of the Year, when looking back at his body of work prior to the injury, and after the injury, it’s hard to argue that any player deserved it more than he did in 2024.

Assistant Coach of the Year Award

Ben Johnson was named Assistant Coach of the Year just about a month after he was named the Head Coach of the Chicago Bears. A fitting end to his time in Detroit where he is now Public Enemy #1. Many fans point to his play calling in Detroit’s playoff loss as a sign of his focus being on taking a head coaching position.

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Love him or hate him at this point he will try to launch his future as the next great head coach in the NFL with a division rival. Say what you will about Johnson, but he has crafted an offense around Jared Goff that has made him look like a competent starter in the NFL. Goff was acquired by the Lions in 2021, and mid-way through the 2021 season Johnson replaced Anthony Lynn as Offensive Coordinator on an interim basis, but held onto the position after the offense showed improvement immediately.

In three seasons since Johnson took over as the offensive coordinator, Goff has produced three straight 4,400+ seasons, 29 or more touchdowns, and no more than 12 interceptions. In 2024 Goff set a career-high in completion percentage, yards per attempt, passing touchdowns and quarterback rating. This is considering that the Lions suffered through many injuries on both sides of the ball.

Coach of the Year Award 

Coach of the year had multiple worthy candidates during the 2025 season, but ultimately the voters opted to select Kevin O’Connell. A former 3^rd round pick as a quarterback to his own right, O’Connell has made his bones in the NFL developing quarterbacks along the way. However 2024 may have been his best work. Amidst injuries, tragedies, and adversity, O’Connell’s team kept their cool and produced a 14-3 record, his best as a Head Coach.

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Before the Vikings ever stepped foot on the field during the regular season they were hit with blow after blow and somehow the coaching staff, led by O’Connell kept their roster focused and pushing toward the playoffs. Whether it was the tragic death of Khyree Jackson in a car accident in early July, or losing first round pick JJ McCarthy to a season ending injury in the preseason opener, the hits just kept coming for the Vikings.

Three more players would end up on injured reserve, and many more players would miss time during the 2024 season. Despite names like Dan Quinn, Dan Campbell, Sean Payton, and Andy Reid on the list as finalists, the voters decided to select Kevin O’Connell. It’s hard to argue that he is not a deserving candidate when looking at the bigger picture of the entire 2024 season.

Most Valuable Player Award

This is arguably the most controversial award of the entire list in 2024. Many thought either Lamar Jackson, or Saquon Barkley deserved the award. Statistically Lamar’s season was much more impressive on the surface than Allen’s was, and Saquon nearly set the single season rushing record, and likely would have if he had been allowed to start week 18. Rather than argue why he should not have won the award, let’s take a closer look at why he deserved to win the award.

https://twitter.com/adamschefter/status/1887709272953307201?s=46

In 2024 the Bills as a team produced 6,105 total yards and 62 touchdowns. Of that, Josh Allen accounted for 69.8% of the yards and 66.1% of the touchdowns produced by the Bills in 2024 all without playing in week 18. He finished with 28 passing touchdowns, 12 rushing touchdowns, and 1 receiving touchdowns.

Allen and company produced a 13-4 record in 2024, and made their way all the way to the AFC Championship game. In three playoff games, Allen produced another 636 passing yards, 105 rushing yards, 4 passing touchdowns, and 2 rushing touchdowns. He completed 58 passes on 82 attempts. Producing an average of 10.96 yards per pass attempt, and 3.62 yards per carry.

While the Bills had a pro-bowl caliber running back, there was an argument to be made that they had inferior talent at wide receiver and tight end compared to the players surrounding Lamar Jackson, or Saquon Barkley.

Other Awards

Walter Payton Man of the Year Award

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Hall of Fame Class 

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Which awards do you agree with? Which do you disagree with? Let us know in the comments below.

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