Here are my midseason picks for end of year award
winners.
MVP – Peyton Manning
Big brother wins again.
Peyton had that bad first half against the Falcons, but other than that,
the guy has been money. He trumps the
rest of his peers in just about every statistical category AND is coming off
major injury/surgery. Color me
impressed. No, he doesn’t have the best
stats at his position. No, his team
doesn’t have the best record in the sport.
Yes, he’s still prone to the “what the hell was that” mistakes, but no
one is more clutch than Eli with the game on the line. As far as I’m concerned little bro is firmly
entrenched in the class of elite QBs (Rodgers, Peyton, Brady, Brees, Eli, Big
Ben). Aaron Rodgers deserves
consideration as well, but I’ve got to go with Peyton based on what I’ve seen
from the two teams so far this season.
Offensive POY – Victor Cruz
For me this one came down to three players – Peyton Manning,
Matt Ryan, and Victor Cruz. Ryan is the
leader of the undefeated Falcons and has thrown for over 2,000 yards and 17 TDs
so far. I don’t have him as an elite
passer yet, but he’s doing everything you can ask of a QB. I’m having trouble getting that awful
performance against the Raiders out of my head though. If we can take the spotlight off the QB
position for a moment, how can you ignore what Victor Cruz has done this
year? After his breakout campaign, you
know this guy has a large target on his back.
All he’s done is set a pace to destroy last year’s reception and TD
numbers. He’s the #1 offensive weapon on
arguably the league’s best team.
Defensive POY – JJ Watt
There’s no debating this one. If Watt isn’t sacking the QB (7.5) he’s
batting down his passes (10) at the line of scrimmage. I named Watt as my breakout
player of the year for the Texans and the AFC North this preseason, and he’s
far exceeded expectations. He’s been the
best player on the conference’s best team at the midway point and shows no sign
of slowing down.
Offensive ROY – Robert Griffin III
I have this one as a closer contest than I’m sure most
do. It’s hard to ignore the athleticism
and big play ability that is RGIII, but you’ve got to be impressed with what
Andrew Luck is doing with a team that won two games last year. Things may change before the end of week 17,
but you’ve got to give it to RGIII at this point.
Defensive ROY – Chandler
Jones
This one was the hardest to pick. I have three solid candidates, and I think
one of these guys is going to end up the winner at season’s end. Harrison Smith is a big reason why the
Vikings are enjoying success this season.
He’s been quite the force in a secondary considered a huge question mark
at the start of the season. Bruce Irvin
has earned his debated draft position this season, notching 4.5 sacks on one of
the league’s best defenses. The guy
leading the way so far though is Chandler Jones, the Patriots defensive lineman
who leads all rookies in sacks with 6.
He and Dont’a Hightower are proving to be quite the combination up front
for the Patriots. Watch out for Casey
Hayward to have a big second half for the Packers.
Comeback POY – Peyton Manning
I hate doubling up on players when it comes to awards, but
there’s no question that Peyton is the league’s comeback player so far. Jamaal Charles was my preseason prediction,
but he’s far off Peyton’s pace.
Coach of the Year – Joe Philbin
Mike Smith and Gary Kubiak might be popular votes based on
their teams’ records, but I think Joe Philbin has done the best job so far
given preseason expectations. The
Dolphins entered the new year with David Garrard as their starting QB, Chad
Johnson as their #1 receiver, and Vontae Davis as their top cover man, and now
all three are former Phins. Miami is 4-3 with two of
those losses coming in back-to-back OT defeats, and they’re fresh off a
thrashing of the Jets on the road. Yo
Joe!
Before I offer my ill-considered opinions, I'd like to mention that Pitt is up over ND by 8 with 3:04 to play, and I will be shocked if there isn't a(nother) ticky-tack foul called on Pitt to assist the Irish in matriculating the ball down the field.
ReplyDeleteI like your choices. I have some of my own in other categories:
SUFAS (Shittiest Unrestricted Free Agent Signing) Mario Williams. Average tackles are handling him with ease. The runner up is that other guy that Buffalo signed.
AOPY (Alternate Offensive Player of the Year): Percy Harvin. Every time I look up he's making a play to put the Vikings over. I always thought that it was Harvin, not Tebow that elevated the Gators to national title status.
ADPY: Jason Pierre Paul. He doesnt quite take over a game that way we've seen Watt do, but he does make a lot of splash plays, and he's much better against the run than I thought he'd be.
GTLLBBIPW (Guy That Looked Like a Bust But Is Playing Well): Gerald McCoy. He's showing real burst and quickness, especially early. I am concerned with how much less effective he is late though.
AMVP: Ben Rothleisberger, who has a history of sexual assaults against women, has been nearly unstoppable on 3rd down. He may bristle under the tuteledge of Haley, but it's in the teams best interest to minimize how often he's hit.
OCKACK (Once a Coach Killer, Always a Coach Killer: Michael Vick. Vick, who has herpes, has lost the explosiveness that made it possible for him to find throwing lanes. You might have noticed that he has been caught from behind a few times this season, and you might have also noticed that most of his runs are for 7-15 yards and not for 16-30. That makes him a very good running QB, not a great one; if the Eagles are going to depend on him making plays from the pocket, they will end up under .500 for the season.
More to come possibly as they occur to me. You gotta figure Mike Tannenbaum should be up for something like 'Most Egregious Lack of Foresight in Realizing Your QB is Awful and You Don't Sign Kyle Orton in the Offseason.'
TPE
“Before I offer my ill-considered opinions, I'd like to mention that Pitt is up over ND by 8 with 3:04 to play, and I will be shocked if there isn't a(nother) ticky-tack foul called on Pitt to assist the Irish in matriculating the ball down the field.”
ReplyDeleteHey TPE. The Irish make me sick. They certainly should have lost and are wasting everyone’s time by remaining unbeaten. They’d get absolutely stomped by Oregon and Bama. LSU and FSU would win decidedly. I think Kansas State would win by 10 or more on a neutral field, and Georgia would take them by at least 7. A Gamecock team with Lattimore beats them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the offensively challenged Goaters beat them as well. They’re a fraud and have no business being in BCS championship discussions. Right now I’d take USC against them in their final regular season game. That’s going to be Barkley’s last home game, so you’ve got to think they’ll get their best from the USC offense.
“I like your choices. I have some of my own in other categories:
SUFAS (Shittiest Unrestricted Free Agent Signing) Mario Williams. Average tackles are handling him with ease. The runner up is that other guy that Buffalo signed.”
Here are some others –
Matt Flynn (3 yrs, $26 mil, $10 mil guaranteed, 0 regular season snaps)
Sucker Punch (1 yr, $540k; that’s $1.54 mil more than he’s worth)
Laurent Robinson (5 yr, $32.5 mil, $14 mil guaranteed, 9 rec, 134 yds through wk9)
Robert Meachem (4 yr, $25.9 mil, $14 mil guaranteed, 12 rec, 189 yds, through wk 9; also had league’s worst drop of the season)
Eric Wright (5 yrs, $37.5 mil, $15.5 mil guaranteed, he sucks and violated PED policy)
“AOPY (Alternate Offensive Player of the Year): Percy Harvin. Every time I look up he's making a play to put the Vikings over. I always thought that it was Harvin, not Tebow that elevated the Gators to national title status.”
He’s electric and legit to score every time he touches it. I love watching him return kicks.
“ADPY: Jason Pierre Paul. He doesnt quite take over a game that way we've seen Watt do, but he does make a lot of splash plays, and he's much better against the run than I thought he'd be.”
ReplyDeleteYeah you have to account for him on every play, or he’s going to make a game changing play. A couple of underrated guys I’d throw out there are Cameron Wake and Richard Sherman. They’re both having fabulous seasons on surprising teams.
“GTLLBBIPW (Guy That Looked Like a Bust But Is Playing Well): Gerald McCoy. He's showing real burst and quickness, especially early. I am concerned with how much less effective he is late though.”
He plays far too hot and cold and has taken too long to be a part-time difference maker. He needs help inside, but too often he doesn’t hold his own. Top picks need to be dominant forces. He’s not.
“AMVP: Ben Rothleisberger, who has a history of sexual assaults against women, has been nearly unstoppable on 3rd down. He may bristle under the tuteledge of Haley, but it's in the teams best interest to minimize how often he's hit.”
The guy has played behind a maligned offensive line the last couple of years but is the same player week in week out. When you’re talking about AFC contenders, you’ve got to include the Steelers, and he’s the biggest reason why.
“OCKACK (Once a Coach Killer, Always a Coach Killer: Michael Vick. Vick, who has herpes, has lost the explosiveness that made it possible for him to find throwing lanes. You might have noticed that he has been caught from behind a few times this season, and you might have also noticed that most of his runs are for 7-15 yards and not for 16-30. That makes him a very good running QB, not a great one; if the Eagles are going to depend on him making plays from the pocket, they will end up under .500 for the season.”
He’s simply not a very good QB anymore. He was never a great passer, but his athleticism made up for a lot of passing deficiencies. What’s hurting him more now than ever is the decision making. Like I need to point out that a millionaire athlete who is the center of a dog killing ring for years is a bad decision maker. He’s absolutely awful. Now he’s blaming the media. He’s out of Philly after the season and is going to have a hard time turning things around wherever he goes next year.
“More to come possibly as they occur to me. You gotta figure Mike Tannenbaum should be up for something like 'Most Egregious Lack of Foresight in Realizing Your QB is Awful and You Don't Sign Kyle Orton in the Offseason.”
He’s got to share that with Scott Pioli. If you have Matt Cassel as your starting QB and are uncomfortably about that, how do you not re-sign Kyle Orton? I do love how irrelevant the Jets have made baby jesus this season. Love not hearing his name every five seconds.