NFL Honors Award Show 2015: Preview, TV Info, Predictions and More

Before the Seattle Seahawks and New England Patriots battle for the ultimate team prize in the sport, the NFL will hand out the biggest individual awards.

Obviously, everyone in the NFL has the ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl. However, those who succeed at a personal level deserve recognition for an outstanding season as well. 

The NFL Honors award show is certain to be an exciting event to watch with plenty of star athletes and other celebrities. Here is a look at what you need to know to follow the event with predictions for the major awards for the season.

For a full look at the awards to be handed out, visit NFL.com.

When: Saturday, Jan. 31

Time: 9 p.m. ET

TV: NBC

Host: Seth Myers

Award	Prediction
Most Valuable Player	J.J. Watt (HOU)
Coach of the Year	Bruce Arians (ARI)
Offensive Player of the Year	Aaron Rodgers (GB)
Defensive Player of the Year	J.J. Watt (HOU)
Offensive Rookie of the Year	Odell Beckham Jr. (NYG)
Defensive Rookie of the Year	C.J. Mosley (BAL)
Comeback Player of the Year	Rob Gronkowski (NE)

Notable Awards

Most Valuable Player: J.J. Watt, DE, Houston Texans

Scott Halleran/Getty Images

There is a very good chance Aaron Rodgers goes home with this award. The Green Bay Packers quarterback had an outstanding season while leading his team to a 12-4 record and putting up some great statistics. 

On the other hand, he didn't lead the league in either quarterback rating or Total QBR, both of which were led by Dallas Cowboys star Tony Romo.

Greg Bedard of The Monday Morning Quarterback noted this as a reason why J.J. Watt deserves the award:

"

The quarterbacks are too tough to distinguish between. I really don’t see why there’s much of a difference between Rodgers and Romo. ...As for Watt, he’s simply the best player—by far—on his side of the ball. He had one of the great seasons (again) that a defensive player can have, let alone a 3-4 end who is constantly the No. 1 agenda on any opposing game plan, and one who has scored five touchdowns. If Watt doesn’t win it this season, he never will. And that would be a shame. We should just turn it into the Best Quarterback Award if that’s the case. Everything else is handed to the quarterbacks.

"

Watt was simply dominant at his position, finishing with 20.5 sacks, 78 tackles, 10 passes defended and two defensive touchdowns to go with three more scores as a receiver. Sure, the Houston Texans missed the playoffs, but he did help them finish 9-7 without a legitimate starting quarterback over the course of the year.

Bleacher Report's voters believed Watt deserves the award, via Zach Kruse:

The Texans star separated himself from the pack and should break the streak of offensive players winning the award.

Coach of the Year: Bruce Arians, Arizona Cardinals

Mike McCarn/Associated Press

The Coach of the Year voting usually goes toward coaches of teams who either exceeded a lot of expectations or had to deal with adversity. Bruce Arians fills both of these categories this season.

Although the Arizona Cardinals faded a bit down the stretch, they still got off to a 9-1 start and finished 11-5 in what many believed to be the toughest division in football. This was the first time the Cardinals reached the postseason since 2009 and the 11 wins were the most since 1975.

Of course, Arians' job goes deeper than just helping his team improve. Starting quarterback Carson Palmer only played six games this season due to injury, while backup Drew Stanton was also forced to miss time.

Ryan Lindley was forced to take over under center after having zero touchdown passes in his previous seven career appearances.

Despite these issues—as well as a number of other injuries to starters on both sides of the ball—the Cardinals remained competitive and found a spot in the postseason.

Dan Hanzus of NFL.com notes Arians is the favorite to win this award over some top competition:

There were certainly other deserving candidates from the season, but Arians was a step above the rest.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Odell Beckham Jr., WR, New York Giants

Charlie Riedel/Associated Press

Teddy Bridgewater had a solid first season in the league while running backs Jeremy Hill and Andre Williams put up good numbers as well. However, the true strength of this rookie class was at wide receiver.

Between Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Sammy Watkins, Jordan Matthews and others, there were plenty of options for this year's Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Still, the clear favorite is New York Giants star Odell Beckham Jr.

Beckham finished the year with 91 catches for 1,305 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns in just 12 games. He also made some of the most ridiculous grabs you will ever see, including this one:

USA TODAY Sports

Michael Irvin also discussed the Cowboys' disappointment with having to face the receiver going forward, via Jordan Raanan of NJ.com:

"

I was on the sideline with the Cowboys coaching staff and the one thing we talked a lot about was, 'Man, you guys are going to have to deal with Odell Beckham Jr. for the next 10-15 years.' 

And they were like, 'Yeah, we've got some real problems.' That boy is a bad man. He's just a bad player, a great player, doing great things early on in his career.

"

The receiver is truly a star in the making and has already come through with one of the most impactful rookie seasons of all time.

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