2012 NFL Honors Preview: Predicting All 7 AP Award Winners, Including MVP & ROY

The NFL's inaugural Honors Show will air this Saturday, Feb. 4 at 9:00 p.m. EST from Indianapolis.

Let's quickly preview and predict all seven award winners: 

NFL MVP

The MVP is a three-man race with one clearly leading the pack. Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees and Tom Brady all had MVP-type seasons, but this is clearly Rodgers' award to lose. After 48 total touchdowns, the NFL's single season passer rating record and a 15-1 regular season, Rodgers should be the pick. In most other seasons, Brees and Brady are shoo-ins.

Pick: Aaron Rodgers, Packers 

NFL OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

At a point this season, Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was making a push to the playoffs and a push to win this award. But after 17 weeks, there was no doubting that Cam Newton secured his spot as the NFL's offensive rookie of the year. The No. 1 overall pick scored 35 total touchdowns, including a rookie record 14 rushing, and totaled nearly 5,000 combined yards. The wins didn't always follow for the Panthers, but Newton will win this award handily. 

Pick: Cam Newton, Panthers

NFL DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR

Broncos rookie linebacker Von Miller played more snaps and arguably had a bigger impact, but Aldon Smith of the 49ers led all rookies in sacks and contributed to one of the NFL's best defenses. You really can't go wrong with either player. In deciding this award, Smith lucks out that his dominant streak came late in the season while Miller was battling injuries.

Pick: Aldon Smith, 49ers

NFL COACH OF THE YEAR

I think you could make a semi-coherent argument for John Fox and Mike McCarthy here, but this is clearly Jim Harbaugh's award. Nabbed from Stanford after rebuilding that program into a national power, Harbaugh refocused the 49ers franchise in his first year and led a mostly unchanged roster to 13 regular season wins and a home NFC title game. The votes should be a landslide for Harbaugh.

Pick: Jim Harbaugh, 49ers 

NFL COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Eight touchdowns from Plaxico Burress will get him a look, but I don't think there's any player you can go for here besides Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. After missing 19 games over the last two seasons, Stafford threw for 41 touchdowns and over 5,000 yards—making him one of just five players ever to crack 5,000 passing yards in a season—in leading the Lions to their first playoff appearance since 1999.

Pick: Matthew Stafford, Lions

NFL OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

I think Calvin Johnson, LeSean McCoy, Maurice Jones-Drew and Stafford all deserve consideration, but it is simply too hard to overlook the kind of statistical season Drew Brees had in 2011-12. He broke the passing yards record by over 400, threw for 46 touchdowns and led the Saints to the most yards ever recorded by an offense in NFL history. If that's not an OPY, I don't know what is.

Pick: Drew Brees, Saints 

NFL DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR

There are so many worthy candidates for defensive player of the year, including Jared Allen, Terrell Suggs, Justin Smith and Jason Pierre-Paul. The sheer number of considerable names makes this the most difficult decision by a long shot. In the end, I think the voters make the right choice by selecting Smith. He not only was dominant against the pass and run, but also a centerpiece for one of the league's best defenses.

Pick: Justin Smith, 49ers