NFL Honors 2012: Predicting Winners in Every AP Category

Tonight at 9 p.m. EST, the NFL will hand out awards to this season's most excellent players and coaches at the NFL Honors show in Indianapolis.  Hosted by Alec Baldwin, the awards show will feature legends of the game, such as Jerry Rice and Barry Sanders in attendance, as well as a musical performance from Lenny Kravitz (further proof that the NFL has absolutely zero clue what music Americans are listening to these days).

There will will seven awards given out by the Associated Press: Most Valuable Player, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year.  

Click through the slideshow to see my predictions for the winners at this year's NFL Honors.

Most Valuable Player: Aaron Rodgers

While the season may have ended on a sour note for Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers, there can be absolutely no question who was the MVP in the NFL this season.  Rodgers put up absolutely staggering numbers this year.  You can take your pick as to what was the most impressive part of his resume this year.

Was it his 122.5 QB rating?  Or perhaps the insane TD/INT ratio of 45:6? Had he not sat out in Week 17, he would have also had a very good shot at 5,000 yards as well.  On top of all that, the Packers went 14-1 with Rodgers at the helm.  This is one of the easier MVP selections in recent memory, perhaps since Tom Brady torched the league for 50 touchdowns in 2007.

Coach of the Year: Jim Harbaugh

This is another no-brainer award.  In just his first season in San Francisco, Jim Harbaugh succeeded in so many ways, it's tough to quantify them all.

For starters, the 49ers made their first playoff appearance since 2002, and won the most regular-season games since 1997 when Steve Young, Garrison Hearst and Terrell Owens led the team.  The 49ers also came within an overtime field goal of making the Super Bowl, which for a franchise that was in the shape that this one was when Harbaugh took it over is truly remarkable.

Perhaps the most impressive thing Harbaugh did this year was to transform Alex Smith into a legitimate NFL quarterback.  After so many seasons of perpetual attrition on the San Francisco coaching staff, Smith was able to become what the team hoped he would be when they drafted him with the No. 1 overall pick in the draft.

Offensive Player of the Year: Drew Brees

It's hard to imagine a season like the one Drew Brees had this year being overshadowed by another quarterback in the same year, but that's what happens when you have two guys put up a couple of the best seasons in NFL history.

Aaron Rodgers put together a brutally efficient season, but Brees posted such massive numbers that it's hard to compare his season to any other previously.  For one, he broke Dan Marino's single season passing yardage record, and he did it in only 15 games.

The other incredibly impressive part of his season was being 71.2 percent on completions, also an NFL record.  The only thing that, at least when compared to Rodgers, was a bit subpar was his 14 interceptions, but when you also put up 46 touchdowns, it's hard to complain too much.

Defensive Player of the Year: Jason Pierre-Paul

Defensive Player of the Year is probably the tightest choice of all these awards.  Terrell Suggs, Jason Allen, Patrick Willis, Justin Smith and DeMarcus Ware all made great cases for themselves.

But I give it to Jason Pierre-Paul for a couple of reasons.  For one, JPP put up 16.5 sacks in just 12 games, putting him on pace for around 20 sacks over 16 games.  Also, Pierre-Paul can line up anywhere on the line and still be effective rushing the passer.  His uncanny combination of speed and power make him capable of  blowing around tackles or bull rushing inside.

Furthermore, Pierre-Paul was the catalyst for the key component of the Giants defense, their pass rush.  While some other guys put up big sack numbers, Pierre-Paul did it for a team that totally keyed off of his pass rush, making his job all the more important, and his performance all the more impressive.

Comeback Player of the Year: Matt Stafford

Matt Stafford entered the NFL with a massive contract and a ton of pressure to resurrect the moribund Detroit Lions franchise.  After a rookie year full of typical rookie struggles, Stafford played only three games last season before going to the injured reserve list.

This season Stafford, along with his partner in crime Calvin Johnson, put up great numbers. His 5,000-plus yards, 46 TDs, 16 INTs is certainly a great way to re-enter the league after missing almost an entire season.  Were it not for the other-worldly seasons of Rodgers and Brees, Stafford's accomplishments would have generated a lot more buzz.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Cam Newton

Just a year removed from setting the SEC and the NCAA on fire with one of the most dominant single seasons ever as a quarterback, Cam Newton entered the NFL, reinvented himself as a big time passer and proved a lot of doubters wrong in 2011.

Newton accounted for 35 touchdowns, including an NFL QB record of 14 rushing touchdowns.  He threw for over 4,000 yards passing and racked up 700 yards rushing, making his season one of the best ever by a dual-threat quarterback, rookie or otherwise. While Carolina may have only won six games this season, Cam Newton was simply the most impressive rookie quarterback this season.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Von Miller

One of the most annoying parts about the media totally over-hyping an inferior player like Tim Tebow is it prevents a guy like Von Miller from getting his due credit.  Make no mistake, Miller was the best player on that team, and had way more to do with winning games than Tim Tebow.

Without Von Miller's dynamic presence in the Denver pass rush, those late game heroics would have never been possible.  Miller is also very solid against the run, and all indications are he has what it takes to be a leader for the Broncos defense for years to come.