Bleacher Report's Expert Consensus NFL Awards

On Saturday, February 3, the NFL's best and brightest will don their Sunday finest and head to the Northrop Auditorium in Minneapolis.

The NFL's glitteraty will be there for the seventh annual edition of the NFL Honors, the ceremony where the league's individual hardware is handed out.

We here at Bleacher Report can play that game too.

Sure, we don't have a theater full of athletes and celebrities. But we do have some individual awards to hand out, from the NFL's Coach of the Year to the league's Most Valuable Player in 2017.

All Bleacher Report needs now is a marginally funny emcee to do the honors.

Luckily, we have NFL Analyst Gary Davenport.

OK. Marginally funny is probably being kind.

Coach of the Year

Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press

Sean McVay, Los Angeles Rams (8 votes)

This first award is something of a no-brainer.

Mind you, other head coaches in the National Football League did a fantastic job in 2017. Sean McDermott led the Buffalo Bills to their first playoff berth of the 21st century. Doug Marrone got the Jacksonville Jaguars to the AFC Championship Game. And despite losing quarterback Carson Wentz, Doug Pederson's Philadelphia Eagles will play for the Lombardi Trophy this Sunday in Super Bowl LII.

But what Sean McVay accomplished in his first season with the Los Angeles Rams was nothing short of amazing.

The 32-year-old McVay inherited a Rams team that hadn't posted a winning season or won the NFC West since 2003 and a quarterback in Jared Goff who looked absolutely lost as a rookie.

McVay turned both around in a hurry. The Rams won 11 games and captured the NFC West, thanks largely to an explosive offense that ranked 10th in both total offense and passing offense and posted the fifth-most passing plays in the NFL of 40 or more yards.

It wasn't just that it appeared a light bulb turned on for Goff, who went from punch line to looking very much like a No. 1 overall pick. After a miserable 2016 season, tailback Todd Gurley topped 2,000 total yards and established himself as an MVP candidate. Robert Woods went from a boring possession receiver to dangerous downfield threat. Cooper Kupp caught 62 passes for 869 yards as a rookie. Sammy Watkins caught eight touchdown passes.

Yes, the season ended on a down note with a home playoff loss to the Atlanta Falcons, but after five moribund seasons under master of mediocrity Jeff Fisher, McVay injected 200,000 volts of excitement into the Rams in 2017.

As Bleacher Report NFL Analyst Brad Gagnon put it: "This one's easy. McVay is an offensive guru, and he took the lowest-scoring team of 2016 (14.0 points per game) and turned them into the highest-scoring team of 2017 (29.9). Same quarterback, same running back, entirely new approach. A hell of a start for the youngest head coach in league history."

Now, there were voices of dissent—including a very loud one from Minneapolis this week in the person of NFL National Lead Writer Mike Tanier.

"I have to argue for Doug Pederson as Coach of the Year? Seriously? Where are most of us right now? (Looks around) Oh yeah, at the Super Bowl, sitting underneath a giant banner with the Eagles on it," Tanier quipped. "So, let's see...Pederson took an active hand in developing Carson Wentz into an MVP candidate, then clinched home-field advantage throughout the playoffs and beat the Falcons and Vikings as a home underdog without Wentz.

"Check out the Eagles' weekly game plans on both sides of the ball. Check out their creativity and versatility on offense, their fourth-down daring and their ability to generate points on two-minute drills. Look at the personalities who have blended together to form a cohesive unit. Then get back to me about the Boy Wonder who was outcoached by the freakin' Falcons in the playoffs, or whoever the rest of you are voting for."

Sorry, Mike. The tribe has spoken.

The Rams went from the team no one cared about to an electrifying can't-miss carnival of offensive highlights. To their credit, the defense played well too—mostly because McVay had the sense to hire veteran defensive coordinator Wade Phillips.

That's what often separates good coaches from great coaches.

Great coaches know what they don't know—and are willing to admit it.

Others receiving votes: Bill Belichick, New England Patriots (1 vote); Doug Pederson, Philadelphia Eagles (1 vote)

Offensive Player of the Year

Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press

Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams (5 votes)

It pleases me beyond words that quarterbacks received a grand total of zero votes for Offensive Player of the Year from our panel.

There were quarterbacks who had big seasons in 2017, but in the last 10 years, all of one non-quarterback has been named the NFL's Most Valuable Player. In each of the last two seasons a quarterback swept the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year Awards.

With all due respect to Matt Ryan (2016) and Cam Newton (2015), there are other offensive stars who deserve to have their achievements recognized in a given season.

None more so in 2017 than Los Angeles Rams tailback Todd Gurley.

In 2016, Gurley struggled through a miserable season, managing just 885 rushing yards on 278 carries—an average of 3.2 yards a tote. In 2017, Gurley carried the ball one more time…

And gained 420 more rushing yards.

As the centerpiece of one of the NFL's most explosive offenses, Gurley gained 1,305 yards on the ground and added 788 through the air. He caught as many passes and scored more touchdowns in 2017 than he did in his first two NFL seasons combined.

Gurley told Fox Sports' Undisputed that he believes he did enough this past season to deserve MVP consideration.

"Yeah, most definitely," Gurley said, adding: "I don't know what factors in the MVP, but I felt like me and my teammates, we worked hard to push me to get there. We accomplished a lot."

That isn't especially likely—the only non-quarterback to win in the past decade (Adrian Peterson) came within a hair of breaking the NFL's single-season rushing record. Gurley didn't even lead the league in rushing—although before sitting out Week 17, Gurley was in position to do both that and lead all tailbacks in receiving yards.

But as consolation prizes go, OPOY doesn't suck.

Others receiving votes: Antonio Brown, WR, Pittsburgh Steelers (3 votes); Le'Veon Bell, RB, Pittsburgh Steelers (2 votes)

Defensive Player of the Year

Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press

Aaron Donald, DE, Los Angeles Rams (7 votes)

Break up the Rams!

There were any number of defensive players who had outstanding seasons in 2017. It happened in relative obscurity, but for the fourth time in five seasons Chandler Jones of the Arizona Cardinals notched at least 11 sacks.

And by "notched," I mean blew past—he led the NFL with 17.

In his first season with the Jacksonville Jaguars, defensive end Calais Campbell had the best year of his career. Long one of the most underrated ends in the league, Campbell exploded for 14.5 sacks in his first NFL season in a 4-3 defense—tops in the AFC.

With 41 tackles and 11 sacks in 2017, Aaron Donald of the Rams didn't pile up numbers that gaudy in 2017.

But numbers don't come close to telling the whole story with the four-year veteran.

At the risk of sounding like Donald fanboys, the 6'1", 280-pound Donald has gone from an undersized defensive tackle prospect to the most dominant defender in the NFL. His first step off the snap is the stuff of legend. He made the move outside to end in base sets in Wade Phillips' 3-4 front look easy this season.

As Rams DL coach Bill Johnson told Robert Mays of The Ringer, Donald does everything at an elite level.

"A lot of people have got speed and power," Johnson said. "[Aaron] has also got this instinct, whatever it is. If I knew exactly what it was, I'd be writing books."

Donald was the runaway winner here, with NFL National Lead Writer Mike Freeman among those who looked past the raw stats to see the impact Donald has on every defensive snap.

"Donald is an interior lineman, and by definition this means he receives far less attention than an edge-rusher or a defensive back," Freeman wrote. "But make no mistake—Donald had one of the most dominating seasons any interior lineman has had in the past few years. What he did goes beyond the data too. He physically dominates every line he goes against."

The only bad part about all this for the Rams?

Donald is heading into a contract year. And his new deal is going to be a whopper.

Others receiving votes: Calais Campbell, DE, Jacksonville Jaguars (2 votes); Chandler Jones, OLB, Arizona Cardinals (1 vote)

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Jason Behnken/Associated Press

Alvin Kamara, RB, New Orleans Saints (7 votes)

The Jacksonville Jaguars won't complain about using the fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft on tailback Leonard Fournette after the season he had.

But this year's voting for Offensive Rookie of the Year appears to point to the continued wisdom of patience as a virtue where it comes to drafting running backs.

Provided you pick the right guy, of course.

The Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints both did on the draft's second day.

In Kareem Hunt, the Chiefs got a young tailback who had the best debut game by a player at his position in NFL history. Hunt went on to gain a league-leading 1,327 yards on the ground as the foundation for a Kansas City offense that helped the team win the AFC West.

If Hunt played well, the Chiefs won. If he was shut down (or forgotten), the Chiefs lost. It was that simple.

But Hunt isn't the winner here.

All Alvin Kamara did in his first NFL season was pair with Mark Ingram to form the first backfield duo in NFL history to each top 1,500 total yards in a season.

Granted, Kamara only rushed for 728 yards and didn't have the statistical impact rushing and receiving Hunt did. But Kamara averaged a ridiculous 6.1 yards per carry, and Bleacher Report NFL National Lead Writer Matt Miller pointed out that Kamara's impact in New Orleans went well past the raw stats.

"It would be easy to look at stats and choose Kareem Hunt as Offensive Rookie of the Year," Miller said, "but let's look at stats and impact. Alvin Kamara sparked a change in the Saints offense with his 1,900 all-purpose yards and 14 touchdowns while becoming a rare three-tool player as a runner, receiver and return man. Whenever Kamara had the ball, defenses panicked, and that allowed New Orleans to go from an 0-2 mess to one of the NFL's best teams."

Both of these first-year ball-carriers are absolutely deserving of Rookie of the Year consideration.

No wrong answer here.

Others receiving votes: Kareem Hunt, RB, Kansas City Chiefs (3 votes)

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Butch Dill/Associated Press

Marshon Lattimore, CB, New Orleans Saints (7 votes)

The first pick of the 2017 NFL draft may have been a defensive end (Cleveland's Myles Garrett, who played very well when healthy), but in the eyes of our experts this was the year of the cornerback among rookie defenders.

In Buffalo, Tre'Davious White was a big component for a Buffalo defense that led the Bills to their first playoff appearance in almost two decades, tallying 69 tackles, four interceptions and 18 passes defensed.

White garnered three votes here, but just like on the offensive side of the ball it was a first-year star from the Big Easy who brought home the hardware.

As well as White played for the Bills in 2017, it isn't hard to argue Marshon Lattimore was even better. Thrust into duty as New Orleans' top corner from Day 1, the 11th overall pick didn't take long to establish himself as not just one of the best young corners in football but one of the best corners period.

By the time the dust settled on the regular season, Lattimore had picked off five passes to go with 52 total tackles and a forced fumble—drawing praise from the likes of Bleacher Report NFL Analyst Brent Sobleski.

"Shutdown cornerbacks don't exist anymore, or so they say," Sobleski said. "Marshon Lattimore stepped into the New Orleans Saints defense after being the 11th overall pick and completely changed the unit's approach. Lattimore quickly proved he could cover any of the league's top targets and allowed defensive coordinator Dennis Allen to rotate his coverage toward the opposite side of the field. The Saints defense improved by allowing 49 fewer passing yards per game in 2017 compared to the 2016 campaign. Lattimore may not have been the sole reason for this impressive feat, but he served as a big reason why the unit became more formidable."

Speaking of praise, general manager Mickey Loomis and the Saints front office had quite the draft in 2017.

Too bad we don't have an "Executive of the Year" award.

Others receiving votes: Tre'Davious White, CB, Buffalo Bills (3 votes)

Comeback Player of the Year

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

Keenan Allen, WR, Los Angeles Chargers (7 votes)

As I've already mentioned, Los Angeles Rams tailback Todd Gurley rebounded from a dismal 2016 campaign to have a phenomenal season. It's entirely possible we haven't seen the last of Gurley in this piece.

That's called foreshadowing.

New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski experienced a similar rebound in 2017, reminding us all how dominant he can be when he can just stay healthy.

Both players earned votes as the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year from our panel.

Neither won.

It had been a good long while since we saw Los Angeles Chargers rookie Keenan Allen at his best. After topping 1,000 yards as a rookie back in 2013, Allen missed two games the following year. Then half the season the year after that. Then a torn ACL in the season opener wiped out his 2016 season.

Allen appeared a likely candidate for the "what could have been" files.

But in 2017, Allen stayed healthy, and in doing so went on to have the best year of his career. He put up 102 catches for 1,393 yards—both career highs. Allen added six touchdown catches and played in all 16 games for the first time in his five NFL seasons.

It was a performance that impressed NFL Analyst Brent Sobleski.

"Allen played in only nine games during the last two seasons," he said. "In 2015, Allen suffered a kidney injury that cost him the final eight games. Less than a year later, the wide receiver shredded his right knee after participating in only one contest. Despite all of this adversity, Allen came back better than ever in 2017. He broke the Chargers' single-season record with 102 receptions. His 1,393 receiving yards rank second in franchise history. The 25-year-old receiver is a legitimate elite target as long as he stays healthy, which he did this past season."

Six other voters agreed—more than enough to earn Allen the nod as Comeback Player of the Year.

Others receiving votes: Rob Gronkowski, TE, New England Patriots (2 votes); Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams (1 vote)

Fantasy Player of the Year

Mark Zaleski/Associated Press

Todd Gurley, RB, Los Angeles Rams (10 votes)

Told you we weren't through with Todd Gurley yet.

After a fantastic rookie season, Gurley was a top-five pick in the majority of fantasy football leagues in 2016.

That didn't work out so well.

Gurley struggled mightily during his sophomore season, gaining just 885 yards on the ground and averaging a miserable 3.2 yards per carry while posting a grand total of zero 100-yard games.

That faceplant left a bad taste in the mouths of many fantasy owners. Per the Average Draft Position data at Fantasy Pros, Gurley dropped from the first round altogether in 2017.

Those fortunate souls who landed Gurley in Round 2 made out well this season. In fact, as NFL Analyst Sean Tomlinson pointed out, many of them probably celebrated fantasy championships.

"In 33.9 percent of ESPN leagues, one of the two teams that made the finals had Todd Gurley on its roster, which should surprise no one," he said. "That was the second-highest percentage of ownership behind only the Saints' Alvin Kamara. And over on NFL.com Gurley was on a stunning 47.1 percent of championship-winning rosters. That's what happens when you draft a running back who stayed healthy and averaged 139.5 yards from scrimmage per game."

Under the tutelage of new head coach Sean McVay and running behind a revamped offensive line, Gurley went absolutely bananas in his third NFL season. Gurley carried the ball 279 times for 1,305 yards on the ground—an average of 4.7 yards per tote. He added 788 more yards on 64 receptions. And Gurley (after scoring just six touchdowns in 2016) found the end zone a knee-buckling 19 times.

Gurley wasn't just the top-scoring running back in fantasy football. He was the No. 1 running back in leagues that award a point per reception by almost three fantasy points per game over Le'Veon Bell of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Gurley didn't just pile up points. He was both consistent and explosive. In 12 of 16 games, Gurley posted at least 15 PPR fantasy points. He posted more than 30 points four times and topped 40 points twice.

Those 40-point games were in Weeks 15 and 16—otherwise known as the fantasy playoffs.

Hard not to love that timing.

Fantasy owners returned the favor to Gurley for all those tasty points when they mattered most. As Lindsey Thiry reported for the Los Angeles Times, fantasy owners giddy over all that Gurley did for them in 2017 donated tens of thousands of dollars to Shriner's Hospitals for Children—the organization Gurley supported during the NFL's "My Cleats, My Cause" campaign this year.

A great story to end a great season for a young tailback who will very much be in the mix to be drafted No. 1 overall in fantasy football in 2018.

Breakout Player of the Year

Mitchell Leff/Getty Images

Case Keenum, QB, Minnesota Vikings (5 votes)

The battle for Bleacher Report's 2017 NFL Breakout Player of the Year was a three-horse race among quarterbacks from whom little was expected yet much was delivered. All three led their respective teams to the playoffs.

For NFL National Lead Writer Vince Papale (known during weeks in which the Philadelphia Eagles aren't playing in the Super Bowl by his given name of Mike Tanier), it was Carson Wentz, who may well have been the NFL's MVP had he not torn his ACL in Week 14.

Friendly ribbing aside, it's a fine choice. As are the four votes for the player taken one pick ahead of Wentz in the 2016 NFL draft, including one made by B/R NFL Lead Scout Doug Farrar.

"Under former offensive coordinator Rob Boras in his rookie season of 2016, Jared Goff had very little chance to succeed," Farrar said. "He was playing in a restrictive passing system with limited targets and an awful offensive line. It wasn't a surprise that he had one of the worst rookie seasons of any quarterback in recent memory.

"His major uptick in efficiency and productivity in 2017 is not only a testament to Goff's own development, but the efforts the Rams put into upgrading their offensive personnel and the brilliance of first-year head coach and offensive play-caller Sean McVay. McVay made it very clear to Goff that things would be easier to process in his new offense, and that proved to be true. In one season, Goff went from potential all-time bust to one of the bright young stars in the NFL."

However, Goff and Wentz were at least top-two picks. Minnesota Vikings quarterback Case Keenum wasn't drafted in the first round. Or the third round. Or the fifth round.

Keenum wasn't drafted at all. Nor was he expected to be the starting quarterback for the Vikings in 2017.

However, Teddy Bridgewater was still on the shelf due to injury when Sam Bradford went down early in the season, so the Vikings were left no choice save to turn to the sixth-year journeyman with nine wins in 24 starts over the first five years of his career.

Someone forgot to tell Keenum he wasn't a good quarterback.

Over the first five seasons of his career, Keenum threw 24 touchdown passes. He tossed 22 in 2017 alone against just seven interceptions. Keenum smashed career highs across the board—his 3,547 passing yards were over 1,300 more than his next-best season, and his passer rating of 98.3 was over 10 points higher than his second-best showing in that regard.

Keenum went from an afterthought to 11-3 as Minnesota's starter and within one game of the Super Bowl.

The question now is whether that will be enough to keep the free-agent-to-be in the Twin Cities in 2018.

Others receiving votes: Jared Goff, QB, Los Angeles Rams (4 votes); Carson Wentz, QB, Philadelphia Eagles (1 vote)

Play of the Year (Regular Season)

Nick Wass/Associated Press

Andy Dalton's 4th-and-12 game-winner against the Baltimore Ravens (3 votes)

First off, this category is only for plays in the regular season. If it included the postseason, there's very little doubt which play would win—just as there's little doubt we'll be watching replays of the "Minnesota Miracle" until approximately the end of time.

But that play's out—and that made for the most wide-open category of this entire piece.

For NFL Lead Scout Doug Farrar, the play of the year was Carson Wentz's 51-yard dime to Nelson Agholor as he fell to the ground in Week 13 against the Seattle Seahawks.

NFL Analyst Brad Gagnon, on the other hand, singled out the wild punt return score peeled off by Chicago Bears tailback Tarik Cohen that same week against the San Francisco 49ers.

The week before, the Pittsburgh Steelers downed the Green Bay Packers 31-28 at Heinz Field—in no small part because of Antonio Brown's ridiculous sideline grab in the fourth quarter. That play was singled out by NFL Analyst Sean Tomlinson.

It wasn't the only play made by No. 84 that caught the eye of our voters. Both NFL Analyst Brent Sobleski and NFL Draft Lead Writer Matt Miller pointed to Brown's helmet catch against the Tennessee Titans in Week 11 as the Play of the Year.

Two more voters (NFL National Lead Writers Mike Freeman and Mike Tanier) selected Russell Wilson's scramble (and scramble and scramble) and long throw to Doug Baldwin in a Thursday night win over the Arizona Cardinals.

That play was beautiful, even if the uniforms were hideous.

As great as that play was, though, NFL Analyst Gary Davenport broke the tie by joining NFL Lead Features Writer Tyler Dunne and NFL Columnist Dan Pompei in voting for a play that will long live in the annals of Buffalo sports history—despite the fact the Bills had nothing to do with it.

"4th-and-12."

Sure, Andy Dalton's 49-yard touchdown pass to Tyler Boyd may have lacked the athleticism of Brown's grabs or the wackiness of Wilson's scramble.

But it was in Week 17. On fourth down. With both the game and the playoff fate of the Bills and Baltimore Ravens on the line.

The stakes were exponentially higher. The highest of any play this side of that game-ending marvel in Minneapolis.

And that makes it the Play of the Year for 2017.

Others receiving votes: Seriously? We just listed them all.

Most Valuable Player

David J. Phillip/Associated Press

Tom Brady, QB, New England Patriots (9 votes)

We can literally hear you all groaning.

Stop it.

Yes, players like Todd Gurley and Antonio Brown had fantastic seasons in 2017. Both were immensely valuable components of teams that made the playoffs.

But the reality is that in today's NFL, the Most Valuable Player award might as well be called the Most Valuable Quarterback. Only one of the last 10 MVPs didn't play the position.

NFL Analyst Brad Gagnon offered up his MVP vote for a quarterback, Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints.

"Brees won't win because there's probably a perception that he got too much help from the running game," Gagnon said. "But let's not forget that much of Alvin Kamara's impact came through the air. Brees produces via his backs like no other quarterback in football, and he's a big reason Kamara was so successful. While commanding a first-place team, Brees set a new single-season record with a completion percentage of 72.0, led the league with an 8.1 yards-per-attempt average and completed more 20-yard passes than anyone else in football by an 18 percent margin. He also posted a higher passer rating than Tom Brady."

But when it comes to quarterbacks in 2017, it's hard to argue that any were more valuable to their teams than the Golden Boy himself.

For the season, Brady completed 66.3 percent of his passes for a league-leading 4,577 yards and 32 touchdowns with eight interceptions and a passer rating of 102.8. He was fifth in completion percentage among quarterbacks with over 200 attempts. Fourth in passer rating among signal-callers with the same number of throws. And third in touchdown passes.

Oh, and he's leading the Patriots into the Super Bowl for the eighth time in his career, breaking the record for appearances by a quarterback—previously held by Tom Brady.

By any measure, Brady had another outstanding season. When you consider that it's his 18th and that he turned 40 before it started, it's staggering.

For all Brady has accomplished in a career that includes five Super Bowl wins (an NFL record) and four Super Bowl MVP awards (also a record), he's only been named the league's Most Valuable Player twice—in 2007 and 2010.

"Years from now, the guess here is that we'll look back at Tom Brady's career much like we do Michael Jordan and wonder why he didn't win more MVPs," NFL Lead Features Writer Tyler Dunne said. "It's like people just get bored and want to vote for somebody else because the older Brady gets, the more he simply defies logic. He's the best in the game and it's not even close. His fastball still has mustard, he's still able to avoid most kill shots and, above all, his mind is sharper than ever. Don't count on Brady to hit the wall anytime soon."

The Pro Football Writers of America have already named Brady their MVP in 2017. It's all but a foregone conclusion that the Associated Press will follow suit at the NFL Honors.

And when the dust settles in Minneapolis on Sunday, it's more likely than not that Brady will hold aloft the Lombardi Trophy for the sixth time.

Is a handsome, rich quarterback with a supermodel wife and more Super Bowl rings than he can wear on one hand an incredibly annoying prospect for fans of 31 of the NFL's 32 teams? Absolutely.

But Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. is the greatest quarterback the National Football League has ever seen.

He's also Bleacher Report's 2017 NFL MVP.

It's Tom Brady's world, folks. The rest of us just live in it.

Others receiving votes: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints (1 vote)