NFL Honors 2019: TV Schedule, Live Stream Coverage, Final Predictions

Everyone loves to be recognized when they do well. Professional football players are no different, which is why the NFL Honors has grown into a big-time red-carpet event.

Every year on the day before the Super Bowl, the league gathers to honor some of the top players in the game. This year's edition of the NFL Honors will be pre-taped Saturday afternoon at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta, with Steve Harvey as host.

Five modern-era finalists will also be named to the Pro Football Hall of Fame during the ceremony.

Here's everything you need to know to catch the 2019 NFL Honors on television, along with a look at this year's Hall of Fame finalists and predictions for the night's biggest awards.

2019 NFL Honors

Where: Fox Theatre, Atlanta, Georgia

When: 9 p.m. ET

TV and Live Stream: CBS and CBS All Access

2019 Modern Era HOF Finalists

Steve Atwater

Champ Bailey

Tony Boselli

Isaac Bruce

Don Coryell

Alan Faneca

Tom Flores

Tony Gonzalez

Steve Hutchinson

Edgerrin James

Ty Law

John Lynch

Kevin Mawae

Ed Reed

Richard Seymour

AP NFL MVP

Gregory Payan/Associated Press

This prediction is the most obvious of the bunch. Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes is going to win it. This has become a quarterback award—only one non-quarterback has won since 2007—and Mahomes was almost unquestionably the best quarterback in 2018.

In just his first year as a full-time starter, Mahomes racked up 5,097 passing yards with 50 touchdowns and just 12 interceptions.

Mahomes also made some incredible throws—sometimes while not even looking—that other quarterbacks wouldn't dare attempt.

If a player other than Mahomes wins Most Valuable Player, it would mark the biggest upset in sports since 16th seed UMBC knocked off Virginia in 2018's NCAA college basketball tournament.

Prediction: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

AP Defensive Player of the Year

While plenty of fans probably would have liked to see Mahomes in Super Bowl LIII, they should get a look at the league's Defensive Player of the Year. Once again, this one probably isn't close.

Los Angeles Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald was the 2017 Defensive Player of the Year, and he was even more unstoppable this season. In 2017, he amassed 41.0 tackles, 11.0 sacks and five forced fumbles. In 2018, he racked up 59.0 tackles, 20.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.

"He's pretty much unblockable," New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick said of Donald in the buildup to the Super Bowl, per Tommy McArdle of Boston.com.

Belichick and the Patriots will see a heavy dose of Donald on Sunday.

Prediction: Aaron Donald, DT, Los Angeles Rams

AP Offensive Rookie of the Year

The race for Offensive Rookie of the Year is a little closer—actually, it's a lot closer. Both New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley and Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield have legitimate claims to the award.

Barkley produced 2,028 combined yards with 15 total touchdowns. Mayfield, meanwhile, passed for 3,725 yards and an all-time rookie-record 27 touchdowns in just 14 appearances.

Seeing either rookie win the award wouldn't come as a shock.

Mayfield, though, may have the edge. What Barkley did is historic, but the NFL is still a quarterback-driven league. Mayfield was also able to single-handedly change the perceptions about his team in a way that Barkley did not.

Smart NFL people are now actually talking about the Browns going to the Super Bowl without sarcasm.

Prediction: Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns

AP Defensive Rookie of the Year

The race for Defensive Rookie of the Year is also a close one. Denver Broncos pass-rusher Bradley Chubb (60.0 tackles, 12.0 sacks), Los Angeles Chargers safety Derwin James (105.0 tackles, 3.5 sacks, three interceptions), Dallas Cowboys linebacker Leighton Vander Esch (140.0 tackles, two interceptions) and Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard (163.0 tackles, 7.0 sacks, two interceptions) are all worthy of the award.

Ultimately, though, Leonard should be considered the favorite. While he, Vander Esch and James were able to affect games in multiple phases, Leonard's raw numbers are simply jaw-dropping.

Leonard led the entire league in combined tackles by 19 (over Blake Martinez) and had just five fewer sacks than Chubb and one fewer pick than James. He also had four forced fumbles, the same as Donald.

"He better win," former pass-rusher and current Colts assistant Robert Mathis said Friday, per Joel A. Erickson of the Indianapolis Star.

In all likelihood, Leonard will.

Prediction: Darius Leonard, LB, Indianapolis Colts

Other Predictions

AP Offensive Player of the Year

Prediction: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints

AP Coach of the Year

Prediction: Frank Reich, Indianapolis Colts

Comeback Player of the Year

Prediction: Andrew Luck, QB, Indianapolis Colts