Award Picks

OPOY

Brandon Cooks (94 catches, 1812 yards, 16 TD)

Not only did Cooks run laps around the rest of the receivers in RedZone, he did so with Blaine Gabbert and a rookie QB throwing him the ball this season. He was the best player of the 14-2, #1 seed, New Orleans Saints.

DPOY

Stephone Anthony (92 tackles, 19 for a loss, 2.5 sacks, 12 interceptions, 20 deflections, 3 forced fumbles, 1 recovery, 1 safety)

Anthony had one of the best all-round defensive season in history. He led the league in interceptions by 3. If you add interceptions and deflections, Anthony got his hands on a staggering 30 passes, 2 more than Ben Sheffield and Jaylon Smith.

Factor in the tackles, tackles for loss, and forced fumbles, Anthony dominated on the defensive side of the ball. In addition to Cooks spectacular season, it’s one of the reasons the Saints were able to go 14-2 with Gabbert and rookie QB.

ORoY

Malcolm Quessenberry (4162 yards, 30 TD’s, 26 interceptions, 59%, 85.4 QB rating)

Queso (which I’m going to call him because Quessenberry sucks to type) had an up and down season, but put up huge raw numbers. The efficiency and turnovers could have been better, but he gets rewarded for leading his team to the #1 seed and a 14-2 record.

Queso gets the nod over Hayden here because he was basically just as efficient with a heavier work load. Having a better record gets trumped a bit by being on a much better team. None the less, Queso has a bright future.

DRoY

Ben Sheffield (69 tackles, 8 interceptions, 22 deflections)

The two other players I considered here were:

C. Bain (Patriots - OLB) 107 TAK, 21 TFL, 2.5 sack, 2 INT, 7 DEFL, 1 FF, 3 REC

M. Shirley (Cowboys - DE) 60 TAK, 13 TFL, 10 sack, 2 FF

I’m giving Sheffield the nod because of how good he was relative to other players at his position. 8 interceptions was the most in the league this season for a non MLB. The next highest corner was 6. Sheffield was 6th in the league in deflections and 2nd in INT’s + DEFL at 30. He was arguably the best player at his position, which you can’t say about the other two.

RoY

Hayden Peak (3966 yards, 24 TD’s 20 INT’s, 62%, 84.8)

I’m doing that super annoying thing where the rookie of the year didn’t win defensive or offensive rookie. The reason, Hayden Peak wasn’t better than Sheffield or Queso, but he had a more impressive feat. He led the Detroit Lions to the playoffs. This team went from bottom 10 to division champs this season. The rest of the roster is still baron, but Peak gave this team a spark that Aundrey Morrison never could.

Coach of the year

Chris Prewitt (14-2, #1 seed)

Prewitt went from out of the playoffs to #1 seed this year. Most of the time that has happened when a division got to play the NFC North. However, the Saints schedule arguably got harder this year playing the NFC West and the AFC North instead of both East’s.

He did this all while navigating an injury to his rookie QB and rolling with Blaine Gabbert for a good chunk of the season. Saints were 5th in points scored, 7th in points allowed, and killed it with two MVP caliber players.

Most improved Owner

Nick (5-11 season 33 and 9-7 season 34)

The Lions won just one game outside the division in season 33, going 4-2 in the NFC North. They went 5-1 this season and improved to 4 wins outside the division. Nick showed a mild interest in the offseason (hey, that’s a huge improvement). The team got a bit better talent wise, but still rated as 4th worst by DaddyLeagues ratings (Colts, Bears, and Vikings were worse).

MVP

Brandon Cooks

This has a little bit of Lebron treatment towards Zeke, while also acknowledging how outstanding Cooks was for the Saints this season. I’m penalizing Zeke for the Cowboys other worldly offensive line, fair or not, and giving Cooks the edge due to his caliber of QB. Would Zeke put those numbers up on a mediocre line? Probably not. Would Cooks put up better numbers with a star caliber QB, I don’t think there is any question about it. The Saints had a better record, higher seed, and worse defense, Cooks gets my vote.