Madden’s yearly award voting starts to appear after week 9, but in PML, we are in week 12, so I am going to recap the current voting for the AFC and NFC for the top awards and provide my projections on who I think will win the award as the end of the season fastly approaches.
NFL –
MVP –
Los Angeles Chargers – QB Justin Herbert
Kansas City Chiefs – QB Patrick Mahomes
Dallas Cowboys – Dak Prescott
Codes and his Los Angeles Chargers are 8-2 and coming off a dominant victory over one of the NFC’s best in the Green Bay Packers, and all the while not having Justin Herbert for the game. Do I think that Herbert’s suspension is going to affect him winning the MVP title? No. Herbert has the highest fantasy points total to date and the more impressive part is that he has done it in 9 games. He leads the league in touchdowns (28), is averaging over 310 yards per game, which is five yards shy of the average passing yards leader per game in Baker Mayfield, and the Chargers finish the season off with three games against opponents that have a combined 7-24 record. Justin Herbert is going to licking his lips, but the only way I can see Herbert slipping up and losing the MVP voting is if the Chargers have the division/number one overall seed in hand and they decide to rest their starters for the last game, or whenever the clinch. In that case, Patrick Mahomes should be the next runner up.
Coach of the Year –
King Keraun (Kingke) Houston Texans –
Mike Mccarthy (Drama) Dallas Cowboys –
Ladainian Tomlinson (Codes) Los Angeles Chargers –
Kingke was predicted to find success with his Houston Texans, despite their depleted roster starting out. I really do not know the voting altogether that Madden uses for Coach of the Year because KingKe has a worse record (7-3) than the runner ups in Codes (8-2) and Drama (8-1-1). In fact, Drama has the best record in the league through 12 weeks. Nonetheless, Kingke has an 80 overall roster whereas the Chargers have an 87 overall roster and the Cowboys have an 85 overall roster, so quite possibly Madden can be taking that into consideration along with the strength of schedule. I’d assume by the end of the season that Drama will win this award if he is able to stay the course and acquire the number one overall seed in the NFC.
NFC –
Offensive Player of the Year –
WR Cooper Kupp –
WR Justin Jefferson –
HB Aaron Jones –
Cooper Kupp is defying the odds for his Los Angeles Rams, he is a 97 overall, but the rest of the core for the Rams aren’t that intimidating, so you’d expect Kupp to be double teamed for majority of the game. In 10 games, Kupp has 42 catches for 1,119 yards, he is the leader in receiving yards so far this season. In addition, Kupp is averaging 26 receiving yards per catch and 112 receiving yards per game. He is a magnet when it comes to catching the ball, he has 11 touchdowns and just 1 drop on the season. Cooper is on the older side when it comes to Madden, being 30 years old doesn’t help his regression, but his abilities make him the perfect slot receiver, even if he loses a touch of speed in the off-season. Justin Jefferson is having a career-like season too, but sitting at 5-6, he hasn’t been as crucial for his team’s ability to win but keep a close eye on both of these dynamic superstars come week 18.
Defensive Player of the Year –
LE Calijah Kancey –
MLB Leighton Vander Esch –
RE Micah Parsons –
Honestly, if you asked me who Calijah Kancey was before writing this, I couldn’t tell you, but he is having a monster of a season for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He is .5 sack shy of being the league leader in sacks (9.5) to Micah Parsons (10) but Kancey has forced 3 fumbles and tied for second in the league in that category and what’s even more impressive is that he is a 79 overall star dev player. Kancey is this dominant without any abilities. Cammy has a star in the making with Kancey and he is sure to get a boosted at the end of the season even if he falls short of this award. Kancey could start seeing more double teams as opposing offenses realize his prowess, if that happens, the vita vea-less defensive line of the Buccaneers is going to have to step it up a notch.
Offensive Rookie of the Year –
HB Emari Demercado –
HB Jahmyr Gibbs –
HB Bijan Robinson –
There are two household names on this list and not very many people could have seen the whirlwind that is Emari Demercado. Coach Que and the Arizona Cardinals gave Demercado the starting role and he has blossomed for them. He started out the season as a 64 overall but with a few upgrades and a dev increase, he is up to 74 overall. He has rushed 151 times this season for 941 yards and 8 touchdowns. He is a three down back too, he has hauled in 38 receptions for 462 receiving yards and 2 receiving touchdowns. Jahmyr Gibbs was atop this list for awhile until his two game suspension, so I can’t see him catching up to Demercado.
Defensive Rookie of the Year –
LE Calijah Kancey –
Kancey has been nominated for multiple awards this season, he is also in the running for best defensive linemen.
Best QB –
Dak Prescott
Geno Smith
Jordan Love
Best RB
Aaron Jones
Emari Demercado
Derrick Henry
Best WR
Cooper Kupp
Ceedee Lamb
Justin Jefferson
Best OL:
Zack Martin
Tyler Smith
Tyron Smith
Best DL:
Calijah Kancey
Micah Parsons
Aaron Donald
Best LB:
Byron Young
Leighton Vander Esch
Josh Uche
Best DB:
Rasul Douglas
Jaire Alexander
Isaiah Oliver
Best K:
Michael Badgley
Brandon Aubrey
Chase Mclaughlin
*Award voting is from the beginning of Week 12.
