NFL 2018/19: Predicting the NFL Honours for the 2018 Regular Season

The 2018 NFL Regular Season has come to an end and this week marks the start of the road to Superbowl 53 in Atlanta. The 2018 campaign has been one of the most entertaining seasons in recent history.

The Houston Texans and Indianapolis Colts started 0-3 and 1-5 respectively and both made the Playoffs along with the Seahawks and the Cowboys who were having losing record at mid-season, meanwhile teams like the Dolphins, Bengals and Panthers had winning records at midpoint of the season and didn't make the playoffs, the former two have fired their Head Coaches since then.

The 2018 season showed what the future of NFL is going to be like. With young quarterbacks taking over and young coaches with offensive acumen taking over. The success of offensive masterminds like Kyle Shanahan, Sean McVay, Matt Nagy is proving that young coaches are doing a good job.

The best example for that is former Texas Tech head coach Kliff Kingsbury, who was fired by Tech two months ago, is being courted by many NFL teams including the New York Jets and Arizona Cardinals, both have young QBs who can use an offensive mind of Kingsbury, If he can get a Defensive Coordinator as McVay did, he can do wonders with those QBs, just ask Patrick Mahomes, Bake Mayfield and Case Keenum, the three current starting QBs coached by Kingsbury in the collegiate level.

With all that said and done there are many players who flourished during this amazing 2018 NFL regular season. There are some players that peaked too early, there are some that came out just in right time to guide their team to the playoffs. Let's take a look at how the NFL Honours on the Superbowl eve could go down.

Rookie of the Year

Like any award, both the Rookie of the Year awards are up for grabs. This could be touted as one of the best rookie draft classes in recent memory. There are many players from any teams that made an immediate impact for their teams. Not just the top draft picks even the late draft picks and undrafted players made a huge impact in 2018. So, it isn't going to be easy to pick one player for either Rookie of the year awards.

Offence - Baker Mayfield, QB, Cleveland Browns

Baker Mayfield had a huge impact in Cleveland

From Number 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield to Undrafted Rookie Phillip Lindsay there are many players that deserve to be in this conversation. But as it stands it is currently a two-headed race between the Number 1 pick, Baker Mayfield and Number 2 pick Saquon Barkley.

Both players showed how important they both are for their teams. Barkley, as scouted during the draft, is the most talented player of this draft class and he could do everything he was asked to do, catch, rush, anything. He is Todd Gurley, Part 2. He leads the league in total scrimmage yards and was third behind Gurley and Kamara, two former OROY winners, in total touchdowns.

Mayfield, who got his starting gig due to injury to week 1 starter Tyrod Taylor, guided the Browns to a 6-7 record in the games he started by winning 5 of the last 7 games, which begs the question what if the Browns started Mayfield from week 1 instead of week 4 and gave him the full freedom he got after Hue Jackson got fired. It is fair to say that the Browns probably would still be playing in January.

Both players boast very good resume but Mayfield had the Browns in the grasp of a playoff spot which he probably would have got if he started the whole year, therefore, Mayfield will win the award.

Defence - Darius Leonard, LB, Indianapolis Colts

Darius Leonard was a monster for the Colts

It is going to be very interesting who will end up winning this award but I think it should be Darius Leonard, the Colts Linebacker. Chargers Safety Derwin James has also been disruptive this year. Leighton Vander Esch, Da’Shawn Hand, Denzel Ward, Levi Wallace, Bradley Chubb, Vita Vea, Jaire Alexander and Justin Reid also played crucial roles in their team's success.

But the DPOY race is between Derwin James and Leonard, with James being already named Pro Football Focus' DPOY. James was amazing for the Chargers with 105 combined tackles and 3 interceptions, but he probably isn't the major piece in their defence with the likes of Joey Bosa wreaking havoc in front.

But, for Leonard, he is clearly the team's best defensive player. It tells a lot about the team and the player when a rookie is your best player. He leads the NFL in total tackles with 163 and in solo tackles with 111, also, he had 7 sacks to go with it. He helped the Colts defence win games at the most crucial points. He was named the AFC defensive player of the month in December.

Comeback Player of the Year - Andrew Luck

Luck's return was huge for Indianapolis

Andrew Luck or JJ Watt, pick your poison. No one expected either of these players to return to their prime form, not even them. It was amazing to see both the players get back to their prime form after missing nearly two years of football. It is amazing just to return back from a single injury but these two not only overcame two years of not playing regular football but also made a big impact coming back.

Watt is probably not the most disruptive defensive player in the football right now but he showed he is not done and is still in the Top 3. He had 16 sacks, his fourth season with 16+ sacks, an incredible feat.

It is tough to just get 10+ sacks a year but he got 16+ in four years with one of those coming after two years of injuries, which is even more incredible. He also led the league with seven Forced Fumbles. Some things never change and Watt is one of them.

While looking at all those numbers, Watt could be easily the Comeback Player of the year on any given year, but not this time. This time he has fierce competition and a likely winner, from an equally impressive comeback by the Colts QB Andrew Luck.

Luck hasn't played a snap of football since week 16 of the 2016 season. He injured his shoulder and Colts played a cat and mouse approach with his status in 2017 which was finally ended with him not playing a single snap. No one was sure on how good was Luck's shoulder or could he even regain any strength in his arm and be as surgical as he was prior to the injury.

After an initial struggle and starting 1-5 Luck started to find his rhythm and miraculously brought the Colts back from the bottom of the AFC South to a Wild Card spot to play the rivals Houston Texans in the Wild Card weekend. Luck was phenomenal in guiding the Colts to win 9 of their last 10 games.

He completed 67 percent of his passes for 4593 yards and 39 TDs. The most ridiculous stat of all the Colts players is that Tight End Eric Ebron had 13 TDs in the 2018 season, while he had just 11 in his 4 seasons combined with the Detroit Lions. That stat alone should be enough to give Luck the Comeback Player of the Year award. Luck makes his teammates better.

Defensive Player of the Year - Aaron Donald, DT, LA Rams

Donald was dominant on defence

The 2018 Aaron Donald reminded football fans of the 2014 JJ Watt, who was infamously snubbed for the MVP honours for Aaron Rodgers that year. Watt, who himself had an amazing 2018 season and is the next best defensive player in the league, had one of the most electric seasons for a defensive player in 2014.

Donald replicated the same in 2019. Donald, the only unanimous First-Team All-Pro selection this year, should be in MVP conversation but he isn't because the league is offence-oriented.

If Watt, who also got his fifth First-Team All-Pro selection, couldn't beat out a regular Rodgers 2014 season there is no way in the world that Donald will beat Mahomes or Drew Brees' out of the world performances in 2018.

Donald, being an interior defensive lineman, raked up 20.5 sacks, the same number Watt reach in 2014. If you want to know why Donald deserves the DPOY just see the below comparison chart of 2012/14 Watt and 2018 Donald, they are eerily similar, except of course Watt's 3 TDs as a TE keeps him above Donald in MVP conversations.

#Texans DE @JJWatt had completely dominant seasons in 2012 and 2014 where he should have won the NFL MVP award. If he couldn’t win with these numbers, it may never go to a defensive player. pic.twitter.com/MyTv4jjb6B

— Texans PR (@TexansPR) January 3, 2019

MVP and Offensive Player of the Year

Mahomes threw 50 TD passes in his first year as a starter for the Kansas City Chiefs

It is a two-headed race for this year’s MVP honours and the runner-up is going away with the OPOY honours. That is why I have both these awards in a single slide here.

It is almost inhuman that an interior defensive lineman who created a record for most number of sacks in the NFL history is not even a Top 3 candidate for the MVP award. Aaron Donald is having one of the best seasons by a defensive player but might just crack into top 5 of the MVP conversation. He is probably not even the most valuable of his team, such is the power of the offence and how quarterback play has taken over the league.

Now on to the MVP discussion, it is currently a toss-up between the two dynamic QBs; Saints’ Drew Brees and Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes. Both opened up the season with such an offensive plunge that it took almost 10 weeks for defences to figure out a way to handle these QBs.

It is almost certain at this point that the runner-up for MVP award is the OPOY. There are cases for and against both the players to be named as MVP.

Mahomes, who received his first first-team All-Pro selection, with his first season as a full-fledged starter took the league and his own fans by surprise. Mahomes showed everyone why Andy Reid made the right move by trading up to draft him. He ranks atop in most major statistics. Even with such a dynamic play from Mahomes how much has the Chiefs improved overall from last season? Zero Percent.

The offence has always been good. Yes, they didn’t take many deep shots with Alex Smith running the show but he still kept the drives going and kept the opposing offence at bay along with the vulnerable Chiefs defence on the sidelines.

Mahomes explosion has opened up the glaring holes in the Chiefs defence, which has been exploited by many teams and will be taken advantage of by almost all offences that play in the postseason.

The Saints, on the other hand, started the season on a disappointing note losing to Tampa Bay but then went on a 10-game winning streak with Brees slinging the rock. Looking at the level Brees was playing this season it really makes you wonder how he did not win the MVP award not even once in his illustrious career.

Brees, a future Hall of Fame member, had another fantastic campaign

Brees, like Mahomes, had numerous weapons, an offensive mastermind in coach and broke numerous records in 2018 but the big difference could be seen in the quality of wins those two have.

Brees led seven game-winning drives with six fourth-quarter comebacks, while Mahomes only had two of those each. Also, Brees is 6-1 against winning teams while Mahomes is 3-4.

Based on the above stats on any given season Brees would be named MVP, but Mahomes should win the MVP because he defied odds by having a record-breaking season in his very first season as a full-fledged starter. Mahomes became the second QB in history to throw for 50 TD passes and reach 5000 passing yards in the same season, joining Peyton Manning.

Brees almost had his hands on the most coveted MVP title but Mahomes probably snatched it right from under his nose.

MVP: Patrick Mahomes, QB, Kansas City Chiefs

OPOY: Drew Brees, QB, New Orleans Saints