NFL midseason awards: Who would win MVP, DPOY & more if season ended today?

Comeback Player of the Year

The requirements and parameters for this award are a bit confusing. The truest form of this should be players coming off injuries, followed by guys who had a down period but have returned to top form.

#1 Saquon Barkley

Saquon is among the top candidates for Offensive Player of the Year, but this award almost seems like a lock.

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Right now, the Giants running back is third in total scrimmage yards, behind only Tyreek Hill and Derrick Henry. His journey from college phenom at Penn State to NFL superstar, then having two injury-riddled seasons before rising from the ashes again is mesmerizing.

Barkley's vision between the tackles is as good as it’s ever been, while his pacing and jump-cuts make it almost impossible to really box him in. What has been so impressive about Barkley this season is the fact that the Giants rely on him as their only skill-position player for defenses to circle throughout their week of preparation.

The leading receiver for New York right now is Darius Slayton with 232 yards and the two other backs on the roster have fewer than 100 yards on the ground.

The Giants use Barkley in the wildcat, they hit him on designed crossing routes as a slot receiver, and they almost over-feed him at times on swings and screens that opponents are prepared for. Despite mostly being used in multi-tight-end sets and running him on wide zone, duo and toss plays where opponents are keyed in on stopping him, he still produces at a high level.

#2 Za’Darius Smith

You rarely see defensive players win this award, with Eric Berry, who overcame cancer, the only one to do so since 2008. But Za’Darius Smith is certainly in the reckoning this season.

After injuring his back in last season's opener, Smith had surgery that kept him out for the rest of the year. He left the Packers and signed with the Minnesota Vikings and had a monster game in their week one matchup.

Only the Patriots’ Matt Judon has recorded more than Smith’s 8.5 sacks, and he’s tied for the league-lead with 13 tackles for loss. He’s also top five in QB hits per game (15 in eight weeks).

This past Sunday at Washington was his first game without a sack or TFL all season, and he still made a significant impact, getting three hits on Taylor Heinicke and batting down two of his passes.

He also became the only player this season with multiple games of 9+ pressures. His impact on this entire Vikings defense is noteworthy, considering they’re allowing five points fewer than they did in 2021.

Smith's their chess piece in the front seven, lining up anywhere from the nose all the way out to a nine-technique on passing downs. The Vikings also use him as an off-ball blitzer to create havoc at times.

#3 Christian McCaffrey

This may be somewhat of a projection, with McCaffrey expected to return to superstar form in San Francisco. Yet, this is also a sign of what type of player he truly is, now under a great coach in Kyle Shanahan who understands how to deploy him.

In his one start, he did something we’ve never seen before in the NFL – accounting for 30+ yards and a touchdown rushing, receiving and passing the ball. Despite the fact he spent his first six games on the worst offense in terms of EPA per play and DVOA and he saw limited action on his debut with Niners, he’s still sixth among players in scrimmage yards (881) and has accounted for six touchdowns.

McCaffrey can certainly stretch plays out and then explode through the hole in a zone-based run system. Yet, as we witness San Francisco transition to more gap schemes, you can really see what made him so special at Stanford.

In the passing game, he can bail out offenses by catching check-downs short of the sticks and making a couple of defenders miss to keep the offense moving and win down the field in isolated matchups.

However, something that we saw most recently against the Rams was his great football IQ. On his receiving TD, he realized that he needed to turn a simple flare out upfield and caught the defense napping. Jimmy Garoppolo trusted him to get to that spot for a leaping grab.

Seeing him shine once again is fantastic for NFL fans, after he was limited to just 10 games over the previous two seasons.