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31 Midseason NFL Awards: From the best catch to the best coach

8 November 2024Last Update :
31 Midseason NFL Awards: From the best catch to the best coach

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While we’re technically past the midway point, we can still celebrate the best of the NFL at the midway mark. Below, midseason awards for the offseason, offense, defense and special teams.

First, the award for best Eagles fan (shared by strongarm_11 on reddit):

Midseason, Offseason Awards

Let’s begin the first annual Scoop City midseason awards with the offseason (all stats are per TruMedia unless noted):

Best free agent signing: Derrick Henry. Few things were less trendy than giving contracts to 30-year-old running backs. But the Ravens made out like bandits with Henry (just a $5.1M cap hit this year), the favorite for Offensive Player of the Year who is on pace for the ninth-best single-season rushing mark of all time (1,987 yards).

Best draft pick: Washington selecting Jayden Daniels at No. 2. Duh.

Best rookie class: Les Snead’s Rams. Their first first-round pick since 2016, DE Jared Verse, sports the highest pressure rate among all non-injured pass-rushers:

Second-round DT Braden Fiske? He ranks 22nd in that stat, just behind legendary Steelers DT Cameron Hayward.

Third-round safety Kam Kinchens recovered a fumble, caught two interceptions and had a 103-yard touchdown during their critical Week 9 win in Seattle. Sixth-round picks DT Tyler Davis and K Joshua Karty are contributing, too.

On offense, sixth-round WR Jordan Whittington looks like a steal — PFF ranks him as the league’s 28th-best receiver, just behind Ladd McConkey (who went nearly 200 picks prior). Meanwhile, sixth-round C Beaux Limmer has started seven games and has been joined by UDFA G Justin Dedich during their current three-game win streak. Eight starters!

Best coaching hire: The combination of Dan Quinn and Kliff Kingsbury. Together with Daniels and savvy signings like Bobby Wagner, they’ve created a culture of improvement in Washington where — for the first time since before the Dan Snyder era — players want to be there.

Midseason Offensive Awards

Best quarterback: Lamar Jackson, who is averaging career highs and/or leading the NFL in QBR (77.3), yards per pass attempt (9.3), passing yards per game (264.3), completion percentage (68.2), interception percentage (0.8) and sack percentage (4.8). Yes, it’s been the two-time MVP’s best season yet. He’s also just 27.

Best throw: It has to be the Hail Mary by Jayden Daniels, right? (Maybe the luckiest throw)

Or is it the Week 1, 60-yard bomb from Anthony Richardson? (Maybe the most impressive throw, from a strength perspective)

Jordan Love’s triple coverage gem to Jayden Reed? (Maybe the most impressive throw, from a “I can’t believe he threw that and it worked” perspective)

I’d also understand if your vote goes to Matthew Stafford for this completion (under pressure, barely looks, into triple coverage, on the money):

Best running back: Derrick Henry, for reasons mentioned above. Plus, he’s averaging a league-leading 6.3 yards per carry, handling the most carries in the league and facing eight defenders in the box at a 31 percent clip!

Best run: That Saquon Barkley backwards hurdle, of course. But Kenneth Walker’s somersault is still appreciated here.

Best receiver room: The Seahawks, who are the only team with three players to post 450-plus receiving yards. Jaxon Smith-Njigba (568), DK Metcalf (568) and Tyler Lockett (456) all rank as top-30 receiving options.

Best catch: Garrett Wilson’s one-handed jumpman while scoring a touchdown on third-and-19. (Though I’m still not sure it’s a catch.)

Best tight end: George Kittle. Kittle is one of the NFL’s most underpaid superstars, who should be paid as two different types of tight end. He’s a menace through the air (18th-most receiving yards) and on the ground (seventh-most TE snaps spent blocking, with zero sacks or QB hits allowed). Yet PFF’s highest-graded tight end makes less annually ($15M) than Jerry Jeudy ($17M).

Best offensive line: Lions. Despite facing the second-highest rate of blitzes per dropback (34.7 percent), they’ve allowed the second-lowest total pressures (85). As for the run game, they rank fourth in yards before contact per attempt (1.85), and their rushing success rate (46.6 percent) leads the NFL.

Best OL moment: Chargers C Bradley Bozeman defending Justin Herbert from a dirty play.

Best offensive coordinator: There’s a strong argument from Kliff Kingsbury, but I’m going with the Lions Ben Johnson, the mastermind behind both the below trick plays (“The well is deep,” he says) and consistently open receivers.

You’ve seen this stat before, but it’s worth revisiting: Since Week 2, Johnson’s offense has more touchdowns (28) than incompletions (24).

Best “Because I can” play call: Johnson’s hook and ladder against the Cardinals. Scratch that, this hook and ladder for OT Penei Sewell against Dallas:

Coach of the Year: The Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell. Mike Tomlin is a close second, but after reading Mike Sando’s midseason awards (and surprises), it’s clear O’Connell fits the COTY profile. From Mike:

  • The Vikings (6-2) have nearly matched their preseason Vegas win total (6.5) despite losing their starting quarterback, J.J. McCarthy, in the preseason.
  • O’Connell has gotten more than expected from a Sam Darnold-quarterbacked offense, which ranks second to Lamar Jackson’s in explosive pass rate.

Midseason Defensive Awards

Best pass rush: Giants. Led by Mike Sando’s Defensive Player of the Year favorite, Dexter Lawrence (nine sacks, seven tackles for loss), and $141 million man Brian Burns (five sacks, also seven TFL), New York’s front has been historically good against the pass. These are their stats, and where they rank among all 798 single-season team performances since 2000:

Stat Number Rank Since 2000
Sack Percentage
12.3%
1st
Sacks/Game
3.89
3rd
Pressure Rate
36.6%
46th
QB Hits/Game
6.33
38th
Tackles for Loss/Game
5.89
34th

Best pass rusher: Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson, who is single-handedly keeping Cincy’s pressure alive. At the end of Week 9, he was leading the NFL in sacks (11) — his next-closest teammate ranked 97th, with two — and ranked first in QB hits (22), second in QB pressures (46) and third in pressure rate (19.3).

Fastest sack: Broncos LB Cody Barton, who forced a fumble and recorded a sack in 2.18 seconds.

I can’t even take a sip of water and stop my timer in less than 2.3 seconds.

Best run defense: There’s a strong case for the Ravens, despite their defensive struggles overall. Before last night, they’d allowed an NFL-low 3.4 yards per carry and 75.7 rushing yards per game, and they remain the only team to not allow a rush greater than 25 yards. They were also allowing 2.21 yards post-contact, the league’s fewest. (In last night’s shootout, they held Cincinnati to 3.1 per carry for the second time this year.)

Best run defender: Will Washington’s Bobby Wagner ever age? He’s 34 (on paper), but on track for his 11th straight All-Pro nod. His PFF run defense rating (91.8) is the best among all players with over 200 snaps against the run, and his 53 tackles on running plays rank second.

Best linebacker: San Francisco’s Fred Warner, who leads the position in overall PFF grade (91.6) and coverage grade (91.8), and he’s tied with T.J. Watt for the league lead in forced fumbles (four). He changes games with plays like this:

Best cornerback: Maybe Jalen Ramsey? He ranks second in PFF’s overall cornerback grades (83.4), and is one of only two players to be top-10 in that outlet’s run-defense and coverage grades. He has Miami as one of the league’s best against the pass, allowing just 183.1 yards per game despite lacking a strong pass rush.

Best interception: Khalen Saunders, the 324-pound Saints DT who showed off his wheels during this 36-yard return. Move, big fella!

Best safety duo: Detroit’s Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, both just 23. Branch has 11 passes defended (second-best) and four interceptions (third). His PFF rating (90) trails only Kerby Joseph (90.7), his teammate in Detroit, who is tied for the NFL lead with six interceptions.

Best defensive coordinator: Chargers DC Jesse Minter, who — as Mike Sando notes — “has instantly driven the NFL’s largest year-over-year defensive reversal, turning the 28th-ranked defense by EPA per play — both last season and over the previous four — into the No. 1 unit this season through Week 9.” Their defensive EPA per snap chart is telling:

Special Teams: Midseason Awards

Best punt: I had never seen a 73-yard punt land inside the one yard line until Logan Cooke hit this one for the Jaguars.

Funniest fake punt: The Cowboys tried a surprise pass against Atlanta, which taught everyone in Dallas — and most of the world — that there’s no pass interference on fake punts.

Best field goal: After missing an extra point earlier in the game (and banking in another), Tyler Bass hit this 61-yard kick to give the Bills a 30-27 lead with five seconds remaining.

Best kicker: Brandon Aubrey. It didn’t count, but the former software engineer made a 66-yarder in Cleveland after hitting a 66-yard no doubter in Las Vegas this preseason (which Next Gen Stats said would’ve been good from 72).

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(Photo:
Sam Hodde / Getty Images)

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