Before the start of the 2018 NFL season, your friends at CBS Sports announced the winners of all the major NFL awards. We have chosen our Super Bowl winners, our outstanding players, our recruits and coaches of the year, and so on. But it's been eight weeks! It's time to go back and start all over again.
This PES Prisco, Will Brinson, John Breech, Ryan Wilson, Sean Wagner-McGough and myself prognostic series is quite different from the first time. Aaron Rodgers did not have a vote for MVP. The names of David Johnson, The & # 39; Veon Bell & Ezekiel Elliott are completely erased from the document. The same applies to Kyle Shanahan, Bill O'Brien, Bradley Chubb and Allen Robinson.
Sorry to interrupt your reading, but just a brief message of public interest here. We have a pretty amazing daily podcast that you may not know about the NFL. It is hosted by Will Brinson and offers all the things you are looking for: news, fantastic, choice, really, just football for footballers. Subscribe: via iTunes | via Stitcher | via TuneIn | via Google Play.
Instead, you'll see a lot Todd Gurley and Patrick Mahomes and Drew Brees and Andrew Luck and Sean McVay and Khalil Mack. The only thing that has remained constant is that many of us have chosen Aaron Donald for the defensive player title of the year.
More mid-season forecasts
Just a quick note before letting you know these updated forecasts: the selections below are NOT do not do not intended to be "laureates of mid-season awards", which means for whom we would vote for that specific moment. Instead, we tried to work with the information we currently have and who would win the awards at the end of the year.
Enjoy.
super bowl
Prisco: Patriots The patriots have Tom Brady and Bill Belichick. It's good enough for me. Belichick will repair the defense as the season progresses and the offensive will be explosive the rest of the way.
Brinson: Chiefs over the saints. I feel very good about continuing to make half of my pre-season predictions. I was thinking of Saints before the year, but I slipped into another NFC South team in Atlanta. Give me New Orleans this time because their attack seems to be unable to be stopped and the defense should only improve. Kansas City is mowing down teams and will not slow down in attack.
Cylinder head: Patriots vs Saints. Instead of explaining why I chose these two teams, I will explain why I have neither the Rams nor the Chiefs here. On the Chiefs side, until Andy Reid wins a big match in January against Kansas City, I will not be convinced that this can happen, which means I will not see them coming out of the game. 39; AFC. On the Rams side, they have a lot of little holes that I think can be exploited by a smart playoff team, as the Falcons did with L.A. in the playoffs last year.
Wilson: Rams. The Saints are currently best placed to face them, but can they win on the road? In a broader perspective, the Chiefs may well be the only CAF team capable of reaching a touchdown with the Rams' mighty offensive, but the difference is that if Kansas City is one of the worst defenses in the league, Los Angeles continues to play. a top-10 unit.
Wagner-McGough: Saints I chose them before the season. Nothing that I have seen since will make me change my choice, even if they look like the second or third best team behind the Rams and Chiefs. With Drew Brees playing as a great player and a defense that should improve, the Saints should be able to secure a home or two home game, making them hard to beat. The Rams are a better team, but if the two teams meet in the playoffs, the Saints will come in with the best two-quarters.
MVP of the Super Bowl
Prisco: Tom Brady, patriots. The biggest quarterback of all time does it again on the biggest stage. If he does, is he going to go?
Brinson: Patrick Mahomes, chefs. What a fun little shootout it would be on CBS. Just an explosion of points in Atlanta. The Falcons fans are going to be tough on the leaders, if only to prevent Drew Brees and the Saints from taking them on their territory.
Cylinder head: Brady. At some point, Tom Brady is going to retire and I will not be surprised that this happens in February after he has raised his sixth Super Bowl trophy and his fifth most valuable player trophy at the Super Bowl. I mean, you must be tired of winning trophies at one point, right?
Wilson: Todd Gurley, Rams. In the middle of the season, he is one of the most dynamic players in the league. According to Football Outsiders, he ranks first among all the halfbacks and at the fifth value per game. He averages 4.8 yards per run and has 11 touchdowns this season and three touchdowns. And as far as Jared Goff was, the running game provided the balance he so badly needed. The result: The Rams have the best attack of the league and the passing offense ranks third.
Dubin: Gurley. Usually, I would only go with the quarterback here, but the fact that the Rams insist on feeding Gurley every time they come in the fork makes me think that he would take the trophy.
Wagner-McGough: Drew Brees, Saints. The quarterback of the winning team seems to be a safe bet.
MVP of the regular season
Prisco: Mahomes. Its number will be unreal by the end of the season. Can someone slow him down? His quick start was so impressive. I loved his potential, but he started much faster than expected.
Brinson: Brees. He deserves to be considered here and I think he will end up receiving a lifetime award for excellence.
Cylinder head: Gurley. I was thinking of putting Mahomes here, but the fact is that every quarter of the NFL is accumulating huge numbers this year, so I'm just not as impressed as I should be. On the other hand, Gurley could end up breaking the NFL record for a total of touchdowns during a season. He would need 32 years to do it, but if that happens, I have to think that giving him the MVP title would be an easy decision.
Wilson: Mahomes. It's hard not to like what Patrick Mahomes did in his first season as a starter. We know that Andy Reid can get the most out of his quarterbacks – we saw him recently with Alex Smith – but Mahomes has taken this level to another level. Midway through, he's the league's most effective passer, via Football Outsiders, and number 1 in value per game. Drew Brees and Philip Rivers also deserve a check of their name here, but Mahomes has been better .
Dubin: Mahomes. The numbers of this guy are absolutely crazy and there is no reason to think that it will slow down during the second half of the season. Some landmarks make MVP votes inevitable and Mahomes seems likely to touch them.
Wagner-McGough: Mahomes. Mahomes faces tough competition, but he takes advantage because he will have more WOW games and his stats will be comparable, if not better, to those of his competitors. At this point in their career, Philip Rivers and Drew Brees are underrated, even when they play at the most valuable player level. In Los Angeles, Todd Gurley and Jared Goff are expected to share votes. That leaves Mahomes, who has been sensational for the best AFC team.
Defensive player of the year
Prisco: Aaron Donald, Rams. He is sometimes a detractor to a man. He had four bags against the 49ers to show how he could be dominant from the inside. Donald has guy competition like J.J. Watt, but he's the leader now.
Brinson: J.J. Watt, Texans. Play his tail right away and help the Texans to climb to the top spot in their division.
Cylinder head: Donald. I was thinking of putting Khalil Mack here, but he fought his ankle and he could run out weeks before he played 100% again. Meanwhile, Donald is one of the players who plays 100% and who currently leads the NFL with 10 bags.
Wilson: Khalil Mack, Bears. Yes, he's battling an ankle injury and his production has gone down, but when he's healthy, Mack is a demolition balloon to a man. in his first four games with the Bears he had five sacks, four forced fumbles, two defended passes, one interception and one touchdown. In six games, the Raiders – the group that traded Mack just before the season – totaled seven sacks, four interceptions and four fumbles. If the Bears are to remain relevant in the north of the NFC, Mack will have to stay healthy and continue to dominate.
Dubin: Donald. As I said before the season, it will be my choice until someone awards him the prize.
Wagner-McGough: Mack. An ankle injury has slowed Mack after his historic start to the season, but if he manages to get healthy and stay strong, he will join the conversation. I chose it before the season, so I can not really change that prediction now.
Offensive player of the year
Prisco: Gurley. He leads the NFL in the race and has 14 touchdowns, 11 in the race and three points in the reception. Gurley remains the best running back of the game and one of the main reasons why the Rams are undefeated.
Brinson: Mahomes. He could easily win the MVP title in the way he plays.
Cylinder head: Mahomes. Although I give my most valuable player vote to Gurley, I also think that Mahomes deserves some recognition for his performance. I accompany him for the title of offensive player of the year.
Wilson: Adam Thielen. Seven games, seven times more than Thielen has at least 100 yards. And it's more than cumulative statistics; Thielen is the No. 1 in total value among all the underdogs, ahead of Michael Thomas, Tyreek Hill, Deandre Hopkins, Antonio Brown and everyone else you consider to be one of the best receivers of the NFL. The five touchdowns by Thielen in seven games also equal a career record – with nine games to play.
Dubin: Gurley. He could get a total of 2,000 yards and will almost certainly get 25 touchdowns. Yeah, I would say that's worthy of the OPOY.
Wagner-McGough: Gurley. He is the best offensive player who is not a quarterback and he plays in a system designed around him. I think it will be too difficult for him to steal MVP with so many MVP-level quarterbacks, but he will receive OPOY as a consolation prize.