With 15 weeks completed in the 2024 NFL schedule, over 80 percent of the regular season is in the rearview mirror.
With that large sample size, NFL.com conducted an awards survey involving team executives in which they cast their votes for the league’s top honors. Executives from 27 of the 32 teams completed the poll, with 17 of the 27 consisting of general managers. The survey was also done anonymously for both competitive reasons, per the NFL, and to give an honest assessment. Here are the results:
Most Valuable Player
Josh Allen, QB, BillsOf all the awards, this was the biggest landslide in voting, with Allen getting 22 of 27 votes. You could understand why, as just over the last three weeks he has seven passing touchdowns, six rushing scores, a receiving touchdown, and no sacks, fumbles, or interceptions. He has reached 25 passing and 10 rushing touchdowns in a season for the second time in his career (also in 2023), while every other quarterback in NFL history has combined for two such seasons. Many expected Allen’s numbers to take a step back with the departures of wide receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, but he has career highs in TD:INT, yards per attempt and QBR.
Offensive Player of the Year
Saquon Barkley, RB, EaglesBarkley received two votes for MVP and notched 19 votes for OPOY. His 1,688 rushing yards lead the league and are already 376 more than he’s had in any season. He also leads the NFL in scrimmage yards (1,964), making him just 36 yards shy of becoming the fourth player in NFL history with more than 2,000 scrimmage yards with two franchises. While Barkley is on pace to reach 2,000 rushing yards, he needs to average 140 yards on the ground over the next three games to pass Eric Dickerson for the most rushing yards in a single season. If he does that, Allen won’t be a runaway winner for MVP, as this survey indicates.
Defensive Player of the Year
T.J. Watt, OLB, SteelersAlready with one DPOY award on his mantle (2021), Watt received exactly half of the votes with 13.5. He ranks third in the NFL with 11.5 sacks but leads all players in both tackles for loss (18) and forced fumbles (six). He also reached the 100-sack milestone for his career earlier this season, becoming the second-fastest player in league history to do so. Watt has three other top-three finishes in Defensive Player of the Year voting, and collecting another award would leave him just one shy of matching older brother J.J. Watt for the most DPOY awards in NFL history, three, a record shared by two other players.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Jayden Daniels, QB, CommandersResults for this award were the closest among the player honors, as Daniels (13 votes) edged out Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (nine votes). The No. 2 overall pick has a 70.5 completion percentage, which is the highest ever for a rookie, and is on pace to be the 12th-highest in NFL history. He’s also protected the ball as only Justin Herbert has fewer turnovers than Daniels’s six among full-time starting quarterbacks. The LSU product has passed for over 3,000 yards and 17 touchdowns, while rushing for nearly 700 yards and six touchdowns, showcasing the dual-threat ability that won him the Heisman a year ago.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Jared Verse, OLB, Rams
Verse nabbed 15 of the 27 votes as the No. 19 overall pick has been a force on the edge for Los Angeles. He got his first NFL sack in his first game and has 4.5 quarterback takedowns on the year, in addition to topping all rookies with 64 pressures. He leads the Rams in QB hits (17), tackles for loss (11), and forced fumbles (two), and he’s been a big reason L.A. has won seven of its last nine after a 1-4 start to the year.
Coach of the Year
Kevin O’Connell, VikingsA runaway winner, O’Connell received 16.5 votes, while no other coach tallied more than three. He’s been able to overcome Minnesota losing first-round QB J.J. McCarthy to a season-ending injury during preseason, getting the very best out of journeyman Sam Darnold, who is on his fourth team in five years but has career highs across the board. O'Connell has the Vikings as one of four teams that rank in the top eight in both scoring offense and scoring defense, and he’s done this in the league’s toughest division, the NFC North.
Executive of the Year
Brad Holmes, LionsHolmes is the executive vice president and GM, and his fingerprints are all over a roster that has Detroit with the best record in the NFC. The veterans he brought in, such as cornerback Carlton Davis and guard Kevin Zeitler, have fit in seamlessly, while rookies like cornerback Terrion Arnold and kicker Jake Bates, have made immediate impacts. Holmes’s ability as a talent evaluator really becomes apparent with all of the injuries that the Lions have suffered. Even though many of their best players have been sidelined, Detroit is still a Super Bowl contender due to the quality depth that Holmes has built throughout the Lions’ roster.
