The Athletic Football Show: A show about the NFL - The 2023 TAFS NFL Awards Show: Lamar for MVP, fun battles at OPOY, DPOY and Coach of the Year, C.J. Stroud vs. Puka Nacua, and more

Episode Date: January 10, 2024

Before we fully turn our attention to the playoffs, we must celebrate all the greatness we saw in the regular season. Lamar Jackson for MVP! Tyreek Hill vs. Christian McCaffrey vs. CeeDee Lamb for Offensive Player of the Year. Micah Parsons vs. Myles Garrett for Defensive Player of the Year. C.J. Stroud vs. Puka Nacua for Offensive Rookie of the Year. A helluva season for the Coach of the Year award. And a whole lot more. Robert Mays and Nate Tice hand out some hardware on this episode of The Athletic Football Show.Follow Robert on Twitter: @robertmaysFollow Nate on Twitter: @Nate_TiceSubscribe to The Athletic Football Show...AppleSpotifyYouTube Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is the athletic football show. The athletic football show. I'm Robert Mays. Joining me today. It's my good friend Nate Tyson. Nate, how you doing, buddy? I am doing very, very well. Love a good award segment.

Yeah, buddy. Here we go. It feels off season, but we're in the postseason, but this is the perfect type of show. It's the perfect blend. It's awards, the superlatives. Not really. They're official. So, but it's stuff that we didn't really do superlatives.

We probably could. We'll do that at a different time. We'll do superlatives next year. year. Plenty of shows to fill out. That's true. That's true. We do have plenty of off-season shows to fill.

We are doing this as a bonus show, the way that our schedule is set up this year. Not a lot of opportunities to do kind of a mid-week, remove yourself from the schedule, look at something like this. But we wanted to hand out awards because we love awards. And this year specifically, I think there are so many juicy conversations to be had about these season-long awards. Just a heads up for everyone context. We're recording this on Monday.

It's being released on Wednesday. So if anything completely insane happens between now and Wednesday, this is why we didn't address it because we're recording this on Monday afternoon. The next podcast you will have in your athletic football show feeds is me and Diana talking about the coach firings, black Monday news, all of that. But we're recording this on Monday, a lot to dig into. Let's just kick it off. We always start these with one of the smaller awards, again, similar to the Oscars. Hopefully this telecast goes better than the Golden Globes telecast did last night. So we're going to base it more on the Oscars outcomes than what happened at the Golden.

gloves. Let's start with the offensive rookie of the year, which I think is a particularly fun category this year, even compared to years past, because we've got some historic standout candidates, I would say. I mean, that's a fair way to put it. Who is your

offensive rookie of the year and why? Two historic ones and a couple very good ones. In Detroit, we have a couple, and even at Bejean Robinson still had a good year, even if it's a disappointing Falcons year when you look at the stats, oh, oh yeah, he's awesome. But really, it comes down to C.J. Stroud and Pooka Nakua. I will go with my selection, which is Pooka Nakua. And that is because I feel that we have to award the guy that set the record for yards and receptions in a single season. And even if you just look at the 16 game numbers, I know we're going to talk about AFL stats and all that. But 16 game numbers, it still was impressive what the season was. But even looking at counting stats or underlying stats, I should say, going back to 2013, that's as far as True Media's data goes. For 77. rookies with 400 more routes.

Okay, here we go. Pooka Nakua is second in success rate per route. Only behind OBJ in 2014. He's six in the NFL this season. Third in yards per route. Only behind OBJ and Justin Jefferson among rookies since 2013. Who rounds out the top five? Glad you asked.

Jamar Chase and Chris Olavet. Pretty good top five, if you ask me. Six in the NFL this season again. He's tied first in explosive receptions per route. You're going to hear a lot of those same stats when I talk about receivers on this podcast guy. So strap in. But tied for first and explosive receptions per route with Justin Jefferson and his rookie year, fourth in the NFL of the season. He also has 89 yards and five rushing

first downs on top of it. And he's an excellent blocker that truly help unlock the Rams offense. I was wondering when that was going to come. I have to go out in it. The triple threat. It does matter. It does matter because as we talk about their offensive transformation, which I think will be a consistent theme on this show, he played a huge role in establishing that offensive transformation. And I just want to have the one caveat is that I do think C.J. Stroud is going to be a star. And I have arguments for him if I wanted to go that way.

But I think we have to, I want to award Nakua's season because I really felt like he truly had a rookie season to remember. And he still is a very good player on top of it, not just like some fun blip on the radar of some random year. If you extend beyond rookies and just look at stats this year, he was eighth in yards per route run. He was eighth in first downs per route run. He was one of the most efficient receivers in the league full stop

independent of how long he's been in the league. Broke the receiving record for a rookie, had one of the most memorable rookie seasons of all time and played such a huge role in what that Rams offense looked like. All of that being said, I'm picking C.J. Straff. I'm going to do this a lot

during this show as a tiebreaker because so many of these conversations and so many of these debates are so close. And in those moments, just where you could flip a coin. What am I going to remember about this season is going to loom large and how I make some of these decisions? And what I'm going to remember about rookie performances from the 2023 season

is how C.J. Stroud played. He threw for 4,100 yards in 15 games. It's the second most yards per game ever for a rookie quarterback. Only Justin Herbert had more. He had the second best adjusted net yards per attempt ever for a rookie quarterback. Only Dak Prescott was better. He threw five interceptions. He was sixth in EPA pro dropback this year, and he spearheaded a one-year turnaround and

transformation of an entire franchise based on the way that he played. And also, there is a rule of cool factor here. He is already so high. Nukua is cool. I love Kukua. He is on my keeper dynasty team. I am so excited about what his career is going to look like. The no-glove diving catch against the Ravens is burning my brain.

One of the coolest plays of the season with him and Matthew Stafford. But to your point, yes, C.J. Stroud is unbelievably cool. C.J. Stroud, he's one of those. I watched the game on Saturday with my little brother, which is very fun. And I've started to pay attention to how I respond to watching football when other people are around. Because you know this. We've done this for so long that I think sometimes it gets hard to find that giddiness in the moment. You're watching it a little bit more scientifically. You're taking notes the whole time. There's a little less fandom, general fandom as part of the thing. the process than there probably was when I was younger. But there are certain guys where when I watch them play, I'll grab my wife and I'll be like, you got to watch this or I'll be with somebody else, be like, you've got to watch this. And watching that game on Saturday night with my brother and just talking about some of the throws that Stroud was making and what he was doing in those moments. I know one game shouldn't swing this, but I think that points to what the C.J. Stroud

experience has been like this year. And when the actual logic and the scientific arguments are so, so close, I tend to go with my heart in moments like this. And I think that's why C.J. Stroud gets it for me just because watching him this year and what he was, just the experience of it, I think that's what gives him the edge, even though it's very, very close. It's very close. And I think Strau's amazing. And I specifically went to this new casino and sportsbook that's near me in Vegas to watch that game because I was excited to watch Colts, Texas, just as a neutral fan. We weren't doing a show that night. So I got to enjoy myself. And I was, I was, just with my family and my, a couple of friends, and it was a great atmosphere and there's a

great game to watch. But that drive by Stroud in the fourth quarter, I wrote my article for Yahoo, and I was like, I know what's going to happen. Stroud's going to have a game that it's just going to be one of those games that would be like, oh, if I wrote this now, I'd be like, yeah, I'm giving it to him. I'm sticking with Nukuwa because after I just even looked more into it, I was like, yeah, I like this. But I looked up Stroud stats too. He's six in EPA per dropbacks since 2006 among rookie quarterbacks. Okay, four of the five quarterbacks ahead of him, one offensive a rookie of the year. Dak, RG3, Matt Ryan, Justin Herbert. The only one that didn't was Russ, who was played in the same year as RG3. I think the difference between him and a lot of those

guys, it's worth pointing out, is the number of dropbacks for a lot of those guys and the total counting stats for a lot of those guys. Russ, Dak, I mean, they were role players within their offense, what they were asked to do. Those offenses were mindlessly efficient on the ground. Matt Ryan in 2008 as well. The Texas had one of the worst running games in the league this season and they had one of the best offenses because of him. I mean, but I mean, just if you're looking, and this is why it kind of, this is one thing that tipped it away for me was just that some of the stats, some of the like kind of kind of just normal quote unquote counting stats.

Like it's 13th in touchdown percentage. And I was like, okay, it's just like I couldn't get over the top for me. 16th and QBR, which is between golf and Trevor Lawrence, like just those. But then I look at other ones on my third net yards per attempt, which is one I really like and the scouts for sex. I like, God, dang it. Like that, the Stroud was hard to not give to, but it was just. just Nakua's season was one that I was just like, ah, that's what gave it to me in the end.

But I just think Strouds just could be freaking awesome. I think we all see why. He only threw five interceptions, which I think is kind of wild. One percent interception rate. Yeah, one percent. That's kind of wild for a rookie quarterback. The lack of mistakes is part of this, I also think, is worth pointing out. One more guy, you mentioned him just offhandedly, but I think he's probably third on

the podium for me is what Sam Leporto did. Oh, yeah. Sam Rapporte was phenomenal this year. He was a huge part of what that passing him was. He had 48 receiving first downs, which was tied for T. Hawkinson for the second most in the NFL among tight ends. I mean, he was one of the most impressive productive tight ends in football as a rookie. You just don't often see that at that position.

And the only guy that's been close recently has been Kyle Pitts, and Kyle Pitts was only kind of a tight end. Yeah, more of like a outside receiver. Yeah, the reporter has been great this year. And if we have to give one to the offensive line, it would be Paris Johnson. I thought he had a very nice rookie year, right tackle for the Cardinals. So if I want to throw with that one in there. Defensive rookie of the year.

He's got it for you. So is this best supporting actress? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. That's great. That's great. I'm going with Will Anderson.

And I feel that even with seven sacks, some of his underlying numbers are very notable. And this feels very Will Anderson. Like, I always feel like he's going to be like an eight to 12 sack guy, maybe 11, but never overwhelming, but always just generate pressures. And sure enough, he had the second highest pressure rate among all rookie pass rushers since 2019. Only behind appropriately enough, Nick Bosa, which feels very fitting for the role. and these defenses. Where they were drafted, everything. Everything.

Yeah, just where they are, there's a franchise builder, what that identity is on defense. But he ranked 16th in that metric among all past rushers this year. He's tied to Aaron Donald. So good person to be tied with him pressure rate. Third highest QB hits per pass rush snap.

Again, I said seven sacks, but also in the run game. He had 10 TFLs of run stuffs, which is the third highest rate of those since 2019, which is notable because he's an edge. Most of the guys that get those numbers are working from the interior. Coliza Cancy has the highest rate of them, which is very notable because he had a very

strong second half of the year for the box. But I ended up giving it to Will Anderson. Jalen Carter felt like he had this award on lockdown. And then just like the rest of the Eagles defense kind of faded away, he's going to be a fantastic player. There's some really good D.Bs that played this year. You know, Devin Witherspoon, Brian Branch. But I felt like Anderson kind of retook this role and really just was a keystone player

for this Texas defense that made the playoffs. All right. I also went with Will Anderson. I think a couple guys have really good cases. Jaywin Carter probably has the second best case, but the falling off in the second half of the season is also why. I was like, you know what? I understand this isn't a team award, but when it's close like this in some of these circumstances, I think outside context should matter. Kobe Turner had double-digit sacks.

He absolutely should be talked about in this. But again, he had a lot of sacks, not a lot of pressures. So I think that was kind of skewed. Will Anderson had 14 quarterback hits. was the seventh in the NFL, despite playing a hundred fewer snaps than every guy ahead of him on that list. He was 20th in past rush win weight per PFF. He was 22nd of pressures among all edge players. He was a very good player as a rookie. And I'll be curious what his sack ceiling is. Because that 14 quarterback hits, I don't know. I think that there might be a world where he's a dozen sack guy consistently.

But I understand your thoughts about that. And what the TFL's in the run game, I think that's also worth pointing. out because that's one thing that does consistently translate with players from college to the NFL, and that's what he was in college. Even outside of the sack numbers, he was such a disruptive player. And for him to come in and do that from day one, essentially, be one of the best players on that defense. And again, to be a part of just a transformation there and be a part of the shifts going on there, I think that's why I gave him the nod, but I think a couple of those other guys are

very close. It's funny is the kind of comparison I came back to in the pre-draft process for William. I understand was Khalil Mack. And this is exactly how he plays as a pro. He's fantastic against the run. He's great, like, as a penetrator on the defense of line games and all those twists. And then he's just a, he's a very good pass rusher. And I think it's, he generates pressures.

And that's why I said, eight to 12. I don't think he'll ever be that T.J. Watt, the, the maybe 18 sack type of guy. He could. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying, I think he has the capability. But I just always, I know what kind of this player type. And I think it's just going to be a three down ass kicker that sets the tone for the entire defense.

And it's like sure enough, if you like, yeah, look at their numbers. It's probably very similar body types. And I think that's going to be like how they, how he ascends in the NFL. I also, uh, yeah, like you said, Kobe Turner. I thought also a Byron Young for the Rams, had a nice year. He kind of tailed off at the second half too. But again, the Rams had a couple nice finds there. It was, uh, Ivan Pace was the only linebacker came to mind for the Vikings.

Which is very funny considering he was undrafted, on drafted, which is also very telling. Yeah, but it's, yeah, it's the linebacker. I was trying to find some other ones. But yeah, I think the slot position is in a very good spot right now. There's a lot of young slot players, rookies and second year guys. I know the Bears have a really good one. Kyle Gordon. Kyle Hamilton was one of the players of the season, I felt like.

I think a lot of those felt like. So that's a nice position. We're seeing kind of a nice youth movement into right now. Offensive player of the year, who do you got? I ended up, I think it's a three horse race between Tyreek Hill, Christian McCaffrey and C.D. Lamb. AJ Brown kind of, again, fell off at the second half of the year, story of the Eagles. I ended up going with Tyreek Hill. And again, it's just overwhelming numbers.

Yeah. I did as well. It's hard not to. We'll dig into why. But there's so many arguments for him, even though the other two guys were fantastic. CMC and CD, I think, had legit cases. Like, they really do. So let's go over the cases for those guys first. I think for you, I think Christian McCaffrey was very much in the conversation the entire season. What allowed him to keep pace with one of the best wide receiver seasons we've arguably ever seen from Ty Rico. 2,000 yards from scrimmage. That's one. 21 touchdowns.

That's two. That's simple counting stats. His effect on the 49ers offense, he is the key person in that offense. He is what makes it go. But he also is not only what I think is the best true runner, true running back in the NFL right now, he's also the best receiving back and just the most efficient. He truly is basically a second option in a good passing attack. He has a higher success rate on routes than players like Devante Smith, Calvin Ridley,

Jake Ferguson, Garrett Wilson this year. He had a higher yards per route run this year than Dallas Goddard, Gabe Davis, and Brandon Cooks. He had more first downs per route run than Terry McCorn, Brandon Cooks, Garrett Wilson, David and Joku, Dalton Kincaid, Jordan Addison. And like I said, best running back in one of the best run games in the NFL. And then on top of that, he's that receiver. It's like he's one of the best players, any position, period. There are also so many underlying things that he affects within the offense that you can't just attribute statistically to him.

What they have been on offense since he arrived there and what he forces defenses to do and how he forces defenses to react. I was so wrong about the question McAfree trade. I was so wrong about what he would do for that offense and what sort of value he would provide outside of just normal running back stuff. he has unlocked everything about one of the most efficient offenses we've seen of the last decade. And you can't really quantify that properly, but you feel that when you watch this team play. It's the most valuable offensive player of the year. Yeah. That's what it is.

It's like that's how what his role is. He's that, he's that, but he's the most valuable. I mean, we can make that for Tyreek too. But then C.D. Lamb. C. D. Lamb. second of yards, 12 receiving touchdowns, had more total yards from scrimmage than Tyreek did because he had over 100 yards rushing, which I actually blew my mind.

I had to double check that one. He did. He had more total yards than Tyreek did this year. But also from week six onwards, he was first and first downs per route run. He had 2.9, 8 yards per route run, which is three is kind of the threshold for a whole time kind of season, which we'll get into in a second. 6.2% explosive receptions per route and 18.7 successful targets for. for out all first since that week's six adjustment that this Cowboys offense made. He has to get a mention.

I would give him the bronze medal this season. But CD had a year to remember and really, really enjoyed it as a CD Lamb fan. Them channeling their passing offense through him changed the season for the Cowboys. And it changed their ceiling when it comes to the playoffs. I think it'd be hard to argue against that. Absolutely. The answer is Tyree Kill. I truly believe the season that Tyree Kill had is the most.

valuable season that I have seen from a non-quarterback in several years based on what he was for that Dolphins offense. How much that offense is channeled through him and how much that offense is a manifestation of his skill set is to me unlike any other offensive player in the NFL right now and unlike any of the offensive player non-quarterback that I've seen probably in the last like five to 10 years. He is, he is the offense. What he is is, is it. Moss is the only comparison. Moss is a great comparison. Moss is a very good comparison. Yep.

So the yards per route run number that you were pointing out, he had 3.8 yards per route run this year. Yeah. No one else has been higher than 3.2 since they started measuring that. And that was him last year. Him last year. Yes. Yes. It's insane.

The league average is 1.65. So double more than double the league average. Two yards over the league average since 2013. The stat that I liked, 17.8%. of his routes went for a first down this year. The gap between him and Brandon Iyuk at number two is the same as the gap between Brandon Iuke and Travis Kelsey, who was 22nd. Wow. And I yuk had an unreal season than that kind of metric too. That's, oh, my God. I tweeted it out today. I yuk had 58% of his targets go for first downs. That's the highest mark for a player with at least

50 targets in 12 years. And that's how much better Tyreek Hill was on his routes in terms of his routes going for first down. He had a 9.9% explosive reception per route, high since 2013. Every metric he was high since 2013. But the league average over that time period is 3.5%. So almost three times more explosive than the average receiver, average pass catcher since 2013. It's everything you look at, it's just that he blew the whatever was second place out of the water.

The league average for first down per route run is 8%. And his was 17.8%. It's not even the same league stratosphere universe as these other pass catchers this year. Yeah, I think that's an easy one, even though Christian McCaffrey and C.D. Lamb had phenomenal seasons. Defensive player of the year, not quite as easy. This one is really, really tough. For me, it comes down to two guys. I think that T.J. Watt has a very good argument.

T.J. Watt was productive again. But if you look at a lot of the underlying stats about how often these guys are affecting games, and the ways that they're affecting games. Pass rush win. I can't say pass rush win rate. Pass rush win rate. Double team rates. And one of the,

I just watched that last night, actually. That's really funny. I love that one. I love that one. The roaring. So what do you think of the Roaring Jr.? So I think that I think T.J. Watt had a really good season. Brandon Thorne does a stat that I really like.

I mean, Brandon Thorne does all this stuff that no one else is willing to take the time to do. So he has a metric now. It's essentially the quality of your price. pressures. And if you, and so all pressures aren't created equal. So who are you beating? How fast are you getting there? Are you unblocked, et cetera? And so when he looked at the quality of pressures, Micah and Miles Garrett are in their own category. Essentially, it's like six to seven snaps per high quality pressure for those guys compared to double snaps for everybody else in the league. So while I think TJ Watt has a very good case, he's still one of the best players in the NFL,

Well, in my opinion this year, this is a two horse race between those guys. And I kind of had the same feelings about Watt. It's like his pressure rate was very good as it always is, but it's not that crazy number. He has a lot of sacks. He has 19 sex this year. Eight PbUs. I mean, his brother bat that ball down. Like, that's what they do, the Watt SWAT.

But I felt also maybe in the run game didn't have some of the metrics that the other guys did in the run game, like more of the overwhelming numbers there. But he does affect the game. He would finish third if I were doing this. probably you did. The other nominees, I guess, was Josh Allen for the Jaguars, unbelievably not the quarterback because, like, I bet you he could play a great edge rusher as well. But Josh Allen has unreal numbers this year.

17 and a half sacks, his pressure rates only second to Miles Garrett. He knocked down the quarterback 7% on his pastroft snaps. That's only second to T.J. Watts. So wanted to give him a shout out. And also he doesn't have his extension done because I just, you know, Trump Alki, what do you do here? But then also we got Max Crosby. He made a lot of money this offseason.

A lot of money, Josh Allen made. Oh, yes, he did. Also, Max Crosby, who is just plays every snap. He's probably still playing a snap right now. 94 pressures. In his mind he is. He's chasing Gardner, Minsh, around calling him a little ass boy right now in this moment. The entire time.

I love the clip of him in Mahomes talking crap, like just throughout those games. So it's like, that's awesome. But 19 TFL's plus run stuff. Just, yeah. And then the one off ball player wanted to give a shout to is Roquant Smith. Because just the effect he had on that defense. of that defense in Baltimore. But having said all that, it comes down to Miles Garrett, Michael Parsons.

Who are you picking? I forgot who you picked. Okay. I went Michael Parsons. Yes. I think that's totally fair. Okay. Yeah.

I was hoping you would go with the other, so it's great. I did go with the other. We'll talk about why. But Michael Parsons, Michael Parsons, in my opinion right now, is the best pass rusher in the NFL and the best defensive player in the NFL. I did not pick him for defensive player of the year. I get up until I wrote this article last week and then I kept these feelings for this show. I've changed a couple.

So there we go. It's a little different. The audible version is different than the written version is I started diving into the numbers and also just the feeling, some of the feeling stuff to this. But Michael Parsons has 103 pressures this year. Deshawn Watson has 105 completions this year. Just to give you a comparison, he has the highest pressure rate on record. So since the 2019 season, I can go back to you. He's the first full-time pass pressure to break 20%.

He's at 21.8%. So that's basically what we're talking about all those Tyrie Kill kind of numbers. That's what Parsons is kind of doing with the pressure stuff. 14 sacks. So it's not, it's underlying and the final stuff. Got that, he got that little shoe in him. I felt like yesterday against Sam Howell.

It was late. I think yesterday he had one pressure, one hurt. It was one pressure the entire game. It was that sack. So I think they like, give him the stray hand treatment. I haven't watched it yet. But he also had 12 TFLs and run stuff.

last year you only had four. So I think he improved in that area. That Detroit game is a very good example, I think, of the impact that he can have against the run when they're playing against really good teams while their run defense is struggling. Yeah, he could be a little wild and lead to explosive plays. But I think now he's honed it in when to pick and choose the spots, which I think a lot of top, a leak all-time guys do. They learn to do those what I call better bees. Not me. That's like an old-time coach guy or coach saying.

But what the better bees are. He also had 32 QB hits last year, he had 29. I just, I think the feeling of him detonating any single play creeping across the defense line, just picking his spot, you know, truly like the kicker from Waterboy on the onside kick, just truly finding that one guy, if anyone knows what I'm trying to say here. But that tenacity down and down out, I just feel him. Every time I watch the Cowboys, it's worse number 11. Yeah.

Because that's just what it feels like. And he's my defense player of the year. He moves differently than anybody else. I think that I've ever seen play that position, honestly, since I've started covering the NFL. As an adult, so yeah, that's same. The flexibility, the bend, the explosiveness side to side is just very different than any guys I've ever watched. Yeah, Von Miller is, the bend that Von Miller played with and the flexibility was insane, but the power that Micah Parsons brings to that. And again, it's that explosiveness side to side more than it is pure bend and flexibility.

Yeah, he just moves differently. I think the guy that I would compare him to, if we're talking about defensive players, just, how they look and feel where they're in a different category than everyone else is, is Aaron Donald. I think he just feels like the edge rusher of Aaron Donald in that way. When you're watching him, you're like, that's just different.

And I have a hard time articulating exactly why. Not built like the prototype, but they're their own little force of nature. Like they're, but they're not built like what you would picture like Julius Peppers. You know, he's not built like that, but he's his own little.

I mean, LT was the other guy. And I'm too young for that. So I've never watched him play. So that's the one comparison. I'm sure people would make. make, but I can't make it. Way before my day, too.

And, you know, L.T. they talk about it's like, don't even talk about put him in the same tier as LT. That's how people kind of talk about that. Bill Belichick certainly does. Anytime anyone's ever compared someone to Lawrence Taylor, Bill Belichick tries to kick them out of the building. So I understand that. My dad did the same exact thing to me when I try to bring it up.

Yeah. I am totally fine with Michael Parsons winning defense player of the year for all of those arguments. I think it is very close, though, with the season that Miles Garrett has had. It is. And what Kevin Sifansky said last week, while simplistic, I think there's merit to it. He is the best player on the best defense in the NFL, and that it is a historic defense. One of the best defenses we've seen in a long time when you look at success rate, how impactful

they've been. And he is a driver of that. And in my opinion, the main driver of that. The stat that I wanted to throw out, that's more of a ecosystem stat on dropbacks of under 2.3 seconds this year, of which the Browns have a lot, because I think they have the third fastest average time to throw against them this season. The Browns are averaging. But that's how it feels when you watch them, right?

Teams are getting rid of the ball so quickly. Yes. In part because they're past rush, and he drives that pass rush. They have averaged 0.29 EPA per dropback on dropbacks of 2.3 seconds or less this year. That is number one in the NFL. Their gap between them and number two is the same as the gap between them and the team at number 16. Okay. They have generated on those throws, 2.3 seconds or later,

89 total EPA on the season. Okay. No one else in the NFL was above 23. That is a difference of 66 points. That's almost 10 touchdowns. That is, 10 and a half touchdowns worth of value on those plays. And why I think that's relevant is the back end of the Brown's defense can play the way the back end of the Browns defense does because of Miles Garrett.

And because of the pass rush, but Miles Garrett drives the pass rush. So I think this mode of play that you've seen from Cleveland and the model that they have used to become this truly dominant defense is possible in large part because of Miles Garrett, even independent of his own past rushing snaps. So I think that what he's doing individually, even though it's one step down from Micah Parsons, the team success the Browns have had this, we're trying to sell it. tell the story of the season and some of these environmental factors that I think he helps provide that defense.

That's why I give him a slight, slight edge, even though I think Michael Parsons is a totally reasonable winner. Yeah, it's funny because both those teams run a lot of man coverage. They could do that because they know their guys can get home. It was nice to see Miles Garrett this year with some of the load taken off of them between Zedarius Smith, I mean, other guys on the interior, Okoronclo, all those guys. guys, just what we hoped we would see, and it kind of came to fruition. We're seeing Miles Garrett doing basketball crossovers as he's lining up over the center.

We're seeing him go side to side back and forth and watching two tight ends follow him to try and chip help him. But he's able to have that freedom because those other guys were able to unlock him. But I'm just saying is that I think now we finally, more people are just going like, oh, okay, because he's not so much is on him. You used to watch those games against the Browns versus the Ravens the last few years. When he's the only past stretcher, he's chasing Omar, he has to play the run. And you can see him just getting worn down throughout the games. And now he's taking the two guys throughout all four quarters. And that's why he's cranking it up, I think even more.

They're more competitive games. They're more fourth quarters that he is fresh for. I think all these attributing factors are getting there. Still giving it to Parsons. But this was so freaking hard for me. This was the hardest one of all these awards because I thought this is just pick your flavor that you want to go for. That's how I feel too. I can't go against what anything you said.

That's why I'm just kind of kicked. continuing to gush. There is a reason both these teams can run band coverage, and it's because of these two guys. And that's why the feelings of these defense, and I think the Browns defense is, we'll get into later, but it's been one of the stories of the season. Yeah. And that's why it gets, that's the tiebreaker for me is that when I look back on the season, I'm going to remember what the Brown's defense was and this season being able to unlock him because of the scheme, because of the help. We finally got to truly understand what Miles Garrett is as a player. And I appreciate that about this year. Next one for me, is

the hardest one, and that is coach of the year. I think you can make an argument for like eight guys. Okay? Yeah. Let's run through some of them that I don't think you picked. I think my short list came down to six. I think it came down to my short list, quote, unquote. We've talked about Shane Steakin a lot on the show over the last week and everything

that Colts have done. I think you can make an argument for what he did with that Colts team. Backup quarterback, solid offense, playoff team in year one. He deserves mention. Dan Campbell, who I picked mid-season. Dan Campbell is hampered here because of how we give out this award. The fact that it's only for the 20-23 season, what he has done over multiple years, I think, should be acknowledged in some way.

I just think there are other guys who, if you boil it down to just 20-23, have done a better job. Dan Campbell turned around one of the most Moribund franchises in professional sports. He deserves so much credit for that. It's made other fans of other teams jealous of the Detroit Lions. That's all you need to know. That is all you need to know. And this is another one.

I was talking about this with somebody today because we were discussing what teams are now going to be seeking out with their head coaches. And I think a lot of people are going to look at what happened with the Lions and say, can we get a Dan Campbell in here? Part of the reason that the Lions have been successful is that Ben Johnson was part of that staff that Dan Campbell hired. You need that guy to oversee your offense if you're going to have this success. that the Detroit had. I'm not trying to take away from Dan Campbell when I say that. Dan Campbell deserves so much credit for the staff he assembled and the talent he identified in assembling that staff.

That's a huge part of being a head coach. And he moved on from Anthony Lynn to promote Ben Johnson on the fly. You deserve credit for having Ben Johnson as your tight ends coach on the staff. For building a talent and staff that deep. To promote them. Yes. Yep. No,

no, absolutely. But this is a multi-year thing. So that's why it's tough. That was two years ago. Yeah. But if somebody said, Dan, and I think that his game management decisions are very, very good for the most part. The fourth down decisions, the clock management, the fake punts. He is a value add in so many areas.

God, now I want to argue for him. To give it to Dan Campbell. John Harbaugh deserves mention here. And what he has done in reshaping his staff going out and getting Todd Monkin was a potential Super Bowl winning decision that the Ravens made this offseason. He hired Mike McDonald two years ago. So again, this is a multi-year thing in the way that the Ravens have built their staff, built their building. John Harbaugh deserves a ton of credit for that.

Matt LaFleur should be talked about when we're having this discussion. What Matt LaFleur did this year with a first-year starter at quarterback and the youngest group of skill position players we have seen in the modern NFL, they're a top five offense. They made the playoffs. This is one of the most impressive offensive coaching jobs we've seen in a while from a guy like. this. He has done a phenomenal job this season in moving on from Aaron Rogers and in building what they have built there. So I think you can make a real argument for Matt LaFleurre. DeMico Ryans in year one, as the Texans head coach, took the Texans to the playoffs. He has changed everything about the way the Houston Texans feel. We've talked about this.

They were so forgettable. They were so irrelevant. They were the most boring franchise in the NFL by such a wide margin over the last couple years. And from the moment that we saw that video of him walking back into the building and him getting that reception as somebody that was coming back to that franchise, who was one of their original star players and him kind of being tasked with resurrecting what this team and this city and this football city was, it's been phenomenal. It's been everything they could have asked for. The way the defense plays is you can feel.

what his sort of impact is. It already feels like the Niners in terms of the effort and in terms of some of the thoughtfulness that's going into the defensive game plans. And he deserves a ton of credit for bringing Bobby Sloick along with him and for instilling this model offensively. So that's five that I think you can make legitimate arguments for. And I think the next three are my podium, guys. His reaction after the fourth down drop, sorry Coles fans, but that or fourth down,

miss throw, drop, whatever you want to call it, was perfect. Because he's the only coach, like, in the frame. So it's like the first down market to play. And then him in bright red. And his reaction was just perfect. It's like he's like, and he's just like stage dive right into all of his other coaches. So it was just like, it was just perfect. But the energy, that's that 49ers energy.

And like he was a big part of that. And like you can feel that energy now in Houston, which is a franchise that has needed so badly. So yeah, he was he was actually my runner up. Oh, really? Okay. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. He actually ended up my runner up. I just think the job, the competitiveness, this team showed right out of the gate. Also, when Stroud went down, they're still fighting. I mean, I don't know. This team had many chances to not make the playoffs. They won their freaking division on top of it. So, yeah, he ended up being my runner up.

I have no issue with that. And if somebody said he should be the winner, I have no issue with that either because of the coaching job that he did this year. I would say my number three is Kyle Shanahan. And this is similar to some of the discussions we've had about Harbaugh, Campbell. This is a multi-year thing. What he's built there offensively, the pieces that they've accrued, the vision that they have on that side of the ball, to be able to drop in Mr. Irrelevant into that offense and be the most efficient offense in the league last year down the stretch post-Christian McCaffrey. And to build one of the most efficient offenses in the last decade this year with a seventh round picker quarterback, we're seeing the master stroke from one of the best offensive football coaches of our life. I said that a few weeks ago, and I think that that's true. But again, this is over multiple

years. So it's hard to parse exactly what coach of the year means in this exact capacity. I made, I gave it to him last year and that kind of this. So he like just got disqualified for me personally this year because I gave it to him last year. You're not going to get twice in a row now. It's like, because you guys just kept doing my argument last year. It's like, dang it. So, yes, but a great shadow. And I think that's totally reasonable. I think that he deserves mentioned in this conversation. My runner up, if I was going to give it to, if I was having a top two. This is probably my third place vote, I'm guessing.

Is Kevin Stefanski. Yes, this is, came a third for me. Yes. Four starting quarterbacks down to their fifth and sixth offensive tackles. People have been saying fourth and fifth. People forgot they signed Tynaseki. He hurt himself on like an extra point on the first play that he was in. So they're actually down to their fifth and sixth offensive tackles.

not their fourth and fifth. They have the most money on IR of any team in the NFL this season. And he deserves a ton of credit for stepping back this offseason saying, what do we need to fix this on defense, going out and getting Jim Schwartz and understanding why Jim Schwartz was the guy to turn this around. They needed an attitude change. They needed a philosophy change. They needed somebody who was going to force the issue on that side of the ball

and get the most out of the defensive talent. already had, and it was an inspired choice. And I would totally understand why people would give this to Kevin Stefanski for all of those reasons. All of that being said, I am not giving it to Kevin Stefanski. I am giving it to the same guy that you are, even though I didn't want to. But as I went through every single one of these, I couldn't give it to anybody else. I think that he has done the best coaching job this year. And who is that for you? That is Sean McVeigh of the Los Angeles Rams. Yes, from whenever the season ended last year. So January 8th-ish last year to now, I think he has done the best coaching job of truly franchise reorienting, re-establishing

coaching job that Sean McVeigh has done. I think the everything you said about Stefanski, by the way, never giving up and never folding in. They also should get commended for that. Same thing with this McVeigh is done with this Rams team. They had the second most dead cap this year. They traded away Jaylon Ramsey. That to me is like, oh, man. you're shrugging your shoulders this year. Okay, maybe we get some staff or some stats. We'll see what some of these young guys do. The offensive reset that the Rams have done is one of the stories of the year.

The revamping and it's just same philosophy, but just an identity change. They just get to that philosophy in a different way. But just from an outsider's view, there was a reevaluation and a recommitment from everyone top down. And I could just see that when I watch them. That's 100% true. Not talking to anybody, nothing. That is one practice I went to and just watching them on film. draft picks, of course, playing, playing well, retooling of the offense, the faith in these young players and undrafted free agents and day three picks, the effort that they play in, the tenacity they play with.

This team does not make mistakes. They do not, like, punch each other in the nuts. They do not do anything to harm themselves. It's exact opposite flavor of watching the Jaguars play football this year. Exactly. They just feel always on top of it. They're opening scripts. The opening script of the Rams versus the Ravens that first drive should be hung on the wall,

even though they didn't finish it on the red zone. So really the first nine plays, I should say. But just the run game and the past game. The past game now looks more like a Norv Turner pass game than anything that the Shanahan offense has done before. It's an Eric Corrielle passing game. Like they've only used dropback or play action on 12% of their dropbacks this year. There's no play action and no quick game. It's an insane way to play football.

It's awesome. It's more like Bruce Ariens than. Shanahan. Like that is what this offense says. That's an identity change. That's what your quarterback is, though. That's how you should play. That's exactly what coaching is.

And buying into Kyron Williams, 190 pound 4-7 running, running back and going like, no, he's a ball player. And he was. Puka Nakuo. No, let's use him as a lead blocker. Hey, you can handle all this. But the fact that these young players don't have the botches. They don't have the, what am I doing here? They don't have the mistakes.

When I watch them, everybody is sound and they know what they're doing. And that starts at the top. and I know Sean McVeigh has his fingerprints all over this team. And I just say it's like, that's why I have to give it to him. Seeing what he's done with Stafford and these young players, the retooling the offensive line, the offense, the faith in the defense, like, yeah, he's my coach of the year. The stat that I would throw out and the reason that I would give it to him over Kevin's Defansky, he's got plenty of arguments for why Sean McVeigh should win.

But this is the one that I would come back to. The Brown spent $290 million in cash on their roster this year. There's number one in the NFL. The Rams spent $183 million. dollars in cash on their roster this year. It was dead last. The Browns spent $100 million more on their roster than the Rams this season. And I know even if you take away all of the...

Big market Cleveland, you know? If you take away the $58 million the Browns have on IR, they would still have spent $50 million more on the roster than the Rams did this year. Wow. That is remarkable, isn't it? I mean, just look at the roster. It's just day three, round five, round seven. UDFA, like round six.

They didn't add any offensive linemen. They didn't add any. They traded for Kevin Dodson, which we will get to when I talk about executive of the year. That is the big move they made. They benched the center that they paid. They benched the center that they paid and they benched Joan Ophum. Who they paid.

All the guys they paid, they were willing to bench. And the credit that I give to Sean McVeigh is I did have conversations with people there this summer and talk about the offense that they had. And the self-awareness from him and that building about we're not going to do this again. What happened last year? We're not going to do this again. And how can we make sure that never happens again? And the vigilance they showed and making sure that was never going to happen again,

you can see it in every decision that they made. They reshaped the entire offensive coaching staff this year. Him going out and getting Mike LaFleurr, going out and getting Ryan Wendell to be their offensive line coach, hiring Nick Cayley from New England. they created an entire new flavor about what they wanted their staff and their offensive staff specifically to feel like. And I think it was trying to tap into a hunger that had been missing post Super Bowl. And when you watch that team right now and you watch how they're attacking new ideas, how they're trying to innovate, you sense that hunger that they built this offseason. And he deserves the credit for that.

He deserves the credit for resetting the entire mindset and mentality for what that building and what that's offense was going to feel like. And that's before you even get to the offensive innovation stuff. That's it. I know. That's also for me, it was just the scheme stuff. And then the rookie started hitting. I was like, what the hell? Way to go. Los Angeles ramps. Like, they were projected to win six and a half games this year. Yeah. Like, and they, they, they easily made the playoffs. And they they have the team, the one of the wild card teams that I picked to make the biggest run potentially. I think you did the same. Um, I think it also what I think is so cool. And I've talked about this with all these Shanahan guys and they have different kind of, you know, it's, it's fun.

what's happening in Green Bay, what's happening in Miami, San Francisco, L.A. and see kind of like their different versions, how they interpret, interpret this offense with their personnel. The Dolphin stuff I've always felt like, and I've said this before, it's like, I can't really copy most of that. Yeah. Because a lot of people are coach. Tyreek Hill and, you know, Jalen Waddle and Moister and A-Chane, it's like all these guys,

it's like, okay, I can't really do all this, A-chan, sorry. But it also, it's, but I watched this Rams team with a 4-7 running back, two, four-six receivers. That's what they run the 40s. I'm saying. Stafford. Guys who are drafted in the fifth round. Yeah. Stafford, I can't really teach. So I will hold that. But the concepts they run are old school day one, day two, five steps, seven step concepts. They have a quarterback of course that's running it really well. But they dress it up really well. Like I say before,

this stuff's been around since the 90s. They just use it in nice ways. Really before that 80s, BYU stuff. But if you look at their whole offense line, it's not like, oh, well, of course I would have that offensive line. If I have three first round picks, you know, people will always say that about the Cowboys offensive line. Undrafted free agent at left tackle, second round pick at left guard, a practice squad guy, they shipped from Arizona, a right guard that they traded for in the second round, right tackle that's been there for forever. But then also the backups are like fourth rounders and everything.

I didn't hear first round once I, and there, they, you can implement this if you work at it and find the right guys that work for you. That's, it's great coaching. And I know McVeigh was the, you know, the Wonderboy. And it's like, people, oh, man, when is he gets, say, oh, he's always, he can work Monday night football, he went the opposite way. He went, nope, I'm reinventing everything and started anew. And it's awesome that this is the first step.

Yeah. It's a complete rededication from him and from the entire building. And you have seen that manifest in very cool ways. So as much as I wanted to go a different direction and wanted to somebody else, I just don't think you can. I think that he is, I think he has done the best job. I understand why Stefanski is the favorite. When we talk about coach of the year, he checks a lot of the boxes traditionally that winners typically fulfill.

And I think that he's, He's done an excellent job. And I think that Kevin Sfansky is a very good football coach and has been for his entire tenure in Cleveland. I just think that Sean McVeigh has done the most exceptional coaching job of any head coach in the NFL this year. Executive of the year. This is another one where I think you could throw out a bunch of different names and feel pretty good about it. Who's on your short list? Oh, boy.

Okay. I had six guys. I went one, two, three. Yes, six. I had six as well. Eric DeCosta. I felt like he's on my short list. Did not get it.

I thought, of course, what the Bravens had done this year, which is, you know, great. I'm not responding because Eric DeCosta is my winner. But I have five other guys that I think to should mention. Okay, sorry, I should ask that. Lesneed. That's who I thought we were. I thought you hinted to that. It was not mine.

Lessneed is number two on my list. He was number two on mine as well. And I think it's just all the day three picks. Of course, everything we talked about, having the confidence. I think that was just a franchise thing. I had to give it to somebody, either Sean McVeigh or Les Neat. I gave it to McVeigh, so I wanted to speak. so I wanted to split it somewhere.

It can easily make an argument for that. John Lynch is another one. But again, that's a multi- John Lynch on mine. Multi-year award. And that is more, and that's, again, why I couldn't give it to them.

But all these, again, these are trades that have hit, day two and day three picks that are hitting. You know, some free agent moves are kind of hit and miss, but it's like, you know, there's still, I understand the reasoning behind them.

Tarvarius War is a huge hit. I mean, they've done a good job. It's a gigantic hit. Yes. To that roster. Being aggressive, I love this just a constant. an aggression. Every trade deadline, the 49ers are buyers. And I love that. And it's, it's one of those

like, hey, these are players. We'll make them work. And I just like that. I know why that is, though. Yeah, I know. It's because of Kyle Shanahan. I was going to say, that's why I can never give it to him is because Kyle Shanahan has so much input on it as well. I know that's always funny when we talk about process between coaches and GMs, right? Because GMs are tasked with having the long view on stuff. And coaches are more interested in how my team can get better tomorrow. And when coaches have a say in personnel, I think that's often when you see more aggression in the personnel moves. Yeah, I appreciate that. Maybe that's why I'm giving it to it. It's by proxy. That's why it's by proxy. I understand it. As a dynasty player that's always buying and always just always competing. Also, who else do I

have? I had Brad Holmes. I've nailed, I think the draft picks. I think the dedication to what they have. Still think it's an incomplete roster. But again, I want to commend that's more, again, more of a multi-year thing. Other one is the Cowboys conglomerate. Jerry Jones. Jones and Will McClay, Will McClay, because Will McKay, Will McKay, Will McLeigh. McLeigh. Yep, McLeigh. Yep. McLeigh, sorry.

Is that, I mean, Brandon Cooks and Stefan Gilmore trades. Like, just right there. That is a season altering, season changing move. Brandon Cooks has helped unlock CD Lam and allowing everything we talked about CD Lamb, what he could do. Stefan Gilmore has locked it down. He's played like a very good corner this year at 30-something years old. I think just right there, still some holes on a roster. I couldn't get them over the edge.

Okay, that's my short list. Do you have anyone else on your short list? I do. I have several things that you didn't mention. I'm sure. I'm sure. That was, I wanted to keep it short. But do you want me to get my pick or?

So hang off on your pick first. Okay. I had less need on my- Guzzle some water. I had less need on my short list. I had Brad Holmes on my short list. I think the Texans conglomerate who's ever making their personnel decisions gets mentioned here. They go out and get CJ Stroud.

And then it was all the smaller moves that they, made. The George Fants signing, some of the defensive line that they had added, the Shaq Mason trade, just the way that they rebuilt certain position groups without really overspending, I thought that that was very impressive to kind of keep them competitive in certain areas. I like that. Andrew Barry? Yep. The defensive line rebuild that they had this off season, signing Juan Thornhill, Rodney McLeod has given them decent snaps. Throw some money at it is always a solution. So that is why I couldn't give them the nod because, again, the amount of money they spent on the roster.

Hey, if you, that's resources that we talk about using resources. That is a resource. If I were playing a board game, it's draft picks, it's salary cap, it's money. You know, those are resources. There are guys who played well for them that we didn't expect to play well for them. I mean, Mo Hurst has given them real production along the defensive line. What's Mo Hurst making this year? Oh, I know.

finding, I mean, Zadari Smith, I mean, in June. Yeah. It was an addition in June. Yeah, Mowers is making a million dollars. So it wasn't just throwing money at the problem, even though there was a lot of throwing money at the problem. And then the other one I had that I don't, hadn't seen his name mentioned that often. He maybe, he's your winner is Brian Gunkudst. Because he is my winner.

There you go. Okay. There it is. Okay. Let's do it. That's surprise. I don't, we hadn't mentioned him yet. So I was surprised to hear that you were going to give him that.

I, it was, wasn't at first. I was going to give it to less need. And then again, start working on this. Start thinking about a little bit more. This is the one I had to work the hardest on because I did not write about it. So I actually had to put a little effort in this one. That's why I hadn't seen you mention him anywhere because you hadn't given it out anywhere else. At all.

No ounces of thought on this at all. But yeah, as I, again, looking at past calendar year, if I'm looking at this, I do give some, like, it's like a, we do the way to DVOA. there's some of that to kind of like 18 months, you know, maybe 24 months with some of this. Like it's like, yeah, more recent, but you know, we got to consider some of the auxiliary moves that sets some of this stuff up. I think first and foremost, holding firm with Rogers through all that hoopla. That was some leadership right there. And that's first and foremost, that's part of being a CEO, being the head of that. He truly is a CEO, I think isn't that part of his title.

So like, but truly the head of the Packers. But also having the confidence of going in with Jordan Love doing the contract that he did with him, kind of a middle ground deal. absolutely nailing picks at every position, especially the offense. This is more of a two-year thing, but having a playoff team with the youngest roster in the league. And I think some of that can be LaFleur, but some of that is identifying talent. You watch that Packers team, how fast do they feel? That team, they have an offensive line that's all homegrown, entirely homegrown. And yeah, maybe not all those guys are from this year.

That's the most Packers bullshit, though. I know, right. An offensive line of homegrown fourth round picks being the driver of a playoff team is the most Green Bay Packers bullshit I've ever seen. I've heard other scouts. They have complained. They go, well, they don't cut any of their guys. Well, of course all their guys are going to be homegrown.

They don't move on from any of them. You know, like saying because they always have those stats like on the Sundays. Like 96% of the roster is drafted or like signed out of college, you know, stuff like that. But finding valid starters on day three with rookies, I didn't give the coach of the year to LaFleur, but this is why I wanted to give a tip of the cap to that Packers organization. and this is kind of the figure that I'm going to give it to as my exec of the year. Yeah, I really just think, when you look at this team, they stick with what they want to do.

They never waver. And hell or high water, sometimes the optics aren't great, but I think it all starts at the top again, that he just holds the fork down no matter what, no matter how the waters are chopping. And look at this team now. I mean, look how great they looked on Sunday. I know you got firsthand viewing, but it's what really at this point. Yeah, but now they're in the playoffs and they feel good about where their protection is with the literal youngest roster in the NFL right now. That starts with the guys making those picks. Kind of similar to the discussion we had about McVeigh, being there in the summer and talking to people there, I think they were excited about what that youth might feel like and how, not complacent, but just how familiar and comfortable things it felt with the previous group.

And Rogers and the Rod Jets, you know, those guys who were the Rogers buddies that most of them now play for the Jets. And completely resetting what the roster felt like and trying to tap into some of that urgency that comes with youth. They made a big bet on that. When you watch this team play right now, that's how they feel. And so this is a vision that has played out the way that they had hoped. And I think that they deserve recognition and they should be celebrated for that. The offensive line, by the way, is there are two second round picks on there, but there's also a sixth round pick and a seventh round pick. So in the aggregate, it's an average of a fourth round pick.

But also all the backups too, right? They're like all these like, yes. Yeah, okay, undrafted, fourth rounder, third rounder. So my point holds. But I think that all, everything you said is right. And the other thing I think that he deserves credit for is the restructuring, the way they handled the love 50 year option, even convincing him to do that sort of mini extension and split the cap it over two years.

So you're mitigating risk, risk while keeping your cap at low in 24 if. he hits. If he agrees to that, why wouldn't you do it? The foresight and the thought to even do that. As so many other teams have said, well, we can either give him the fifth year option or we don't. Like the Giants with Daniel Jones. And I don't, I'm not even trying to shit on the Giants here, but the giant said, well,

why would we give him the fifth year option? We're just not going to do that because he hasn't earned it. And then they didn't give it to him. And then they were between a rock and a hard place this off season. So instead of denying him the fifth year option and potentially putting themselves in a bad situation, the Packers said, well, why don't we figure out a creative solution here? And they did. And they're paying him $7 million against the cap next year.

So they deserve a lot of credit for how they've handled this at every step of the way. Yep. What was this cap at $7 million? I think it's $7 million next year. $7 million and he's fifth in EPA per dropback. Yeah. So it was 4.4 this year. It's 7.8 next year.

Got to like that. Yep. That's with the youngest, again, with the youngest roster in the NFL. And so not all pass catchers or rookies are second year guys. I'm totally fine with you giving that to him. I'm giving it to De Costa because of all the things that he has done this year. And some of it were, we're fudging a little bit because I don't think you can give it to him without mentioning the Kyle Hamilton, Tyler Lindelbaum, 22 draft. But again, this is a hard award to give out for that reason.

We could argue how we want to argue it. So I kind of like doing that going like, hey, the recent moves, like that's set up this year. So you can throw that in there, but even if we're just limiting it to the 2023 calendar year, we'd celebrate how the Packers handled their quarterback situation. Look at how the Ravens handled the Lamar's situation. For them to weather the storm the way that they did, to never blink, to come through this thing on the other side, and for him to be having the season he's having, that was handled extremely well. All of the guys that they signed to penny deals this offseason that have been contributors for

them. Devin Clowney, Kyle Van Newey, Arthur Millett, Ronald Darby, Gino Stone, John Simpson, the complete reconstruction of the wide receiver room, going out and drafting Zayflowers, going out and signing O'Dell Beckham Jr. even adding Nelson Aguore as another auxiliary piece on that offense has been useful for them. So I just think all of the moves that they made, this is, this team has never really changed in how they're approaching. their personnel decisions and what the model feels like. But this is the year where it all fell into place. And there are even certain draft picks that came along very slowly that maybe didn't look

great in the moment that now look a lot better. I know that Patrick Queen's probably not a pro bowler, but he has improved dramatically. He looks a lot better than he did a couple years ago. Odafe Owe has been an impactful player for them. They drafted a raw guy. They bet on the timeline, and that timeline has worked out for them. So so many different things have just fallen into place for them. And they deserve so much credit for that.

So I think that the roster they have built over multiple seasons there and the moves he made specifically this year is the reason that I would give it to Dacosta. Nope. Totally get it. I think the Ravens have had an amazing year of the franchise building both sides, even special teams. It's good. But the, what you said with the defensive players, that's what stinks sometimes when you maybe invest in a meta BK or O way. And it's like, yeah, they're projects. And it's like, you know, get to the fire.

work factory. But then sometimes when they get there in year three, year four sometimes, or late year two when you start seeing the flashes. And then when those guys, you know, they would sign the Justin Houston's of the world. These mercenaries now they have Clowny. Those guys were like, oh, the first or second past pass pressure. No, those guys are third, fourth. Now those guys, when the timelines work, it's like, so they use the same strategy. It's process. Now same, the same strategy is worked out. And now it's like just because everyone, it's the rising, you know, rising ties raises all ships. It's like, that's exactly what this feels like. Because, This is it. This is it. Look at this team and you can just see it's like, oh, yeah, they've done this. Invest in the pass rushers. Invest in this. Invest in the receivers. Now it all came together, all clicked, and they still didn't have health luck, but they're still winning games.

And this is not dissimilar to how the model has looked for years. Again, the Justin Matabike process is going to resemble how many different guys. I'll say three off the top of my head. The Justin Matabeekei process is the same as Zedaria Smith, Pernel McPhee, Matthew Judon. We've seen this happen how many different times. where they've drafted these guys in the middle rounds. Maybe it's been a little bit slow to come along. They get to the final year of their contract.

They have monster years. Justin Matabike is going to get signed for $20 million a year. The Ravens are going to get a third round compensatory pick as part of that process. And then they're going to draft Justin Madi Beake again. And the cosmic ballet goes on. So this, again, I think that they've done this very well for a long time. And I think that this is the year where they just hit every single card. Every single one, it all came together.

And that's why you have a special season at hand. Speaking of the Ravens and special seasons, let's get to our last couple of words here. Assistant coach of the year, who do you got for me? In my article, I had the Ravens defense quarter, Mike McDonald. But I actually end up going with a different AFC North defensive coordinator. That's Jim Schwartz. Who was my preseason pick? Let's bring it out home, making the postseason pick.

And this is easy to argue for for me. that since the year, I mean, just talked about Miles Garrett. I thought you made a great point about not only using him, but just how the entire Browns defense and how they play. It's a feeling. These two defenses have an identity that we're going to remember. I think this Brown's defense, how aggressive they play in a Jim Schwartz way, he hasn't changed shit. And I think it's pretty awesome that he can do that and let these guys go. And it's everything we wanted.

Hey, what Miles Garrett get wide and rush to pass her? Go, go, go, go. Man, press, cover three, inverted two. weird funky pressures. Okay, cool. Still works. But this team, since the year 2000, looked us up on true media. So there's 766 NFL seasons, NFL team seasons since the year 2000.

This Brown's defense is 12th in defense of EPA per play. Their third in defense's success rate, only behind the 2002 bucks in 2009 jets. Those are pretty good defenses. Just ahead, the 2005 Bears and 2008 Ravens, they've allowed 253 first downs this year. On a per game basis, that's 14.88. That's the ninth lowest since 2000. It's the lowest since in 13 years that we've ever seen in the NFL. The defenses just above them are the 2,000 Ravens, 2002 bucks, 2006 Ravens, 2009 Jets. And I think that both of these defenses are easy to argue for, but really breaking it down, this Brown's defense has just been one for the

ages. Just statistically, I test everything, identity. Miles, Garrett, if he wins defensive player to the year, that would be kind of another way to signify this. But I think also Jim Schwartz winning this word would be my way of doing it. I have no issue with it for all the reasons that you said. We've said force of nature already on this show once. Michael Parsons is a one-man force of nature. That defense has felt like a force of nature in some of these games. They play a volatile style.

There have been games where they've been gashed a little bit just because it's the nature of how they're going to play. But when they're on top of it, they can just completely destroy a game because of the style that they play with. and that is Jim Schwartz personified. That is who he is. The way that that defense feels, feels that way because of who Jim Schwartz is. That's the bet that this team made in the offseason, and that bet has worked out for them.

So I have no issue with that whatsoever. I think he would probably be, I think he'd be third on my list if I were making a ballot. Okay. Because I think that Brian Flores is right there. What Brian Flores has done with the lack of talent that the Vikings had, That's why I think that he is right there near the top of the list because even if Jim Schwartz got way more from those Browns' defensive players than the previous regime did, the Browns have a lot of good players on defense.

There's so many good players on that side of the ball. They got the best corner trio in the league. They have the defensive player of the year. They've got a bunch of auxiliary pass rushers. Don't overthink it. Don't think it. Don't know. Shay O'K is a monster.

What Brian Flores has done with that island of misfit toys in Minnesota? is insane. And they've fallen off a little bit. Their 10th weighted defensive DVOA. They got figured out over the last six weeks. That's what happened. They got figured out. And when you don't have an offense so overcome that, it's hard.

It's like, but that happens. They do not have defensive talent. They stripped it down to pieces. They have Harrison Smith and Neil Hunter and a bunch of guys, they paid $20. And they had a top 10 defense this year. And what he did is just- A draft a rookie at linebacker. Getting what they have out of Josh Mattelis,

Cam Bynum turning into a player for them. The guys along the defensive line, what DJ Wanam was within that scheme, what they asked of him, the performances that we've gotten from unlikely players on that defense and just the unconventional warfare that Brian Flores unleashed on the NFL this year

and had to. I just thought it was such a great coaching job from him that that's why I would probably put him at number two, even if it's really, really close with him and Jim Schwartz. I'm giving it to Mike McDonald, though. He was my first. preseason pick. I, in conversations this summer and just trying to kind of take stock of what the coaching landscape around the league looked like, he was somebody that just kept coming up over and over

again, from opposing offensive coaches, from people around the league, just talking about what that defense was in Baltimore and the plan that went into it. And that's what you can see. You know, they don't have a defense that's lined with superstars. They've got good players. Roquant Smith is excellent. Kyle Hamilton is excellent. But a lot of the guys that have contributed for them were available to the same. offseason for next to nothing. And they've turned that into the best defense in football, according to a lot of metrics. Their number one in DVOA, their number one in weighted DVOA.

They've played the fourth hardest schedule of opposing offenses this year. We joked about it last week. Think about the run they've been on over the last five or six weeks. They've had to play the Rams. They've had to play the Niners. They've had to play the Dolphins. And they've done really well against the Rams, or excuse me, against the Niners and the dolphins were in the Rams.

But the performances they put together against some of the best offenses. in football down the stretch. That's why I'm giving it to him. And this is a guy who comes from the Rex Ryan world nominally because he's from this Ravens coaching incubator, but how he has updated that scheme for the modern NFL and some of the ideas that he's trotted out, I just think that that should be recognized. And what he has done this season is pretty remarkable. Yeah, all those simulated.

Yeah, Rex Ryan, even Dean Peace, and Jim Leonard. And it makes sense that those defenses all have kind of the similar identities now. It's funny that that is what is Rex Ryan has more impact on the modern NFL than you think. And it's through this Ravens defense, which I think is pretty kind of fitting. But no, what they've done, everyone's going to try and copy from or steal from or probably steal assistance from. I think it's warranted. I think sometimes this award, this isn't coach award, can be the best young prospect award for the head coach. And sometimes it's like, all right.

But it's like this one, it fits where he has the best stats and the best young prospect. Like, you know, I really feel like that he is deserving of this. This is my final two. I think it was pretty easy for me to like parse between these two. I gave it to him in my article. I thought number three for me was Ben Johnson. I just because I, offense coordinator for the alliance because it just enjoyed everything that they did this year. And again, best young prospect award on top of it.

My short list for this, I kept it to a cool like 12. I had Munkin on there, Todd Munkin, Ravens Offence, Corman. Bobby Sloak, Texas offense coordinator. I'm just going to give guys shout out. Steve Spagnola, Chiefs defensive coordinator, who at the halfway point had as good a case as anybody. It was really a defensive coordinator trio at the halfway point. Patrick Graham, the Raiders defense coordinator.

I thought did a great job this year. Yes. I will be fascinated by what happens there. If they do not retain Antonio Pierce as the head coach, where does Patrick Graham go? Because what I'm doing right now in my mind, this is what I think about at 2 a.m. now as I'm just sitting in bed. If the Bears were to move on for Matt Iberfluse, I would want them to hire an

offensive-minded head coach. Who would be the defensive coordinator in that build? Patrick Graham is definitely high up on that list if he doesn't get head coaching looks. It's a good one. Yeah, because, yeah, the forest doesn't get a head job. He ain't going anywhere. So, oh, a couple of line coaches. Bill Callahan.

We talked about all the injuries that happened to Brown's tackles. They played as well as they could with going on fourth and fifth tier guys. Hank Frailey, the Lions' offensive line coach deserves a tremendous credit. Yes, they have some talent, but I think they are one of the best. You know, it's how they perform against the Blitz every week is awesome. Clayton Adams, Cardinals' offensive line coach, giving him a shout out because they have nothing up there. Paris Johnson's great, and they do a great job up front. So I wanted to give him a shout out.

They had the best running game in the NFL. Drew Petting probably deserves mentioned in this conversation as well. For what they were doing up front and on offense this year in Arizona. Those Cardinals, man. Very fun to watch. And then last one, Brandt Boyer, Jets special teams coach. I wanted to give one special teams coach because I had to give special teams some mentions somewhere on our shell. So there it is.

All right. Last one. This is the headliner. MVP. Oh, this one. How many names? You said two more and I was like, oh, man, I can't remember. How many names did you have written down?

I just got down to a final three. Okay. I feel like MVP should just be a true three. That's mostly what I had. The one guy I wanted to mention that I don't think has a real case, but I just wanted to acknowledge him as part of this conversation is Jordan Love. Jordan Love has more of like a real MVP case than I think people probably want to admit based on the way that he has played and what that offense is. I don't think he should win it, but I wanted to at least mention his name on this show. Especially the beginning of the year when there was just everybody taking a turn making a mistake, including him.

But then he held the fort. No, you're right. No. If you look at his season long stats. And the offense is season long stats, that guy has had an incredible year. So at least I wanted to mention him, even though I do not think that he is the MVP. And then is Brock Purdy on your list? He is not.

Okay. And he would be fourth if I were to extend us to four. So Brock Purdy is the other name that I would mention as part of this, because I do think that he has done a very good job of overseeing that offense and running that system this year, even though I do think that the system and Disco Position Talent does a lot of heavy lifting, the same way I have thought for the last two years and I've never wavered from. Yep, but I do think he, he five to six throws he makes are good every game. He makes those real throws.

He has to make them and he does. And that's why I want to commend. And this is where the difference to me is these other guys who will talk about make 12 to 15. And that's the difference to me and the tiers. So that's how I break it down. I've said this 100 times over the last calendar year. He has elevated that offense in ways that other quarterbacks have not under Kyle Shanahan with the Niners and he deserves credit for that. But I did boil it down to three.

I assume we have the same. Oh, we actually might have a different three. Who's your, who's your three and two? Dak Prescott's in third. And then Josh Allen is in two and second. Okay. So Josh Allen, Josh Allen is probably on my short list.

The one other name that I think we should mention, though, is Matthew Stafford. Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah. Matthew Stafford absolutely deserves mention for MVP. There's his, there's no greater disconnect this year than Matthew Stafford's box score stats and how he was playing. It would be like 232 yards, one touchdown, one pick. and it would be 14 of the greatest throws you'll ever see in your entire life. But yes, no, Stafford was amazing this year.

Fantastic. So I'm glad you mentioned them. So Matthew Stafford and Jordan and George loved to me are kind of in a similar category. When you're looking at the production those offenses had and how dangerous and potent those offenses had, I think they have a similar argument even though they're probably, I can't give them like full throw in support for the award. I would put Josh Allen in third because as wild as a season as it's been, the value that he creates within that offense, that what we saw yesterday is exactly what the Josh Allen experience is. And it is a roller coaster.

But at the end of the roller coaster, you are happy you took the ride. The aggregate is good. The aggregate is good. It's very good. That's why you're willing to put up with it. So I also had DAC too. And I think that DAC does deserve to be second,

does deserve to be the second name mentioned in this conversation. Yep. Yep. I had him third. I just Josh Allen to me, it was just like watching him just what he does for that. I think Dak Prescott had his best year as a pro just overall creation, stuff from the pocket. The mind meld he has with CD-LAM is just awesome. I felt like this offensive line, this was the year that I thought that he was able to mitigate the offensive line of being up and down with injuries and play.

And I thought this was the year Prescott did his best of like that pressure and making big plays when it was really, all that pressure was happening to him. So I thought it was an awesome year for him. I'm excited to watch him in the playoffs and this Cowboys offense in the playoffs. Two things about Dak Prescott that I think really stood out about the season that he had. He was sixth in the NFL and the amount of EPA he added as a scrambler this year. What he did with his legs and what he did outside of structure is just different than we've seen from other seasons in his career. It looked like he was fully healthy this season. And I just thought that aspect of his game was just beyond the Dak Prescott of 2020 through 2020.

And then the other side of that, similar again, just how are you stepping above and beyond what we've seen in the past? He led the NFL in big time throws. He led the NFL. The amount of nails, fuck you throws that this guy made this year is just different than what he had done in years past. He was a game manager in a non-pejorative way. He managed the game so, so well over the last few seasons. And he was beyond that this year. He was exceptional this year in a different sort of capacity.

And that's why I think that he was second for me. It feels like late Otts, uh, Drew Brees. Like that's what he feels like right now where I get the game age. I get where people are saying, I don't think that's as much of a diss as it used to be. And it's just that now he, it's that selected aggression. And like you said,

pushing in a tight spots. You guys, they got some pass catchers now. They're willing to go up and get it. Like him and Ferguson have great synergy because Ferguson, like I said, is, you know,

he's willing to take some shit. He's willing to take a shot to the head. Like he's willing to go over the middle and take those hits. But DAC is willing to throw it over those tight spaces. So with him, CD, Ferguson, all these guys, they got this kind of this personnel and this offensive makeup that's really fitting him and the honing in just as he's entering his 30s, which is like, this is right the NFL quarterback prime. And it's really exciting to watch because that's who reminds me of us that breeze around 2009, 2010-ish.

Yeah, that's great. And again, I think that with his legs and then the pushing the ball and some of the throws that he made is just a different version of Dak Prescott. Still, I think that Lamar Jackson is the MVP of the NFL. And I think you do as well. Yes, I do. I do. I think it's a pretty big, big eye test here.

Yeah. But the metrics are good, but when you watch them, it feels no doubt about it. I mean, how this offense is, I want to say the most valuable thing, we just mentioned that Ravens roster. But look at all the injuries that this Ravens offense has had this year on cue, like they do every single year. J.K. Dobbins and Keith Mitchell, both on IR, running back. Mark Andrews, number one target at tight end. I are Zayflowers and Nelson Agar are the only receivers that played every game. John Simpson was the only offensive lineman that played 16 games with Lamar, you know,

because they all sat out the last week. Is the defense great? Yeah, but so is Lamar. Every single week, he leaves his fingerprints on the game. It's like, when you watch a Ravens game, you're going to remember Lamar Jackson playing. But he is the true puppeteer. Like, Lamar's season is the Godfather poster. Like that's what he is.

Every snap is him controlling the. past game or impacting the run game because of his legs, even when he's not keeping the ball. And I just think no matter what, you watch that changing the arm angles, I think just the one stat I want to look at two with using his legs. He basically had the same stats efficiency-wise as Devon A-chan. He had success rate over greater than 50 percent. A-chan was 53.4 percent, which led the NFL. Lamar was at 52.1.

They had the same amount as runs of 10 yards or more. And so you have one of the most efficient explosive running back. And I'm not trying to make a joke here. Lamar Jackson is that as a runner. And then he's like Matthew Stafford as a passer. Okay. Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's my MVP right there.

And he does it every single game that he takes over games. So I ended up being pretty definitive in that I'm giving Lamar Jackson my MVP. Yeah, that's how I feel about it. I've mentioned him in every conversation we had about MVP this year. And it was really just a counting stats thing was like, can you really give it to him? But in a weird year, it's been a weird year. I think you absolutely can give it to him. And it's hard to measure this, but they were number one in the NFL and Russian DVA this season.

And his gravity has such a huge part in what that running game is. And it's really hard to quantify that. But what he does in purely his presence, there's real impact there. And even some of the stats about how often he's throwing to open receivers, which he did a lot this year. So much of that is him moving up and out of the pocket and having guys commit to him. Think about that throw he made to Gus Edwards in the Niners game. That's a perfect example. to me.

Whereas moving up and out of the pocket, Drake Greenlaw has to make a decision. He finds Gus Edwards for a 40-yard game. The separation on that throw is like eight yards, but the separation is only eight yards because of what Lamar Jackson is. And the command he had all season. For all season, you go back and watch any game over the first half of the year, even if they weren't necessarily all systems go firing on all cylinders offensively, putting up huge points.

The command control he had within the. pocket, how much he is a master of that space right now compared to how it was earlier in his career. And this idea of, because I've seen this, mentioned this year that people are taking issue with others saying that he took his game to a new level this year when you look at the stats in 2019. We've talked about this. It's a different player. It's a different offense.

What's the asked of him is different. And just putting him in that situation where, like, the Niners game is another really good example. The ball's in your hands, buddy. you're going to drop back 45 times in this game. Go win us the game. And he has no problem doing that. The Rams game.

Yeah. I mean, yeah. Just go win us the game. The game is yours. Go win us the game. He has felt like he had football on a string this year in a way that I've never seen from him. We've seen it in flashes. And this was part of the discussion this offseason.

Every time we talked about Todd Monkin and every time we talked about, okay, they have the receivers. They have theoretically the offensive infrastructure now. what are we going to see from Lamar Jackson? And every time we brought that up, I said, there is a chance that when given more opportunities and more responsibilities, he reaches the ceiling and that all these bets that we're making maybe aren't justified.

I don't think that, but maybe that's the case. He's blown through every single one of those, every single one of those. He's been even better when given this opportunity than you could have hoped he was going to be. And that's why I think that he should be rewarded for that. And beyond that,

the team success and everything else. It's Monkin unlocked him that you could see the interviews and stuff. I'm like, oh, we work together on the plays that we like together. And it felt really refreshing to hear that. You know, Monkin's that kind of guy anyways.

But it's, I thought, again, this is what I pictured, kind of like what Justin Fields when you're watching with the Bears. But this is how I pictured Lamar this year is how I picture him coming out Louisville. Yeah.

He's like, oh, okay, this is kind of the equation I pictured. And it took this year because this is how his receivers were at Louisville. It was a bunch of slant runners and crossers and all these guys on the move. It's a Patrino offense. And it's kind of cool to see it now. And it's like, yeah, this is Lamar Jackson.

This is Fully formed. This is Charzard, Lamar Jackson. And I thought there's two throws that always stick to my mind. I've tweeted them. I've mentioned them before. He had a Mark Andrews digger out this year where he works a high and low. He's working from the pocket. And on that is it's coaching tape, how he uses his eyes, how he progresses to his third read.

And it's still the 16-yard route is his third read. not the checkdown. And on top of that is the OBJ touchdown over against the Rams with Aaron Donald looping around his face. That was pocket manipulation. He's backpedaling away from pressure because that's where the side caves in, but he knows that's where his route is working too and keeps his eyes down field. He trots backwards. It's like, again, that's the same stuff Stafford does. And it's with Lamar's doing that. And it's so cool to see this fully formed version and that's unlocked every week. Like you said, it's not the flashes. It's drives of it. It's touchdowns off of it. It. It's. It's highlights.

It's the in-between place. It's the perfect version of Lamar, and it's cool that we get to see it right now with team success. And hopefully these accolades, too, because he's so deserving of it. The Stafford comparison is one that I've made for legitimately years. Watching him throw the ball, the arm angle stuff, and for it to finally be fully realized has been so cool to watch. I think he's the MVP. I think he deserves the MVP. And the fact that we landed here is pretty awesome.

I'm very excited about it. Hey, and on that award show, we did this year. We had our favorite kind of bets, and you and I both said Lamar at 16 to 1. I took my own advice. So I would just say that. I have no official vote. I will say he was one of like five guys I threw money on. But yes, it is yes.

But I hope someone took some advice, not that we shout out some of our old people. Hopefully did not take my Bijon Robinson offensive player of the year advice. That was a little dark horse. Let's not talk about anything we said about the Falcons before the season started. Let's talk about all the good things we said about the Ravens. All right. Yeah. Yeah.

Way to go Rams. Packers. I don't want to chew my own horn, but again, go back and listen to the Rams preview. Or even the Rams post-packers. Packers. Packers, one is good. Yeah. The Packers make the playoffs.

The timeline actually kind of like followed the Packers one pretty nicely of what we said in the preseason. So I would give that one. Just listen to the NFC North preview. All right. That is all we've got. Appreciate you guys listening. We will be back a little bit later this week with our wild card round preview show. Very excited about that.

Please also check out in the pocket with me and Chase Daniel tomorrow. So it's still a normal slate of shows coming your way. This is just a little bonus for you guys. So sincerely appreciate all of you listen. We'll be back later this week. Talk to you soon. This was the Athletic Football Show.