On Saturday night, the awards were announced for the 2016 NFL season. It’s good to have a record of the voting breakdown, so in the interest of preserving history, I have reprinted that below.
Most Valuable Player
Matt Ryan, Atlanta (25); Tom Brady, New England (10), Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas (6), Derek Carr, Oakland (6), Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (2), Dak Prescott, Dallas (1)
Ryan was a pretty obvious pick: he easily led the NFL in ANY/A and Value added over average. I’m a bit surprised that Brady was as close as he was, but the biggest surprise was Carr somehow receiving 6 votes. Ryan received 29 votes for the first-team All-Pro slot at QB from the same AP voters; Brady received 15, and Rodgers received 5. Given that the quarterbacks had to compete with Elliott for MVP, it makes sense that all received more votes at the QB-specific slot than at MVP. But then there’s Carr, who earned just 1 vote for first-team All-Pro at QB, yet received 6 here. How five voters thought Carr wasn’t the best quarterback but was the Most Valuable Player in the NFL is a question I’m not comfortable answering.
Offensive Player of the Year
Matt Ryan, Atlanta (15½), Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay (11), David Johnson, Arizona (8), Tom Brady, New England (7), Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas (5½), Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh (1), Derek Carr, Oakland (1), Drew Brees, New Orleans (1)
Ryan was a worthy choice here for the same reasons he was a worthy choice for the All-Pro team and the MVP award. There were 9.5 voters who thought Ryan was the MVP but not the OPOY; there were also 9 voters who thought Rodgers was OPOY but not MVP. That implies a decent amount of ballot-splitting among voters. What do we make of Ryan/Brady/Rodgers? For the All-Pro team, the voting was 29–15–5; for MVP, it was 25–10–2; and for OPOY, it’s 15½–7–11. That strikes me as inconsistent. Johnson, Elliott, and Bell all received votes here, which makes some sense. Oh, and Carr only got 1 vote here, too.
Defensive Player of the Year
Khalil Mack, Oakland (18), Von Miller, Denver (17), Landon Collins, New York Giants (9), Aaron Donald, Los Angeles (3), Sean Lee, Dallas (2), Eric Berry, Kansas City (1).
Over the last seven seasons, J.J. Watt is the only player to receive at least half of the 50 votes for the AP DPOY award. That’s right: in the last 6 years, Watt has won the award with 49, 50, and 37 votes, in 2012, 2014, and 2015, respectively. In 2010, 2011, 2013, and now this year, the award has gone to the plurality choice.
In 2010, Troy Polamalu (17) barely won over Clay Matthews (15). In 2011, Terrell Suggs (21) edged out the field, with Jared Allen (14) coming in second place. In 2013, Luke Kuechly (13) narrowly won over Robert Mathis (11.5). And this year was the closest yet, with Mack winning by just one vote.
In the last 7 years, J.J. Watt has won the award with an average of over 45 votes. No other player has won the award with even half as many.
Oh, as for this year’s award? I’ll let you guys handle that in the comments. I will say it was odd that Vic Beasley, who led the NFL in sacks and forced fumbles, didn’t receive a vote.
Comeback Player
Jordy Nelson, Green Bay (36), Cameron Wake, Miami (11), Dennis Pitta, Baltimore (2), Le’Veon Bell, Pittsburgh (1)
Good on Nelson. He seems like a worthy pick, although I’m not sure what’s the criteria here for Nelson over say, Bell. It can’t be who was better this year, because that would be Bell. Is it the severity of the injury? Nelson tore his ACL in preseason, while Bell tore his MCL during the year. Who knows.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Dak Prescott, Dallas (28½), Ezekiel Elliott, Dallas (21½)
Prescott had one of the greatest rookie seasons ever. So did Elliott. Tiebreaker goes to the quarterback, I suppose. I would have voted the same way.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Joey Bosa, San Diego (37), Jalen Ramsey, Jacksonville (10), Deion Jones, Atlanta (3)
Bosa had the sacks, Ramsey had the all around play, and Jones seemed to be more about his driver of the Falcons defensive success later in the year. Bosa was probably the best player on a per snap basis, and I guess voters didn’t care too much that he missed four games.
Walter Payton Man of the Year
Tie: Eli Manning and Larry Fitzgerald
I couldn’t find any voting breakdown here, which is a good indicator of how much effort I am going to put into analyzing this award.
Coach of the Year
Jason Garrett, Dallas (25), Bill Belichick, New England (14), Adam Gase, Miami (6), Jack Del Rio, Oakland (4), Andy Reid, Kansas City (1)
The Cowboys were 4-12 last year, and lost their star quarterback in preseason. Garrett guided the team to the 1 seed in the NFC with a 13-2 record, despite being forced to play a late 4th round pick. That’s pretty darn good. Belichick is always a good pick, although Gase coming in third is a bit of a surprise.
Assistant Coach of the Year
Kyle Shanahan, Atlanta OC (13½), Rod Marinelli, Dallas OC (10½), Scott Linehan, Dallas DC (8), Steve Spagnuolo, New York Giants DC (5), Dante Scarnecchia, New England DC (5), Romeo Crennel, Houston DC (4), Matt Patricia, New England DC (1), Dave Toub, Kansas City ST (1), Jim Bob Cooter, Detroit OC (1), Frank Pollack, Dallas OL (1)
Shanahan seemed like an obvious pick, but he barely won here. In fact, perhaps the two Cowboys coordinators (and offensive line coach!) split the Dallas vote; collectively, Dallas assistants won 21.5 votes, the most of any team.