NFL Honors: Who won the league’s biggest awards?​on February 7, 2025 at 1:11 pm

Before the Kansas City Chiefs and Philadelphia Eagles meet at Caesars Superwomen New Orleans for Super Bowl LIX (Sunday, 6:30 p.m. ET, FOX), the best of the NFL gathered at Saenger Theatre for Thursday’s NFL Honors.

Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen delivered the biggest surprise of the ceremony by edging out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson for NFL Most Valuable Player. Eagles running back Saquon Barkley won Offensive Player of the Year in his first season in Philadelphia. Denver’s Patrick Surtain II is the first cornerback in five years to capture Defensive Player of the Year. Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels completed one of the most impressive debut seasons with the Offensive Rookie of the Year award. Pass-rusher Jared Verse became the first Rams player since Aaron Donald in 2014 to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. Vikings head coach Kevin O’Connell was voted Coach of the Year after his third season in Minnesota. And Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was Comeback Player of the Year.

Here’s a look at who took home the awards and why:

MVP

Josh Allen | QB | Buffalo Bills

Allen has defied the odds in winning his first MVP award, becoming the third player to receive it despite not being named first-team All-Pro since the award was first given in 1957.

In so many ways, Allen played a crucial role in the Bills winning 13 games and advancing to the AFC Championship Game.

The seventh-year quarterback made it a priority to turn over the ball less, finishing with a career-low six interceptions and two fumbles with those the only turnovers the Bills’ offense had. He still played his signature style — rushing for 12 touchdowns and throwing for 28 — and led an offense that tied an NFL record with 13 players catching touchdown passes. He extended his own NFL record for consecutive seasons with 40 passing/rushing touchdowns (five).

“Josh Allen’s leadership, his consistent leadership, was the biggest reason why we did what we did this season,” coach Sean McDermott said. “So, anybody that tries to say otherwise, I know better. I’ve seen it.” — Alaina Getzenberg

Coach of the Year

Kevin O’Connell | Minnesota Vikings

The Vikings entered 2024 projected to win 6.5 games, according to ESPN Analytics — their lowest projected win total in at least a decade. The lowered expectations were largely because O’Connell and the rest of the team’s decision-makers had launched a quarterback transition from Kirk Cousins to Sam Darnold, with rookie J.J. McCarthy recovering from a season-ending knee injury. O’Connell encouraged players to look past those expectations, expressing his confidence that the team was in better position to compete than the public understood. The result: They exceeded that win total by Week 9.

In the process, O’Connell became the second coach in NFL history to produce two seasons of 13 or more wins in his first three seasons. The Vikings went 9-1 in one-score games, raising O’Connell’s career record in such games to 26-9. His .743 win percentage in those games is higher than every coach in NFL history except Guy Chamberlin, a 1920s-era Hall of Fame player/coach. — Kevin Seifert

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Jared Verse | Edge | Los Angeles Rams

Verse was the Rams’ first first-round pick since 2016, and the No. 19 selection out of Florida State made an impact in his rookie season for a defense that was playing without recently retired star Aaron Donald. Verse had 4.5 sacks, 66 tackles, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries. He was the Rams’ lone Pro Bowl selection, something defensive coordinator Chris Shula said shows “how much he influences and impacts the game.” Verse ranked fourth in the NFL in quarterback pressures. His 76 pressures were 20 more than the next rookie on the list. Shula called Verse a “true three-down player” and praised his growth from the start of the season through the Rams’ playoff run.

“He’s an exciting guy that has a great charisma,” head coach Sean McVay said. “He has a great toughness about himself. I think he’s continuing to use all these experiences as he matures and grows.”

Verse was one of two Rams finalists for Defensive Rookie of the Year, joining their second-round pick, defensive tackle Braden Fiske, in the category. — Sarah Barshop

Comeback Player of the Year

Joe Burrow | QB | Cincinnati Bengals

When the season started, there were many questions about how Joe Burrow would respond from a season-ending injury in 2023. Burrow ruptured the scapholunate ligament in his throwing wrist. During his recovery process, he was unable to find another quarterback or even a baseball pitcher who had that injury. It took some time, but not only did Burrow play well in 2024, he ended up having the best season of his career.

He led the league in passing yards (4,918) and passing touchdowns (43) and finished third in Total QBR (74.7). Burrow joins Chad Pennington as the only players to win the award twice since it was reintroduced in 1998. Burrow won the honor in 2021 by leading the Bengals to an AFC North title and a Super Bowl berth after suffering a season-ending knee injury his rookie season. In December, Burrow said he would be proud of winning Comeback Player of the Year a second time.

“It’s not exactly an award you want to be up for,” Burrow said. “But if you’re up for it, you might as well try to win it.” — Ben Baby

Offensive Player of the Year

Saquon Barkley | RB | Philadelphia Eagles

Barkley is having one of the best seasons for a running back in NFL history.

He became the ninth player to reach 2,000 rushing yards and finished just 100 yards shy of Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record (2,105) after the Eagles opted to rest their starters in the regular-season finale against the Giants. Barkley has seven 60-plus-yard touchdown runs, the most in a single season. The Eagles decided during their Week 5 bye to feature a more ground-dependent, Barkley-centric offense, and they proceeded to win 10 straight games en route to a 14-3 record.

“I’d like to say he’s exceeded expectations, but he’s always been one of the best players I’ve ever seen whenever I’ve watched him, and I have always known about what kind of person he is because it’s not hard to find that out,” Eagles general manager Howie Roseman said.

“So I’m really not surprised by any of this, and I don’t say that in an arrogant way, it’s based on who he is, nothing to do with me, because this is who he’s always been.” — Tim McManus

Defensive Player of the Year

Pat Surtain II | CB | Denver Broncos

Whether it was simply the eye test or a swirl of analytics, take your pick. By any measure, Surtain was ridiculously good all season. He matched up against a who’s who of receivers, and Ja’Marr Chase‘s three receptions for 27 yards (on 43 routes against Surtain) and DK Metcalf‘s three catches for 29 yards (on 24 routes) were the best anyone did against those star wideouts.

Surtain, according to NFL Next Gen Stats, surrendered the fewest receiving yards (306) of anyone at his position this season (minimum 375 coverage snaps), allowed the second-lowest passer rating when targeted and had the lowest expected points added per target (minus-0.43). He tied his career high in interceptions (four) and led the league in interception return yards (132). As defensive coordinator Vance Joseph said, “Pat is at the center of everything we do. … He gives us a chance a lot of defenses don’t have. We can dictate some things just by where we line him up.” — Jeff Legwold

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Jayden Daniels | QB | Washington Commanders

Jayden Daniels set one record after another during his first NFL season.

He became only the sixth rookie quarterback to lead his team to a conference championship game — the previous five all played with defenses ranked in the top three; Washington was 18th. He rushed for more yards (891) than any other rookie quarterback in history and combined that with 3,568 passing yards. He was the NFL’s fourth-ranked passer in total QBR and threw for 25 touchdowns (15 coming in his last five full games) with only nine picks, and he ran for six scores. Daniels led five winning drives, including one in the playoffs; three ended with touchdown passes. And he threw more touchdown passes in the fourth quarter and overtime (12) than any rookie in history.

In September, he became the first quarterback in NFL history to complete at least 85% of his throws in consecutive games. — John Keim

Assistant Coach of the Year

Ben Johnson | Detroit Lions | Offensive Coordinator

Johnson, who is now the head coach of the Chicago Bears, was a big part of the Lions’ record-setting season in 2024, in which they won a franchise-best 15 games while earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed and a second consecutive NFC North title.

Johnson is widely respected by his players for his offensive brilliance and creative playcalling. Lions wide receiver Jameson Williams was impressed with Johnson’s knowledge of the game.

“I talk to him a lot on the side when we’re not on offense. He just breaks down some things to me and some things I never knew playing the game,” Williams said. “But it’s different. It’s kind of different. He played the game, but some people have a passion for coaching and once they get a feel for the game, and understand the game very well, it becomes easy. You know what to call for a certain defense. It’s kind of like playing Madden.” — Eric Woodyard