NFL Honors Awards Show 2016: NFL celebrates its best of the season on Saturday night
The NFL is rolling out the red carpet on Saturday evening to award the best and brightest of the 2015 season.
On Saturday night, the NFL presents its annual Honors show, the league’s version of the Academy Awards ceremony that it’s been trying to make a thing for a few years now. However, last year all the award winners leaked out on Twitter hours before the show started, so whoops! Hope that doesn’t happen this year.
But yes, as the name implies, the ceremony is meant to honor this year's NFL award winners. We will also find out who's going into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in August, so there are plenty of things to look forward to on the eve of the Super Bowl.
The show begins at 9 p.m. ET on CBS and will be hosted by Conan O'Brien. In addition to handing out the awards, the NFL will also announce the 2016 class for the Pro Football Hall of Fame, which is expected to be headlined by Brett Favre.
Here’s a brief rundown of the top awards contenders and my predictions.
MVP
Barring a complete, unforeseen surprise, this one should go to Cam Newton. For about half the season it was considered a three-man race between Newton, Tom Brady and Carson Palmer. However, Brady and the New England Patriots faded down the stretch, while Palmer struggled through a finger injury on his throwing hand. Meanwhile, Newton just stayed red-hot, throwing 21 touchdowns to just one interception in the final eight games of the regular season to lead the Panthers to a 15-1 record and Super Bowl appearance.
Russell Wilson might be an interesting dark horse candidate, but he figures to get more votes in the second award. Pick: Cam Newton
Offensive player of the year
This might be the most wide-open awards race, with no obvious frontrunner. At quarterback, Newton could easily double-dip in awards, but Wilson might take this one, if only as a consolation for missing out on MVP. The top running back contender is Adrian Peterson, while Devonta Freeman could pick up some votes for a strong first half of the season. Then there are a ton of wide receivers who could conceivably win, with Antonio Brown, Julio Jones, DeAndre Hopkins and Odell Beckham Jr. all having strong cases. Look for Rob Gronkowski to also get some consideration. Pick: Russell Wilson
Defensive player of the year
This one will probably go to J.J. Watt, which would be his third in four seasons. He's certainly a deserving winner with another great season, racking up 17.5 sacks even while playing with a broken hand. But keep an eye out for Aaron Donald, who has emerged as arguably the best 4-3 defensive tackle in the league. He picked up 11 sacks in his second season and already has 20 in his young career. Donald's national profile should only increase with the Rams moving to Los Angeles.
Other top contenders for this award include Josh Norman, Luke Kuechly, Khalil Mack, Chandler Jones and Muhammad Wilkerson. Pick: J.J. Watt
Offensive rookie of the year
It's Todd Gurley and it probably won't be close. Early in the year it looked like Amari Cooper would be a big contender, but he hit the rookie wall pretty hard down the stretch. Jameis Winston might've been the favorite if the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made the playoffs, but they finished the year on a whimper, losing their final four games to finish 6-10. Maybe Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson gets some votes after an explosive second half of the regular season. Either way, this is Gurley's to lose. Pick: Todd Gurley
Defensive rookie of the year
Marcus Peters seems like the slight favorite here after tying for the league lead with eight interceptions. Ronald Darby also had an outstanding year and should be right up there with Peters in voting. Can't go wrong with either guy, really. Pick: Marcus Peters
Comeback player of the year
Lots of good choices this year, and it might come down to Eric Berry, Carson Palmer and Sean Lee. Berry battled lymphoma in the offseason, but came back and had a strong season, reaching the Pro Bowl. Palmer tore his ACL late in the 2014 season, but the 36-year-old didn't miss a beat, playing at an MVP level in 2015. Lee played 14 games after battling severe injuries most of his career, re-establishing himself as the heart of the Dallas Cowboys' defense.
There’s also Adrian Peterson, which uh, would be awkward. Pick: Eric Berry
Coach of the year
Ron Rivera, most likely. The Panthers went 15-1 and Newton played the best football of his life despite losing Kelvin Benjamin in training camp. Rivera also coached up a great defense once again and has his team playing dominant football. This would be the second time he's won Coach of the Year.
Other top candidates include the old standbys: Bill Belichick, Bruce Arians and Andy Reid. Gary Kubiak might get some love for handling the Peyton Manning situation about as well as he could. Pick: Ron Rivera
How to watch
Time: 9 p.m. ET
TV: CBS
Location: Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, San Francisco
Host: Conan O'Brien
Online Stream: NFL Mobile
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