NFL Honors 2018: Time, TV schedule, and preview for awards show

The NFL Honors show comes back for a seventh year as the league’s answer to the Academy Awards. All the NFL’s awards are being handed out Saturday night in a bloated television special, complete with a red-carpet show. The entire thing will be tape-delayed and air at 9 p.m. ET/PT on NBC (live stream at NBC Sports, fuboTV).

Of course, the tape delay means that most people will know the results on Twitter hours before the show even begins, but the NFL doesn’t seem to care. It’s all about the pageantry here, with fancy outfits and acceptance speeches. Rob Riggle will be hosting this year’s show.

Here’s a quick rundown of the major awards and top contenders.

Most Valuable Player: Tom Brady is considered the front-runner going in, although players like Todd Gurley and Antonio Brown could also make a strong case. Carson Wentz was once considered a favorite before tearing his ACL, but he could still pick up some votes. Russell Wilson had a strong middle of the season to put himself in the race, but he faded down the stretch as the Seattle Seahawks missed the playoffs.

Offensive Player of the Year: Gurley and Brown are the major favorites here. Other contenders include Le’Veon Bell and Kareem Hunt.

Defensive Player of the Year: Calais Campbell, Aaron Donald, Demarcus Lawrence, Cameron Jordan, and Jalen Ramsey are just a few of the top contenders in what should be a wide-open race.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Alvin Kamara is the front-runner after rejuvenating New Orleans’ run game, but Hunt, the league’s leading rusher, will get some votes of his own.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: The Saints’ rookie class could clean up these awards with Marshon Lattimore favored to win on the defensive side.

Coach of the Year: It’s Sean McVay, and everyone else is fighting for second place.

Comeback Player of the Year: This one typically goes to players coming back from serious injury and having another great season, so look for Keenan Allen and Rob Gronkowski to get strong consideration this year.

Those aren’t the only awards being handed out, though. Here are the other categories:

There is even more fun stuff on this show, with the Pro Football Hall of Fame announcing its Class of 2018. This year’s ballot features notable first-time finalists like Ray Lewis, Randy Moss, and Brian Urlacher. The full ballot can be found here.