The NFL season is upon us and as the season opener fast approaches, it’s time to get in some last minute predictions for the league’s biggest awards, plus one of my own. In this article I will share my prediction for Defensive Rookie of the Year (DROY), Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY), Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY), Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY), my own award of Breakout Player of the Year (BPOY) and, of course, Most Valuable Player (MVP). Along with those, just for fun, I’ll throw my Super Bowl pick in at the end.
DROY – Abdul Carter, EDGE, New York Giants
Yes, this is the boring pick. The bookies favourite for this award and for good reason. The Penn State edge rusher was dominant in college, totalling 12 sacks in his final season, along with an interception, and five forced fumbles. The New York Giants’ defensive line will cause problems around the league with Dexter Lawrence, one of the best interior defenders in the NFL, as well as Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, who can both play at a very high level. While it remains to be seen how often Carter, Burns and Thibodeaux will all line up on the field at one time, the Giants’ talent and depth at the position should free up the rookie to make enough plays to let his talent translate to the NFL. He has had an excellent preseason, and I fully expect that form to continue into the regular season.
OROY – Emeka Egbuka, WR, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Emeka Egbuka is coming off a strong final year at Ohio State and was rewarded with being a first-round pick in the 2025 NFL Draft. Entering a pass-heavy offense with Baker Mayfield, who has seemed to establish himself as a top ten quarterback in the league, Egbuka is entering a great situation. With Mike Evans entering this season aged 32, and Chris Godwin suffering injury issues, Egbuka will be thrust straight into the action. That should be no issue for him given his talent and I believe a strong start with Godwin’s absence will showcase his talent straight away, making him a favourable and reliable target for Mayfield from the start, and then carrying on through the entire regular season.
DPOY – Will Anderson Jr., EDGE, Houston Texans
Entering his third year in the NFL, this feels like the season where Will Anderson Jr. can establish himself with T.J. Watt, Myles Garrett, and Micah Parsons as one of the true elite edge rushers in the league. Anderson had 11 sacks in his sophomore season, a big jump from his impressive total of seven as a rookie. Myles Garrett won this award in 2023 for not only being a great individual player, but also being the standout player on one of the best defenses in the league. Anderson will take another jump this season, helped by the elite talent around him on what will be one of the best defensive units in the league. Anderson showed his dominance in Houston’s playoff run last season, dominating in their win at home to the Los Angeles Chargers, and even in their loss at Arrowhead Stadium against the Kansas City Chiefs. With just one forced fumble last season, he will need to create more turnovers to win this award, but with the speed and power Houston’s no. 51 possesses, I have no doubt he will make more splash plays this season.
OPOY – Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Ja’Marr Chase missed out on OPOY in 2024 despite winning the triple crown. I can see a similarly dominant season in 2025 given he and fellow wide receiver, Tee Higgins, both signed big extensions in the offseason, showing the Bengals are all in on their air raid offense. While there are still doubts about the Bengals as a team, there is no doubt in Chase’s ability. This will be a pass-heavy offense yet again, and will rely on big plays to Chase on a consistent basis. Burrow will likely be an MVP candidate again but given I feel the Ravens will win the AFC North, I can’t award Burrow with being the Most Valuable Player in the league. However, OPOY is not as reliant on team success and Chase, who has always been one of the fastest receivers in the league, has also developed into one of the best route runners in the NFL, making him almost unstoppable. I expect a similar output in 2025 as we saw in 2024 and this time I think it will be enough for Chase to win his first OPOY.
BPOY – Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Green Bay Packers
Edgerrin Cooper had a great rookie season with the Packers. In just 14 games, he had 87 tackles, three and a half sacks, and multiple forced turnovers. His speed makes him a great defender against the run, especially runs outside the tackles given his elite pursuit ability. He showed he can rush the passer at a high level last season and, with the addition of Micah Parsons, one of the most versatile defenders in the league, Jeff Hafley, Green Bay’s defensive coordinator, will be able to open up the defensive playbook in sending Cooper as arusher, and occasionally dropping Parsons back into coverage, allowing Cooper to make more splash plays. Of course, Parsons will be rushing the passer most of the time, but Cooper’s versatility will be on show much more this year. Add all this onto the fact that in his rookie season Cooper was one of the better linebackers in the league in pass coverage, and you have a player that has the talent to be an All-Pro in his second season.
MVP – Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson has been named as the First Team All-Pro quarterback the last two seasons, and was MVP in 2023, the second of his career. Many felt he should have been MVP in 2024 and wasn’t given the award due to ‘voter fatigue’. That fatigue, whether true or not, will not be a factor this year, and I can see Jackson putting up similar numbers to 2024. The Ravens will no doubt be a great team in 2024, and Lamar’s supporting cast, along with his immense talent, will help lead him to another huge year. The Ravens have a solid offensive line, an elite running back, an elite tight end group, and two wide receivers in Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman ready for big seasons. As good as Lamar’s teams have been in the past, I believe this is his best pass catching group due to the stage they are all at in their careers, with Flowers entering his third year on an upward trajectory, Bateman coming off a new contract, Mark Andrews still playing at a high level, and Isaiah Likely showing massive signs of improvement in 2024. Jackson’s all-time great rushing ability combined with his elite pocket passing makes it is hard to pass up predicting him to win this award for a third time. Derrick Henry may spoil the party by taking away plenty of rushing yards and touchdowns but I still believe Lamar will once again put up historic numbers.
Super Bowl LX Prediction – Kansas City Chiefs defeat Detroit Lions
To be completely honest, the AFC is an absolute lottery as to who will win it. The Chiefs, Ravens and Bills all have compelling cases to represent the conference in February, and a few other teams could have a strong argument made for them. However, the Chiefs have been disrespected on an unprecedented scale recently, and I refuse to join that discourse. They are the only team ever to go to a third Super Bowl in a row after winning the previous two and, although they were heavily defeated in that game, they have still dominated the AFC since Patrick Mahomes entered the league. Mahomes is still at his best, proven by his playoff numbers despite his poor regular season performances in 2023 and 2024. The weapons around him are a worry but he won’t have a revolving door at left tackle this season, and let’s not forget that Kansas City’s defense is elite, and Andy Reid is the best active coach in the NFL. The Chiefs are my pick in the AFC until proven otherwise.
The Lions have been so close the last two seasons. A blown 17-point lead in the 2023/24 NFC Championship, and a crushing loss as the number one seed last season, but this is the year they make the big game. Jared Goff has been the signal caller for an NFC Champion before and, although Detroit has lost both coordinators, this team will be better as a whole given there is no chance they have injury luck as bad as last season *touch wood*. Dan Campbell is the reason behind this franchise’s recent turnaround and, while Frank Ragnow is a big loss on the offensive line, and Ben Johnson was a great offensive coordinator, this team will still have enough firepower to get homefield advantage, which they will actually take advantage of this season.
But, in the end, Mahomes will continue his journey in catching Tom Brady and, once again, show why he should never be doubted as his greatness, along with an elite defense, gets Kansas City over the line.