Who do you think should get the hardware?

My winners:

MVP
LaDanian Tomlinson, Chargers. 31 TD's and the scoring record for a single season. Without him I think we'd see quite a different Philip Rivers. Runner-up: Drew Brees, Tom Brady.


Offensive player
Drew Brees, Saints. He (together with Sean Payton) basically engineered the Saints' cinderella season. Runner-up: Peyton Manning, LaDainian Tomlinson.


Defensive player
Jason Taylor, Dolphins. He anchors Miami's defense. 13.5 sacks, 9 forced fumbles, 2 INTs, 2 TDs. Just ask Tom Brady how good he really is. Runner-up: Champ Bailey, Aaron Kampman.

*I know the NFL doesn't see it this way, but for me a 4-game ban for steroid use disqualifies a player for any individual recognition during that year.*


Comeback player
Chad Pennington, Jets. He never had a rocket arm anyway, but he still came back from 2 shoulder surgeries to lead the Jets to a winning record and possbly the playoffs. Runner-up: Drew Brees, Deuce McAllister.


Offensive rookie
Vince Young, Titans. Forget about the stats. He wins. And for a rookie QB, isn't that what it is all about? Runner-up: Maurice Jones-Drew, Marcus McNeill, Marquez Colston.


Defensive rookie
DeMeco Ryans, Texans. 145 total tackles so far. Only Zach Thomas has more. He's been a beast from start to finish this season. Runner-up: Mark Anderson, Devin Hester (I know his big plays came on special teams, but hey, I've got to mention him somewhere).


Coach of the year
Sean Payton, Saints. A year ago the Saints were basically roadkill, now they have a first-round bye in the playoffs. Seems pretty good for a rookie head coach to me. Runner-up: Eric Mangini, Marty Schottenheimer.

My winners:

MVP
LT - 31 touchdowns. That's all I have to say.
Runner Up: Drew Brees and Frank Gore


Offensive player
LT - see above
Runner Up: Drew Brees and Marc Bulger


Defensive player
Jason Taylor - he's a DL, and he had 2 TDs on INTs. That's enough IMO.
Runner Up: Shawn Merriman and Champ Bailey


Comeback player
Drew Brees - throws for 4000 yards year after shoulder surgery. Amazing.
Runner-up: Chad Pennington and Fred Taylor


Offensive rookie
Vince Young: Titans might make playoffs.
Runner Up: Marques Colston and Reggie Bush


Defensive rookie
DeMeco Ryans: Leads NFL in tackles IIRC.
Runner Up: Devin Hester


Coach of the year
Sean Payton: The Saints might get a bye week in the playoffs.
Runner Up: Eric Mangini and Andy Reid.

MVP

LaDainian Tomlinson- Obviously, he is the reason the Chargers are 13-2 (though I like NC State, and would like to think Philip has something to do with it, he doesn't have much). Runner ups- Drew Brees, Peyton Manning

Offensive Player of the Year

LaDainian Tomlinson- How can you be MVP but not OPOY? Runner ups- Same, DB, PM

Defensive Player of the Year

Champ Bailey- Is a ridiculous athlete, often his athletisism becomes obselete because he has such good instincts and rarely takes false steps or falls to fakes. Shut down Chad recently. Runner Ups- Julius Peppers (Faded in the stretch but was all over the field for the first half of the season), Jason Taylor (probably the Dolphins greatest offfensive force all year).

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Vince Young- When you take control of an 0-5 team that mainly just wants to lose and get a high draft pick, and lead them to playoff contention, you're pretty good. Oh yeah, and he's a rookie. Runner Ups- Marcus McNeill (was a stud at LT), Maurice Jones- Drew (he seems to be in a highlight every week).

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Demeco Ryans- Is second in league in tackles, that's enough already. Runner ups- Mario Williams (Sacks are the worst stat, he played better than people thought), AJ Hawk (has been a stud at ROLB, lots of tackles).

Coach of the Year

Sean Payton- The Saints, with the Browns since their beginnings have been the underacheivers of the league. They've always had talent, and done nothing with it. Every year is THE year they will get it done, but they don't. And in one season, Payton completely turned them around to a disciplined, solid team. Runner Ups- Andy Reid, (got his team on a hot streak after McNabb went down), Jeff Fisher (I don't need to explain).

MVP
LaDanian Tomlinson -Scoring record, rushing touchdown record...all with 2 weeks left in the season. Not to mention he is a leading pass reciever on the team. Oh, and the Chargers are 13-2
Runner Up: Drew Brees, Tom Brady


Offensive player
LaDanian Tomlinson- If you win MVP, OP usually follows (or should).
Runner Up: Frank Gore, Drew Brees


Defensive player
Champ Bailey- Like hell I'm giving this to "Roids In" Merriman. He is also more valuable then Taylor as he is the best shutdown corner in the league, maybe ever. Despite the fact that teams rarely throw to him, he has 9 picks, most of them near the goalline in important situations.
Runner Up: Jason Taylor, Brian Urlacher


Comeback player
Chad Pennington- I gave up on this guy two years ago after the FIRST shoulder surgery. This guy had a weak arm to begin with and had two rotator cuff surgeries and now has lead his team to the playoffs without missing a start.
Runner-up: Jeff Garcia, Terrell Owens ( :p )


Offensive rookie
Vince Young- Simply amazing. He got bloody lucky in the Jax game, his worst outing, but other than that he has been great for Tennessee. Made up for the horrendous way they treated McNair
Runner Up: Maurice-Jones Drew, Marques Colston


Defensive rookie
DeMeco Ryans- After taking guys like Travis Johnson, Jason Babin, Dunta Robinson and Mario Williams with first round picks thier last three years, the second best defensive player Texans history (after Aaron Glenn) was a second rounder. Of course, I KNEW he would be good since he led that Alabama defense...but now I'm rambling.
Runner Up: Devin Hester, AJ Hawk


Coach of the year
Eric Mangenious- After he outsmarted Bellicheck with a far inferior team in Foxboro, I knew this guy was legit. This Jets team on paper looks like maybe the worst team in the league, and he turned them into a playoff team! Of course, they havn't beaten Oakland yet.
Runner Up: Sean Payton, Jeff Fisher

Forgot Comback Player of the Year. For me, that'd be Chad Pennington

Also, for defensive rook, I'd also put Richard Marshall as a runner up.

It will be a crime, also a testament to the Vince Young hype machine, if Maurice Jones-Drew (2,000 all-purpose yards and 16 TDs) does not get the offensive Rookie of the Year award.

No it wouldn't...just a slap to your Jax bias :p

Young has worked with some mediocre recievers, Bennett is ok but really just a possession reciever. Givens was out for most of the year, and he relied on guys like Scaife and Troupe at tight end. He has also carried the team on his back in several games (Houston, Buffalo, Giants to name a few).

Jones-Drew has worked in a tandem with Taylor. He has played pretty well, but you just can't say he had the same impact VY did.

Titans were 0-5 without Young, after him they went 8-3 I believe. That is amazing considering the sucktitude this team had reached (one of the youngest in the league, dead last record wise, coming off that embarassing suspension to Haynesworth, rumors of Fisher leaving).

Yes, but you can't tell me that teams didn't "let up" on the Titans when they were 0-5.. once crunch time came late (when the Titans played themselves back into the playoff picture) Young and the rest of the team folded.

Jones-Drew was a second rounder who probably wouldn't have even seen time on the offense but for the preseason injury to Greg Jones.. and he doubled EVERY OTHER ROOKIE's TD production.

What are you talking about? It was 23-26, they trailed by 3, and gave up some late touchdowns. They lost to a pretty good team too. Btw, they wouldnt have been in the playoff picture without Young.

Jones-Drew is definately in the conversation, but VY has just had much more of an impact. Not to mention, I want to see Hoge eat crow ;)

Btw, will Jones-Drew be the starter next year or is Taylor coming back for sure?

Btw, will Jones-Drew be the starter next year or is Taylor coming back for sure?

I'll quote from the T-U's pre-game article Sunday.


Taylor, who turns 31 in January, said hard work at an offseason program in Davie enabled him to recharge his batteries this season, and he teamed with rookie Maurice Drew to give the Jaguars one of the NFL's best 1-2 running back tandems.

There's one catch - Taylor's contract.

Taylor, who's due to make $2.55 million in the final year of his contract next season, wants a new deal in the $5 million range, which is market value for a running back who is a Pro Bowl alternate.

Will the Jaguars give him a new deal? Paying big money to a running back over age 30 - especially one with a history of injuries - is always a risk. The Jaguars wouldn't do it last year, and Taylor will have few options without a new deal.

Taylor has made it obvious that he won't be happy if he doesn't land a new deal, and he probably will demand a trade. He also has Drew Rosenhaus for an agent.

This could be an explosive situation.

My gut feeling is that he'll play next year for a big contract, then leave and it'll be Maurice Jones-Drew and Greg Jones in the backfield for '08.

Greg Jones reminds me of Ron Dayne, but he runs harder I suppose. I remember wanting him in Dallas, but Jax got him and converted him to fullback...I thought that was a waste, but I guess you guys have finally tapped into his talent at runningback ;)

Taylor hasn't played as many snaps as some 30 year olds, he's more like a 28 year old runningback I guess. If that makes you feel better.

Young and Ryans win rookie honors...

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/football/nfl/01/03/bc.fbn.nfloffensiverook.ap/index.html