No surprises here
The NFL is roughly 72 hours out from Conference Championship Sunday and with the year drawing to a close, the league announced finalists for its marquee awards Thursday afternoon.
In total, five former Tigers are up for four different NFL awards. Joe Burrow is a finalist for three different individual awards: Offensive Player of the Year, NFL MVP, and Comeback Player of the Year. Ja’Marr Chase, Burrow’s No. 1 target, is also a finalist for Offensive Player of the Year, while Jayden Daniels, Malik Nabers, and Brian Thomas Jr. are three of the five finalists for Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Burrow had the best season of his professional career, and was a big reason in dragging the Bengals from dead in the water, to playing a meaningful game the final week of the regular season. Burrow led the NFL in completions (460), attempts (652), yards (4,918), and touchdowns (43). His yards and touchdowns were also career-bests and broke his own single-season franchise records that he set in 2021 and 2022 respectively. Had the Bengals made the playoffs I’d like Burrow’s chances a lot better, but it’ll likely go to either Lamar Jackson or Josh Allen; but if there ever was a year to win MVP while not making the postseason, it’d look a lot like the year like Burrow had.
Burrow’s actually won Comeback Player of the Year before, taking home the honor in 2021 when he came back from a torn ACL that ended his rookie season after 10 games. Remember, Burrow’s 2023 season was also cut short by wrist surgery. He is competing for the Comeback Player of the Year award against Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold, Los Angeles Charger running back J.K. Dobbins, New England corner Christian Gonzales, and Buffalo safety Damar Hamlin.
Ja’Marr Chase made history as the sixth receiver in NFL history to win the triple crown. He had 127 catches for 1,708 yards, and 17 touchdowns, which were all career-bests and single season franchise records for the Bengals. Chase has a legit argument for Offensive Player of the Year, but Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley is the betting favorite after eclipsing 2,000 yards on the ground.
There’s a 60 percent chance that the winner of Offensive Rookie of the Year was an LSU Tiger as Daniels, Nabers, and Thomas are three of the five finalists for the award. Daniels is the favorite for the award, especially in light of leading Washington to the NFC Championship game (though ballots were, of course, turned in before the postseason began.) Daniels completed 69 percent of his passes for 3,568 yards, and 29 touchdowns, while also setting the rookie quarterback rushing record with 891 yards. Daniels has already been named the Pro Football Writers of America Rookie of the Year.
While Daniels got all the headlines, let’s not sleep on the stellar seasons that his former top-two targets had in their rookie seasons. Nabers caught 109 passes which is both a New York Giants single season record and also the record for any rookie receiver. He was by far and away New York’s best weapon on offense, leading the team in yards from scrimmage and total touchdowns; Nabers had 1,204 receiving yards and caught seven touchdown passes.
Nabers might have out-caught Brian Thomas (109 for Nabers vs. 87 for Thomas), but Thomas had more yards (1,282) and touchdowns (10) than him. Thomas, like Nabers, was Jacksonville’s best offensive player as he too led his team in yards of offense and touchdowns. Thomas will also be heading to the Pro Bowl as an injury replacement for Baltimore’s Zay Flowers.