NFL midseason awards: Who would win MVP, DPOY & more if season ended today?

Half of the 2022-23 NFL season is done and dusted, so this feels like an appropriate time to analyze the candidates for all the major awards.

With the NFL adding a 17th game last season and therefore an 18th week, the mid-way point has moved to past week nine. That means some of the players listed here have already played in each of those weeks, while others have only had the chance to participate in eight contests.

Due to this, per-game stats will be used more frequently than totals, in order to make easier comparisons between names.

On that note, here's a look at who would win each major award if the NFL season ended today:

Most Valuable Player (MVP)

Let's start things off with the most prestigious honor. The MVP is primarily a quarterback award. Many people have suggested that it should simply be split into the most valuable quarterback and non-quarterback on the offensive side, and you’ll soon see my solution to that.

#1 Patrick Mahomes

Mahomes was at No. 2 on the initial draft of this list, but with the way he led the Kansas City Chiefs to an overtime victory over the Tennessee Titans, he deserves top spot. Mahomes made some completely absurd plays in that game, while Josh Allen made a couple of really costly mistakes that led to the Buffalo Bills losing to the New York Jets, which just flipped those two names.

Mahomes leads the NFL in passing yards (2605) and touchdowns (21). More importantly, he is No. 2 in EPA per play (+0.314) and QBR (75.4), with a tremendous combination of clean football and the ever-looming threat that he may completely break the structure of the opposing defense, even if they do everything right.

Mahomes is probably the most creative player we’ve ever seen at the quarterback position, and that was on display yet against on Sunday night against the Titans. He constantly extended plays and allowed his receivers to separate on secondary routes.

He’s become so good at dropping back and finding windows to exploit zone coverage, as teams have almost completely stopped blitzing him. Yet, if he does get chances to attack isolated match-ups, or catches somebody with his eyes in the backfield, he can quickly make them pay. He also has the ability to convert a third-and-long himself despite his 4.8 speed.

#2 Josh Allen

As mentioned before, Allen occupied the top spot on this list not too long ago, but unfortunately for him, he threw a couple of head-scratching interceptions in each of the last two weeks.

It’s not really the fact that he’s aggressive down the field, rather it has been some ill-advised, late throws, which we saw from him early in his career.

With all that being said, through the first six weeks, he had been absolutely spectacular. Right now, he leads the league in total yards (300 passing and 49 rushing per game) and touchdowns (23) responsible for.

The stress Allen puts on defenses in every single snap with his ability to either take a shot down the field, create an extra play on the scramble drill or become a freight train by running it himself, is almost unfair.

He currently leads the team in rushing, at 6.3 yards per attempt. He has delivered knockout punches, but also led a couple of game-winning drives against the Baltimore Ravens and Chiefs, with some alien-like plays.

He almost produced another one this past Sunday against the Jets, as he launched the ball 70 yards after escaping the pocket. It would have hit Gabe Davis right between the numbers, if not for Sauce Gardner disrupting the catch-point/interfering (depending on your interpretation).

#3 Lamar Jackson

The Ravens are 6-3 at the bye week and don’t face another team with a record of .500 or better until Week 18 at Cincinnati. So there’s a good chance Lamar Jackson actually wins this award for the second time in his career, based on the team’s success.

With that being said, don’t let Baltimore’s dominant Monday Night win at New Orleans fool you into thinking they have been a juggernaut so far this season. This was the first time since the first week at the Joe Flacco-led Jets in which their defense held the opposition to fewer than 20 points.

All three of their losses happened on lead-changing scores allowed by their defense. Now granted, one of those was set up by an ill-advised pick thrown by Lamar after corralling a loose snap, but he also set up Justin Tucker for a game-winning kick to get the early advantage in the AFC North over the Bengals.

More importantly, he has been as crucial to his offense as any QB in the league. Not only has Jackson accounted for 42% of the Ravens' rushing attack, with nearly twice as many yards as the next-closest guy on the team (635), but he has also been responsible for 65% of their first downs and 72% of their touchdowns (18 of 25) as a team.

This, despite his primary receiver playing just 200 snaps, his top two running backs working their way back from injuries, and Devin Duvernay leading the WR corp with just over 300 yards so far.

We can gush about Lamar’s ability to shrug off a defender in the backfield, break the ankles of a guy in the hole and then run away from defensive backs, but he’s also been one of the best pure passers in the NFL.

What he can do in terms of scanning the field, manipulating guys with his eyes or shoulders, and changing up his delivery is truly special.

Honorable mentions: Jalen Hurts, Saquon Barkley & Tyreek Hill

(Non-Quarterback) Offensive Player of the Year

I decided to use this award to talk about the best offensive players in the league who aren’t quarterbacks. So these are the most valuable running backs, wide receivers and tight ends so far this season, with respect to their individual production and the impact on their offenses as a whole.

#1 Tyreek Hill

When the Chiefs decided to trade Tyreek Hill to Miami this offseason, the big discussion was whether Patrick Mahomes needed him more to keep Kansas City’s offense explosive or if Hill needed a quarterback of that caliber to produce at such a level.

And even though Pat and company are arguably looking as good as ever, Hill has been an even bigger game-changer, whilst making Tua Tagovailoa look like a fringe MVP candidate.

He already sits at 76 catches for 1104 yards – Justin Jefferson is the next-closest guy in the league with 867. Only taking teams into account that have also played nine games, Hill is 37 yards away from the Bears’ team total through the air so far and has outgained eight WR rooms around the league by himself.

Right now, he’s on pace to shatter the NFL’s receiving record for a season. Obviously, his acceleration and top speed can punish any type of one-on-one coverage or squatting safety on any given play, but with his twitchiness and short-area burst, he’s also the toughest guy to lay a hand on.

As of last week, he had the highest receiving grade on contested targets, according to PFF (94.4). Some of the grabs he’s made working back on underthrown balls and plucking it off the heads of defenders are things you rarely even see from 6’4” guys (Hill is 5’10”).

Beyond his actual production individually, the space he creates purely with his presence on the field is unbelievable. Be it the way he expands the distance between the second and third level, or how deep he pushes the coverage to create cushions underneath, there are windows to attack on basically every single snap for Miami. The gravity he holds and how he affects spacing is unparalleled.

#2 Travis Kelce

Travis Kelce is top-seven among all players in catches (57) and receiving yards (659), along with being tied for the league-high seven touchdowns through the air. No other tight end is even in the top 20 as far as aerial yardage is concerned.

He has delivered 10 plays of 20+ yards (tied for seventh), but more importantly, only Tyreek Hill has picked up more first downs than Kelce (43 versus 47), and he’s done so on 23 fewer targets.

He is such a savvy route-runner and can create separation from any defender in the league. The chemistry between Mahomes and Kelce is impeccable, which makes them borderline indefensible on third downs.

There were questions about what this KC offense may look like following the departure of Tyreek Hill, and we’ve seen them spread the ball around to a bunch of guys, but in high-leverage moments and when they stall for stretches, Kelce is the guy who gets them going.

Note: Saquon Barkley was No. 2 on this list, but since he features elsewhere, he's been removed from contention here.

Honorable mentions: Justin Jefferson, Nick Chubb & Derrick Henry

Defensive Player of the Year

While the MVP and to some degree Offensive Player of the Year are tilted towards quarterbacks, voters for the defensive side of the ball are typically enamored with guys putting up big numbers in the sacks and interceptions department.

It’s rare that we see true off-ball linebackers take home the honors, with Luke Kuechly being the only one since 2005 to do so. Their impact on the game has been somewhat mitigated. Therefore, pass-rushing edge defenders have moved into the spotlight. Considering how many teams rely on their front four and simulated pressures to put heat on quarterbacks, they’ve been the stars of this season.

#1 Nick Bosa

Right now, in terms of being able to attack the weaknesses of blockers, overwhelm guys physically and take advantage of technical imperfections, Nick Bosa is probably the apex predator in the NFL.

He’s currently fifth league-wide with 36 pressures, but if you average that number out, by taking into consideration that he’s missed a good one-and-a-half games and the 49ers have already had their bye week, he moves up to second, behind only the Browns’ Myles Garrett.

Bosa also leads the league in actual QB hits (20) and he’s tied for second in sacks (8.5). His explosion off the ball has become even more terrifying since he’s entered the league. If tackles mistime when they shoot their punch or don’t hit the right landing spots, he can defeat their hands cleanly with one swipe. Moreover, if they get a little too tall or shift their way to their heels, he will take them to the quarterback along with himself.

While his eight tackles for loss rank him one spot outside the top 10 in that statistic, he has been a menace in run defense. Whether it’s creating chaos by crashing into a pulling lineman at the point of attack, squeezing or running things down from the backside, or simply funneling things back inside, he has been a big factor in the 49ers ranking No. 1 in the NFL at 3.4 yards per rush allowed.

In PFF’s metrics, Bosa is the only edge defender with pass-rush and run-defense grades of over 80 (Chris Jones and Quinnen Williams are the two IDLs who meet those parameters).

He’s been a dominant player for a defense that, without taking the Chiefs game into account, has given up just 14.7 points a game.

#2 Micah Parsons

The case for Micah Parsons to be right at the front of this race is fairly simple – he finished second last season in terms of votes for Defensive Player of the Year as a rookie and he’s significantly better in year two.

Right now, he ranks behind only the Browns’ Myles Garrett, with 39 pressures on the season, despite spending a higher percentage of snaps in coverage than any other player in the top 10.

According to ESPN’s pass-rush win rate, he beats his blocker in 2.5 seconds or less on 32% of his rushes, which places him at number one in the league. His speed off the edge is second to none, and he's able to consistently attack half the man and win the corner. He's also able to hit quick inside counters and incorporate some stutter steps, to read pass sets and punish any overcommitments.

His ability to create force through his acceleration is a major problem for blockers, but his hand placement has some room for improvement over the rest of the season.

When he isn’t actually attacking the quarterback, we’ve seen Parsons with some teach-tape reps in coverage against running backs and tight ends. The biggest star on the Cowboys is also tied for sixth with nine tackles for loss, while the two guys in front of him have 10 but have played one additional game.

Even when blockers try to seal him on the backside, his quickness to jump inside can create issues. He also has the blazing speed to run down even wide receivers when they’re involved in the run/screen game.

With some absurd chase-down tackles, a couple of fumbles forced and one alertly returned for a touchdown, he’s arguably the biggest playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. Moreover, he’s doing it for the top-ranked defense in DVOA (-18.6%).

#3 Myles Garrett

According to PFF, Garrett leads the NFL in pass-rushing grade (93.7), total pressures (41) and pass-rush win percentage (27.4%). He’s on pace for the best (statistical) season of his career.

He has “only” recorded 7.5 sacks so far, but he has also only played in seven games. When he’s been out there, he’s absolutely terrorized any tackle he’s gone up against, and most teams have adjusted their protections to provide help.

Garrett has become much more flexible and has the ability to torque his body and step past his man, linking his arms and lower half together. He also has the sheer power to take blockers for a ride and force QBs to move off their spot even with offensive coordinators circling him on the whiteboard.

In the run game, he has been one of the few bright spots for Cleveland, who rank in the bottom 10 in total yards and yards per carry allowed on the ground. Garrett has done his part, though, stunning tight ends at the point of attack and even shutting down option plays against the likes of Lamar Jackson. He does have eight TFLs to his name, which once again came in just seven contests.

Honorable mentions: Matthew Judon, Jeffery Simmons & Za’Darius Smith

Offensive Rookie of the Year

This is another award that has leaned heavily towards quarterbacks in recent years. For instance, Justin Herbert blew away Justin Jefferson in 2020, while Kyler Murray won it over Josh Jacobs the previous year.

But with Kenny Pickett struggling as the lone rookie QB with extended action at this point, we can deal with the other guys. Running backs, in particular, have really shone so far.

#1 Dameon Pierce

The Texans are 1-6-1 so far, with just one of their losses coming by fewer than seven points. They’re probably in the market for a new quarterback and coaching staff. So this really is a lost season for them and there are very few bright spots.

With that being said, their rookie running back has been awesome to watch. There was never a question that he’d be the best and most complete back for Houston and he’s handled 74.3% of touches for that backfield.

He’s turned those into 678 rushing yards, which ranks sixth in the NFL right now, and in terms of yards per game (84.8), he actually moves up one spot to make it into the top five.

He’s good at incorporating micro-movements to set up blockers and not allow defenders to square him in the hole, meaning guys can’t bring him down without gaining multiple extra yards.

The Texans use a lot of duo and GT power runs, where his ability to change up his footwork on the fly and work in sudden bursts keeps second-level defenders from being able to mirror and get straight wraps on him.

He also might just be the angriest ball carrier in the game right now, just refusing to go down, stiff-arming guys to the ground or straight-up trucking whoever is in his path.

Not counting his untouched 75-yard TD versus the Chargers, where he did make the safety miss a good 10 yards in, an absurd 83.4% of his ground production has come after contact.

His involvement in the passing game has also seen an uptick since early in the season. He's mostly a check-down option (20 catches for 98 yards), but he’s produced some teaching tape on pass pro reps, where he’s stonewalled linebackers in the gap.

#2 Kenneth Walker III

Unlike the Texans' rookie runner, who has been the workhorse in that backfield since week two, Walker has to wait his turn a little. Working his way back from a hernia procedure, he broke loose for a 69-yard touchdown against the Saints, once Rashaad Penny went down with what turned out to be a season-ending ankle injury.

However, over the past four weeks as a starter, he has been the most productive back in the league. He’s averaged 106 yards on the ground (on 22 carries per game) and scored six touchdowns over that stretch, along with 34 receiving yards.

Ever since he’s been handed the reins, it has been clear what a special ball carrier he is. After a breakout season as a transfer to Michigan State, when he won the Doak Walker award for the top running back in the nation, he ended up being drafted second at his position after Breece Hall.

KW3’s ability to string together moves and make defenders miss was his calling card in college and he’s carried that over smoothly to the pro level. According to PFF, he’s already seventh in the league with 31 missed tackles forced, despite not having touched the ball more than eight times until week six.

Walker has crazy agility and can make defenders look like they’re stuck in quicksand. He can also plant and navigate around blocks, and has been deadly cutting back across the grain after forcing the entire defense to flow with him.

He does a great job of minimizing the surface area opponents can hit and pulls himself through wraps. Then, of course, he has true home-run speed, indicated by an NFL season-high 22.09 mph on his game-sealing touchdown run against the Chargers a couple of weeks ago.

#3 Chris Olave

Let’s throw a receiver in here, as one guy stands above the rest of this rookie class. The only player who even comes close to matching Chris Olave’s 618 receiving yards (on 43 catches) is his former Ohio State teammate Garrett Wilson on the Jets (521). No other rookie has even cracked 400.

That places the Saints standout ninth league-wide, sandwiched between two potential Hall of Fame receivers in Davante Adams and Mike Evans. And he’s done so on 249 routes, which ranks 32nd in the NFL.

Ever since Michael Thomas fooled us into thinking he was finally back from injury over the first couple of weeks, Olave has been the unquestioned primary target in the passing game, with nearly double the yardage of the next-closest player, which is running back Alvin Kamara (319).

And while he has delivered some big plays down the field, he has been a consistent chain-mover for New Orleans. Twenty-eight of his 43 receptions have resulted in first downs and several of them have come in got-to-have-it situations.

He has only reached the end-zone twice, but that is more due to how heavily the Saints have featured Taysom Hill at the goal line. Other than Thomas’ three TDs when he was still in there, the WR corp for this team has accounted for only five scores.

Olave looked like the most pro-ready receiver coming into the draft this past April, considering his ability to manipulate defenders at break point, his feel for zone-coverage, and how consistently he frames the ball when it arrives there.

He’s also great at threatening vertically off the ball, snapping off routes and working back down the ladder on curls, hooks and comebacks. His ability to get to the edges of defenders in press alignment has been impressive and he’s always been really smooth with changing up speeds and not losing it as he bends routes.

Olave isn’t a YAC specialist, but he displays tremendous awareness for ancillary coverage defenders and for how to secure catches, while only having dropped two passes in the season.

Honorable mentions: Garrett Wilson & Breece Hall

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Similar to the Defensive Player of the Year award, voting for the rookie version is also heavily swayed towards defensive linemen, because their impact can be measured much more easily than guys in the back seven.

However, while the three most recent winners have all played on the edge, we’ve also had three interior D-linemen and linebackers each receive the honors in the 2010s.

This season, we’ve seen some tremendous young corners make their mark on the league.

#1 Sauce Gardner

The transition from college to the NFL is challenging no matter the position, but quarterback and cornerback may be the most difficult ones in that regard. So considering any great play by young quarterbacks is typically highlighted, you rarely see guys at cornerback truly stand out at a young age.

In fact, the only two cornerbacks to win DROY since Charles Woodson in 1998 are Marcus Peters, thanks to leading the league in interceptions and pass deflections, and Marshon Lattimore, who had one of the greatest coverage seasons ever seen.

Sauce Gardner can easily be put in that conversation and he has lived up to the expectations of being the fourth overall pick. Right now, he’s tied for the lead in passes broken up (12), he’s intercepted two passes and hasn’t given up a touchdown since week two.

Gardner has allowed fewer than 30 yards and a passer rating below 67 in all but two of his games. He’s been outstanding in a zone-coverage-heavy New York defense on early downs. His presence has also made it very tough to attack windows between him and nearby teammates, thanks to his ability to squeeze receivers and decipher route patterns.

Right now, Sauce has the highest coverage grade among all cornerbacks, according to PFF (86.1). He’s also been an active contributor in run support, condensing the edge and being a secure tackler, missing only three of his 47 total attempts.

#2 Tariq Woolen

There was never any doubt that Woolen was a ridiculous athlete. His spider chart by Mockdraftable would basically be a perfect circle if not for average hand size. Woolen is 6’4” with the arm length of an offensive tackle arm at 33 ½ inches, yet he ran a 4.26 and had a 42-inch vertical jump at the combine.

Somehow, he slipped all the way to the fifth round of the draft – just like another pretty good corner they had in Seattle for years in Richard Sherman.

A fixture in the lineup from week one, Woolen leads all rookies with four interceptions, one of which he returned to the house in highly impressive fashion, and he’s broken up eight additional passes.

You'd expect Woolen to be a classic press-man corner, and he has some high-level reps on tape, but he’s actually been a massive piece in Seattle’s off-zone heavy scheme. He has the speed to carry routes down the sideline or post in cover-three, with the confidence to turn his head and locate the ball, as well as fall off his responsibility and disrupt the catch point on routes around him.

However, what is so impressive about a guy his size is the way he drives and even undercuts routes from quarters. The highest passer rating he allowed through the first six weeks was 60.4, but he’s just had his three worst games as a pro, allowing two touchdowns.

#3 Aidan Hutchinson

Looking back at preseason odds for this award, Hutchinson was the overwhelming favorite. Considering he was arguably the most pro-ready pass-rusher based on the success he had in his final year at Michigan and the fact that No. 1 pick Travon Walker was fairly raw technically, it felt like Hutch had a really clear path to the award.

Considering Detroit is giving up an NFL-high 29.3 points per game, not a lot of attention is heading its way. Still, Hutchinson has had a more than solid debut campaign for a team that has lost a lot of close games and rarely been in positive game-script situations.

Hutchinson leads all rookies with 4.5 sacks and nine additional QB hits, whilst being tied for number one (with the Chiefs’ George Karlaftis) in total pressures (24).

Comparing his pressure count to the rest of the Lions', the next-closest guy has only 11. He’s needed to be the alpha for that group, and while he hasn’t been as consistently dominant as people hoped he might be, he’s had flashes.

The rest of his production doesn’t do him justice, as he’s regularly been held on rush downs, and his three TFLs don’t reflect the way he's thrown off run plays by making ball carriers stop and try to find a different opening.

Honorable mentions: Devin Lloyd, Jack Jones & Jaquan Brisker

Comeback Player of the Year

The requirements and parameters for this award are a bit confusing. The truest form of this should be players coming off injuries, followed by guys who had a down period but have returned to top form.

#1 Saquon Barkley

Saquon is among the top candidates for Offensive Player of the Year, but this award almost seems like a lock.

Right now, the Giants running back is third in total scrimmage yards, behind only Tyreek Hill and Derrick Henry. His journey from college phenom at Penn State to NFL superstar, then having two injury-riddled seasons before rising from the ashes again is mesmerizing.

Barkley's vision between the tackles is as good as it’s ever been, while his pacing and jump-cuts make it almost impossible to really box him in. What has been so impressive about Barkley this season is the fact that the Giants rely on him as their only skill-position player for defenses to circle throughout their week of preparation.

The leading receiver for New York right now is Darius Slayton with 232 yards and the two other backs on the roster have fewer than 100 yards on the ground.

The Giants use Barkley in the wildcat, they hit him on designed crossing routes as a slot receiver, and they almost over-feed him at times on swings and screens that opponents are prepared for. Despite mostly being used in multi-tight-end sets and running him on wide zone, duo and toss plays where opponents are keyed in on stopping him, he still produces at a high level.

#2 Za’Darius Smith

You rarely see defensive players win this award, with Eric Berry, who overcame cancer, the only one to do so since 2008. But Za’Darius Smith is certainly in the reckoning this season.

After injuring his back in last season's opener, Smith had surgery that kept him out for the rest of the year. He left the Packers and signed with the Minnesota Vikings and had a monster game in their week one matchup.

Only the Patriots’ Matt Judon has recorded more than Smith’s 8.5 sacks, and he’s tied for the league-lead with 13 tackles for loss. He’s also top five in QB hits per game (15 in eight weeks).

This past Sunday at Washington was his first game without a sack or TFL all season, and he still made a significant impact, getting three hits on Taylor Heinicke and batting down two of his passes.

He also became the only player this season with multiple games of 9+ pressures. His impact on this entire Vikings defense is noteworthy, considering they’re allowing five points fewer than they did in 2021.

Smith's their chess piece in the front seven, lining up anywhere from the nose all the way out to a nine-technique on passing downs. The Vikings also use him as an off-ball blitzer to create havoc at times.

#3 Christian McCaffrey

This may be somewhat of a projection, with McCaffrey expected to return to superstar form in San Francisco. Yet, this is also a sign of what type of player he truly is, now under a great coach in Kyle Shanahan who understands how to deploy him.

In his one start, he did something we’ve never seen before in the NFL – accounting for 30+ yards and a touchdown rushing, receiving and passing the ball. Despite the fact he spent his first six games on the worst offense in terms of EPA per play and DVOA and he saw limited action on his debut with Niners, he’s still sixth among players in scrimmage yards (881) and has accounted for six touchdowns.

McCaffrey can certainly stretch plays out and then explode through the hole in a zone-based run system. Yet, as we witness San Francisco transition to more gap schemes, you can really see what made him so special at Stanford.

In the passing game, he can bail out offenses by catching check-downs short of the sticks and making a couple of defenders miss to keep the offense moving and win down the field in isolated matchups.

However, something that we saw most recently against the Rams was his great football IQ. On his receiving TD, he realized that he needed to turn a simple flare out upfield and caught the defense napping. Jimmy Garoppolo trusted him to get to that spot for a leaping grab.

Seeing him shine once again is fantastic for NFL fans, after he was limited to just 10 games over the previous two seasons.

Coach of the Year

This is another category without clear parameters. Theoretically, the coaches who make the most of the talent they have at hand should win the award, but mostly it's the ones with the greatest records who receive the honors.

Of course, that’s the main indicator of how well a football team is coaches, but expectations coming into the year based on the roster available, and the ability to overcome adversity, should carry as much, if not more, weight. This season, there are probably more worthy candidates for this award than we’ve seen in a long time.

#1 Brian Daboll

Considering the minimal expectations on the Giants heading into the season, having six wins (compared to only two losses) so far definitely qualifies them as overachievers.

Considering the horrible contracts brought on board by the Dave Gettleman regime, followed by a pretty eventless offseason and then the cutting of a Pro Bowl cornerback, expectations would not have been undercut had this team finished the season with six wins

Observing their offensive skill-position group, they have Saquon in his resurgent season and really nobody else. Kenny Golladay has been virtually basically unplayable, Sterling Shephard tore his ACL in week three and they recently traded former first-round pick Kadarius Toney to the Chiefs.

Yet, they continue to come up with unique designs and personnel combinations to create issues for defenses and put up enough points. Defensively, they’ve allowed Wink Martindale to bring the heat at certain moments, whilst having his backfield well-prepared for what’s coming.

The Giants are somehow 6-2, despite ranking 21st in overall DVOA. They stick around in games and are mentally tougher than their opponents when it comes to the fourth quarter, indicated by five game-winning drives led by Daniel Jones – two more than any other QB in the league.

The G-Men are early in their development compared to where they should be in this re-tooling phase and Daboll deserves a ton of credit for how he's turned things around. Since the NFC East is 24-9 combined and has three teams with at least six wins, the division title is probably out of reach, but the Giants are likely headed for a wildcard berth.

#2 Nick Sirianni

Pittsburgh Steelers v Philadelphia Eagles

People who really studied Philly’s roster and all the moves they made this offseason wouldn't have expected them to be 8-0 at this point even though they were set up for a very good season.

Sirianni deserves a lot of credit for steering this ship through the first half of the season without losing a game.

Jalen Hurts has put up MVP numbers in an offense perfectly suited to his skillset. The Eagles don't put a ton of pressure on him on a play-by-play basis, with the RPO game as their foundation and wrinkles to dress those concepts up differently.

The defense has gone from being a bland two- and three-deep coverage base, to now throwing all kinds of stuff at the wall. They’re now top-four in offensive and defensive DVOA, while having ascended to the top spot for the whole team (32.7%).

The Eagles understand their personnel and when to be aggressive, and add little variations to their weekly gameplans.

Looking at the rest of the schedule, they don’t face another team with a record of at least .500 for another month, and without another true powerhouse in the NFC, they might stroll towards the No. 1 seed in the conference.

#3 Robert Saleh

Let’s now get to “the other” New York team. There was a little bit more faith in the Jets coming into the season, having a highly talented second-year quarterback and a bunch of young talent brought in via the draft by a generally highly-regarded GM in Joe Douglas.

Robert Saleh, now in the midst of his second season with Gang Green, finally has the pieces defensively that he originally envisioned. That unit has gone from the very bottom of the league a year ago to seventh in DVOA as a group and tied for third with just 4.8 yards allowed per play, despite a challenging schedule. They held two of the most explosive offenses from their own division in the Dolphins and Bills to only 17 points each.

They can wreak havoc with their front four, they have heat-seeking missiles on the second level and their secondary is really good at passing off targets in zone coverage, while being able to challenge opponents with man on crucial downs.

They’ve been so good on that side of the ball that they haven’t needed their young QB to be the hero. It's been quite the opposite actually, as he’s cost them with some mistakes.

But on that side of the ball, Mike LaFleur has found ways to design some cool run plays, using a lot more pin-and-pulls and counters than we typically see from that offensive tree.

They’ve been able to find success on the ground, despite five different combinations on the starting O-line, and when they’ve gotten to the fourth quarter they’ve reigned in their young signal-caller to where he doesn’t make any big mistakes and has a passer rating of 104.2 (fifth-best in the league).

As a team, their point differential of +58 in fourth quarters is 25 higher than the next closest squad (Vikings with 33).

Honorable mentions: Kevin O’Connell & Pete Carroll