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The NFL Offensive Player of the Year award, popularly known as OPOY, is one of the most prestigious ones. With the first week of the NFL season over, we can kickstart our predictions for the NFL awards for the season.
The offensive awards always see big campaigns for quarterbacks. While quarterbacks have won every MVP award since the 2012 season, the OPOY award tends to have running backs and wide receivers more often as its winners.
Of course, if you want to be OPOY, you've got to have an incredible season, as the list of candidates is huge. Here's our power ranking for the five players leading the race for the OPOY award.
#5 Deebo Samuel
What a start for the season it has been for Deebo Samuel, who amassed 189 yards and one touchdown over nine receptions. He will be a key part of the San Francisco 49ers' offensive plans this year, and his talent puts him as the premier wide receiver for the team.
A dynamic, agile receiver, Samuel is a big-play threat every time he has the ball in his hands. His huge receiving numbers in the first week has put him in the spotlight for the OPOY. As Kyle Shanahan continues to draw his offense to put his players in the best possible position to get yards after catches, Samuel's numbers could grow even bigger as the season goes on.
#4 Tyreek Hill
The game may have got a little out of hand for the Kansas City Chiefs, but when you have Patrick Mahomes, you can always come back.
And Tyreek Hill was a huge part of the victory against the Cleveland Browns during Week One. Just like Mahomes, he made in the play that swung the momentum in favor of the Chiefs, "Tyreek down there somewhere".
Hill is the speedster who's the only solid wide receiver option for the Chiefs this year. That will be the case unless Mecole Hardman can take a step forward. Nevertheless, Hill had 11 receptions for 197 yards and a touchdown on Sunday, and was the best skill player in the NFL over the first week.
Quarterbacks are always the favorites to win the NFL MVP award. But the Offensive Player of the Year award is different. Hill is the best non-QB candidate for OPOY after Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season.
#3 Matthew Stafford
What a start Matthew Stafford has had with the Los Angeles Rams! It took exactly one game to see what Stafford would bring to Sean McVay's offense. More importantly, his deep passes were everything the Rams were missing with Jared Goff's poor field vision. The NFL OPOY award is in his sights already.
Stafford made good decisions with the ball; his throws were sharp and accurate, and he did a great job exploring the Chicago Bears' defense. He completed 20 of 26 passes for 321 yards and three touchdowns. It was just the start against a good defense. The veteran is a great bet for the NFL 2021 OPOY award.
#2 Russell Wilson
New offensive coordinator, new Russell Wilson? Well, that's what it looked like during the Seattle Seahawks' season opener against the Indianapolis Colts. Wilson was able to carve open the Colts' secondary all day long, and his deep passes were as great as they could be. He has never received an NFL MVP vote, but he's a strong runner for the NFL OPOY award in 2021.
With Shane Waldron taking over from Brian Schottenheimer as the Seahawks' offensive coordinator, it was expected to see a better designed offense to take advantage of the team's skill players. That's exactly what happened, with Wilson finding Tyler Lockett in the end zone a couple of times, and doing a great job taking what the defense gave him.
He has 18 completed passes from 23 attempts, 254 passing yards and four passing touchdowns. Wilson's display was fabulous, which makes him a big NFL OPOY candidate.
#1 Dak Prescott
Leading our NFL OPOY list after the first week of the season is Dak Prescott, quarterback from the Dallas Cowboys. He had a fabulous display after the first week even though the Cowboys were defeated by the reigning champions, Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.
Prescott threw an incredible 58 passes during the game, completing 42 of them. His completion percentage would have been even higher if not for some drops from the Cowboys' receivers during the game.
He was sharp, made good decisions with the football and almost led an incredible comeback, only for Tom Brady to drive the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to win the game.
Nevertheless, it was a fabulous first week for Prescott, who showed no rust from last year's surgery and delivered a great performance. He has an early lead for the NFL OPOY award.
