The 2023 NFL season is officially in the books. The Kansas City Chiefs won the Super Bowl, and all the festivities have commenced. Following Week 9, I made some predictions on who would win what NFL awards. Let’s see how that went.

Celebration of the Year:

Halfway through the season, I thought it was going to be Mike Gesicki with his unforgettable “griddy” dance. This celebration was the viral talk of the internet for weeks, and still most people only know him as the dude with “the griddy”. This award was 100% stolen by a Bengal team celebration in week 18. The celebration was okay, but it did not come with all the impacts the Gesicki “griddy” did. 

Air and Ground Award: This prediction did not go my way, but these award recipients definitely deserved by their prizes. I thought the Air Award would go to Buffalo’s Josh Allen, but instead it went to Joe Burrow of the Bengals. At the beginning of the season, we all saw Josh Allen as Superman once again, but the arm injury (that I accurately predicted) would take him out of running for MVP and even took him out of running for the Air Award. It went to Joe Burrow who despite having an awful offensive line for the first five weeks, started performing again just like last year. The Ground Award went to the biggest dark horse of the year, Josh Jacobs who came out of almost nowhere and played like a superstar in the final third of the season. I thought it would go to Henry, McCaffrey, or Barkley, but Jacobs definitely deserved the award and should get his bread this off-season.

Now it is time for the major awards. 

Comeback Player of the Year: Geno Smith, Seattle Seahawks

I actually predicted this one and he definitely deserves it. He completely changed the course of the rest of his career with his performance this season. During preseason, everyone thought it was a quarterback competition between him and Drew Lock, but the way the season went, it must not have been close. Geno Smith came back from the garbage heap of the NFL and reestablished himself as the QB1 in Seattle. Some said it should’ve gone to McCaffrey or Saquon Barkley because they came back from injuries and did well, but I think the arc of Geno Smith and the revival of his career was a much bigger comeback.

Defensive Rookie of the Year: always Sauce Gardner, New York Jets.

Sauce was going up against some of the best wide receivers in the league and absolutely locked them down. He legitimately played like a top 3 cornerback last year and seems to have a very bright future. In addition, it appears the entire Jets team will have a bright future as they also took home Offensive Rookie of the Year:  Garrett Wilson. Now this one was ridiculous to me. He had a great season, but Kenneth Walker had a far better one. He had five more touchdowns and only 53 fewer yards. It makes no sense to me, but congratulations Jets fans!

Coach of the Year:  Brian Daboll, New York Giants

I predicted that this award would not actually go to the best coach, but just the coach with the best record. However, the NFL actually did something right for once. They gave it to Brain Daboll. I said that he deserved it, but Nick Sirianni of the Jets was probably going to get it, but I underestimated the NFL. Daboll took one of the worst teams in football and made them a solid playoff team. Although they got absolutely dominated by the Eagles they had a respectable season and have a bright future with Daboll as their coach.

Offensive Player of the Year:  Justin Jefferson, Minnesota Vikings

As I predicted, the award did go to a wide receiver, just not the one I thought. When I was writing the Week 9 article, Tyreek Hill was on pace to beat Detroit’s Calvin “Megatron” Johnson’s receiving yards in a year record so I predicted Hill. I still think he would have won it if Tua did not get hurt, but that is beside the point and diminishing the accomplishments of Justin Jefferson. Jefferson had a fantastic year, one that has solidified him as the top receiver in the NFL. He had the most yards and was practically unstoppable. I am happy to see this did not go to another quarterback, as Jefferson definitely deserved this award.

Defensive Player of the Year:  Nick Bosa, San Francisco 49ers

I said this was not even a close one, and I could not have been more wrong. It was always Parsons or Bosa, and Bosa just edged him out. Some think that Parsons got screwed during the awards, but Bosa just had a more dominant and impressive season. Bosa led the 49ers defensive and the entire team to an amazing run and deserves recognition for that.

MVP Award:  Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs

As I predicted, it was hands down Patrick Mahomes all the way. He plays the fundamentals so well and makes the impossible look easy. He is easily the most versatile quarterback and can do things no one else can. Everyone was wondering what he would do without Tyreek…well this is your answer: he did not skip a beat. Mahomes even led his team to a Super Bowl victory against one of the best defenses in the league, winning Super Bowl MVP. Although that is not factored into the MVP voting, it just shows how dominant of a force he was this year.

Well, that is it for the 2022-2023 NFL season. Stay tuned for more information as we get ready for the next year.