NEW ORLEANS — There hasn’t been very much drama at the NFL Honors show over the past few years, but there was definitely some on Thursday night.
There were plenty of surprises during the two-hour show, and we’re going to break everything down with below.
Split ticket for MVP
The AP voters handed the first-team All-Pro quarterback slot to Lamar Jackson, and over the past 38 years, that All-Pro quarterback has also won MVP. However, that trend ended this year, because those same AP voters handed the Most Valuable Player award to Josh Allen.
Based on how the voting broke down, Allen admitted that he was pretty shocked that he won.
“I was pretty surprised, given what we know about how the voting goes,” Allen said in a press conference after winning the award. “Lamar was very deserving of this as well.”
It was the third-closest non-tie vote ever. It also was the first time since 1987 that a quarterback won MVP but was not the first-team All-Pro at QB. That’s something to keep in mind when we see the All-Pro teams in the future. Now, we know that the first-teamer is not a guarantee to win the big award. Allen garnered 27 of 50 possible first-place votes, which allowed him to edge Jackson, who got the other 23. In terms of first-place votes, it was the closest MVP race since 2003 when Steve McNair and Peyton Manning tied for the award.
Allen is the third Bills player to win MVP, joining Thurman Thomas (1991) and O.J. Simpson (1973).
2025 NFL Honors: Josh Allen named NFL MVP over Lamar Jackson, becomes third Bills player to win award
Bryan DeArdo
It’s good to be a Kevin
For the third time in five years, a coach named Kevin won Coach of the Year. Granted, Kevin Stefanski did it in two of the previous four years before Kevin O’Connell won this year. And this information is not in any way actionable. But it’s pretty interesting.
O’Connell is the first Vikings coach since Bud Grant in 1969 to take home the Coach of the Year award. Minnesota went 14-3 during a season where it nearly won the NFC North, and O’Connell spearheaded Sam Darnold’s resurgence. O’Connell received 25 first-place votes, which were just six more than Dan Campbell, who finished in second place.
2025 NFL Honors: Vikings’ Kevin O’Connell wins Coach of the Year
Bryan DeArdo
Heisman to rookie of the year is now a trend
Jayden Daniels became the fourth player since 2000 to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year award one season after winning the Heisman. Kyler Murray was the last quarterback to pull off that double, and before that, Cam Newton and Vince Young both did it. Daniels also took home the NextGen Stats Moment of the Year trophy for his Hail Mary to beat the Bears. So, he had himself an eventful night. (And came dressed in a great suit.)
Daniels is now the third Washington player to win Rookie of the Year, joining Robert Griffin (2012) and Mike Thomas (1975).
Jayden Daniels wins NFL OROY: Jerry Jones ‘sick’ about Cowboys having to face Commanders QB twice per year
Bryan DeArdo
Snoop was pretty solid
The 14th annual NFL Honors show was hosted by Snoop Dogg, and he definitely didn’t hold back. He opened the show by making a ref joke. “This is an incredible Super Bowl matchup between the Eagles and the refs,” Snoop said.
He also pointed out that the show was being held in New Orleans. “We’re in the big easy. That’s Patrick Mahomes’ nickname for the AFC.” After Snoop made that joke, the camera panned to Broncos head coach Sean Payton, who was NOT amused.
Oh, and we can’t forget about Snoop’s wildest joke of the night, when he roasted Bill Belichick for dating a 24-year-old.
In another surprise, Patrick Surtain II won the Defensive Player of the Year award, becoming just the sixth cornerback in NFL history take home the trophy. Joe Burrow also won the Comeback Player of the Year award for the second time and cracked a joke as soon as he won it.
“Not necessarily an award you want to win twice,” Burrow said.
Here’s a full list of the awards that were handed out
- AP Most Valuable Player: Josh Allen (Bills)
- AP Coach of the Year: Kevin O’Connell (Vikings)
- AP Comeback Player of the Year: Joe Burrow (Bengals)
- AP Offensive Player of the Year: Saquon Barkley (Eagles)
- AP Defensive Player of the Year: Patrick Surtain II (Broncos)
- AP Offensive Rookie of the Year: Jayden Daniels (Commanders)
- AP Defensive Rookie of the Year: Jared Verse (Rams)
- AP Assistant coach of the Year: Ben Johnson (Lions)
- Next Gen Stats Moment of the Year: Jayden Daniels Hail Mary
- Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year: Arik Armstead (Jaguars)
- Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2025: Jared Allen, Sterling Sharpe, Eric Allen, Antonio Gate
- Salute to Service Award presented by USAA: George Kittle (49ers)
We had live updates throughout the night, so you can re-live the magic below.
Read the full article here
