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Coach Of The Year Odds

It was an NFL season unlike any other, since it was played in the midst of a raging pandemic.

You’ll see some of the impact of that decision below; a terrible game we’ll never be able to forget featured a practice squad WR playing QB and it went about as poorly as you might expect.

But beyond all that, there was regular old NFL football with all the drama it usually brings. We’ve got NFL writers Charles McDonald and Steven Ruiz here to break it down for you, highlighting the best players, coaches and moments of the year. But we’ll also call out the players and plays that will linger for other, less noble reasons.

Odds Provided by FOXBet - Subject to Change. How to Read the NBA Coach of the Year Odds. After leading a majority of the early season, Monty Williams is no longer the favorite to win the NBA Coach of the Year Award. Utah's insane run this season has seen Quin Snyder shoot up the list as the current favorite. Williams is still a strong pick, assuming Utah runs out of steam after the All-Star. For the fourth consecutive year, Huggins has been named as a nominee for the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame. Huggins has 899 career wins to date and will become the sixth Division I coach all.

  • SportsLine offers odds on the next permanent football coach at Tennessee with the likes of Billy Napier, Jamey Chadwell, Tom Herman, Hugh Freeze and current interim coach Kevin Steele as the favorites. Money should be no object in the coaching search because Pruitt was fired with cause for 'alleged NCAA violations under his watch.'
  • Odds as of Jan 25th. Oh what a difference a year makes. Ahead of the Chiefs and 49ers facing off in Super Bowl 54, purple was a heavy favorite at -120.There were a lot of reasons for that in early 2020, but ultimately the books were proven wrong.
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Most Valuable Player

Charles: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

This one is easy for me. Mahomes allows the Chiefs to play a different sport than the rest of the league. Andy Reid and Eric Bieniemy do a terrific job in terms of piecing together the Chiefs offense, but Mahomes is the engine that makes the whole thing work. He’s the reason why they can blow out the Dolphins despite having four turnovers. Aaron Rodgers has a legitimate claim to the MVP this year, but Mahomes is edging him out for me.

Steven: Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs

For the sake of variety, I tried my best to come up with an argument for Aaron Rodgers winning the award, and I just couldn’t do it. The argument against Mahomes always involves his supporting cast, but when the guy is consistently making plays that we don’t see anyone else making, it’s hard to take that argument seriously. It’s not like Rodgers hasn’t been dealt a good hand himself. The Packers’ offensive line leads the league in just about every pass blocking metric, Davante Adams cannot be guarded and Matt LaFleur was on fire all season long. We’re all splitting hairs here and the numbers have Mahomes and Rodgers in a dead heat, so I’m using “which player is more fun to watch” as the deciding factor.

Offensive Player of the Year

David Butler II-USA TODAY Sports

Charles: Stefon Diggs, Bills

Stefon Diggs just might have been the best wide receiver in the NFL this year. Diggs is a huge reason why Josh Allen was able to have a breakout season and put himself in the MVP discussion. There’s no route that he can’t run at a high level and he showed just how complete of a receiver he is all season long. Diggs had a career season, catching 127 passes for 1535 yards and eight touchdowns.

Steven: Deshaun Watson, Texans

Deshaun Watson deserves some kind of recognition for the season he’s had. And if we actually handed out the MVP award based on value to one’s team, Watson should probably get a vote or two because the Texans would have negative wins if he wasn’t on the roster. The 25-year-old lags right behind Mahomes and Rodgers in all of those fancy efficiency metrics, only he’s playing 11-on-22 every week. That’s the 11 defenders and then whatever 11 randos the Texans trot out on defense every week. Houston only won four games but Watson had them competitive in almost all of them, including this last loss when he seemingly dragged the team to overtime only to see the secondary let A.J. Brown get open deep. I’m getting angrier as I type this. Bill O’Brien should be banished from the NFL forever.

Defensive Player of the Year

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Charles: Aaron Donald, Rams

This might be a lazy selection, but Aaron Donald was dominant once again this season. Donald was a key cog in the one of the best defenses in the league. Donald hit his fourth season in a row with double digit sacks, hitting 13.5 sacks this year. Donald also allowed Leonard Floyd, his teammate on the edge, to have a career year. Floyd finished the season with 10.5 sacks, the first time in his career he finished with at least 10 sacks. Floyd, like Dante Fowler last year, should be able to swing this season into a multiyear deal with a team this offseason. That’s off the strength of playing next to the best defensive lineman in this era of football.

Steven: T.J. Watt, Steelers

I am firmly in the “Donald could win it every year (and probably should) camp” but Watt actually earned the award this year. This isn’t a voter fatigue thing. Per PFF, Watt was elite as both a run defender and a pass rusher, and he even held up just fine in coverage when asked to play that role. Donald has him beat in the pressure department, but Watt was able to convert that pressure into sacks more often, finishing with 15 sacks to Donald’s 13.5 on the season. And Watt did that in about 100 fewer pass-rush snaps. As the Athletic’s Robert Mays wrote earlier in the season, the Steelers coaching staff basically turned Watt into a coach on the field, allowing him to freelance a bit based on the tendencies he picked up during film study and on the field. His versatility was the foundation of Pittsburgh’s defense, which was among the best in the league all season.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

(AP Photo/David Berding)

Charles: Justin Jefferson, Vikings

Anytime a longstanding record is broken, it’s worthy of an award. The Vikings win over the Lions in Week 17 may not have clinched any spots in the postseason, but it did allow Justin Jefferson to have the most yards in NFL history for a rookie wide receiver. Jefferson finished his first season in the NFL with exactly 1400 yards, edging out Anquan Boldin’s 1377 yards from 2003. Jefferson walked right into that offense and took over the No. 1 wideout role that was left open when Stefon Diggs was traded to the Bills.

Steven: Justin Herbert, Chargers

All those records Justin Jefferson broke are impressive. They really are. But Justin Herbert just put up one of the best rookie seasons we’ve seen from a quarterback.

I would agree with anyone arguing that Jefferson is currently a better receiver than Herbert is a quarterback, but that’s not the standard for the award, is it? A quarterback is far more valuable and it’s far more impressive to play the position as well as he did as a rookie than it is for Jefferson. And it’s not just the numbers. Herbert’s film was even more impressive. He made a dozen or so throws that only a handful of guys in the league can make.

Let’s put it this way: If the Chargers called the Vikings up tomorrow and offered Herbert straight up for Jefferson, Minnesota wouldn’t hesitate to take that deal. Los Angeles wouldn’t hesitate to hang up the phone if the Vikings were offering the same trade.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Charles: Chase Young, Washington Football Team

This is a no-brainer. Young didn’t put up a super gaudy sack total, but he flashed all the talent that made him the second overall pick in last year’s draft. Young and Montez Sweat make up a young, terrific defensive end duo for Washington that understands how to play the run while also being terrific pass rushers. Young finished the season with 8.5 sacks, but generated pressure like an elite pass rusher. The sacks will come as he continues to acclimate to the NFL.

Steven: Chase Young, Washington Football Team

I could have written this back in April as far as I’m concerned. I’m actually having a hard time coming up with a runner-up. I guess Antoine Winfield Jr. was pretty good this year?

Coach Of The Year Odds

Comeback Player of the Year

(AP Photo/Jennifer Stewart)

Charles: Alex Smith, Washington Football Team

There really isn’t another answer to this award. The fact that Alex Smith was able to play football at all this year is a miracle, let alone be a quarterback that wins actual games. Smith didn’t play the best football of his career, but he was able to play which is all that really matters.

Steven: Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers

I’m playing the contrarian on this one. Alex Smith coming back from a horrific leg injury was truly impressive, but we cannot say the same for his actual performance on the field. I should also point out that Teddy Bridgewater made a similar comeback and didn’t receive a vote after coming back from his own horrific leg injury. Anyway, Williams is my pick because (1) the dude did come back after having a cancerous growth removed from his freaking head, and (2) after the year off, he picked up right where he left off as one of the premier left tackles in the sport. Let’s reward good play.

Coach of the Year

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Charles: Kevin Stefanski, Browns

Stefanski gets the nod for doing the unthinkable: getting the Cleveland Browns into the postseason. After years of sadness, the Browns finally made the playoffs where they’ll face the Steelers in the Wild Card round and they absolutely would not be here without Stefanski. Cleveland had the talent to be one of the best offenses in the league this season, but Stefanski did a masterful job of orchestrating the plays and getting the most out of Baker Mayfield.

Steven: Kevin Stefanski, Browns

I would be fine if either Brian Flores or Stefanski won it, but I’ll go with the latter since his team actually made the playoffs — and did so in one of the league’s better divisions. But more impressive than Cleveland’s win-loss record was the season he coaxed out of Baker Mayfield. The Browns’ run and play-action heavy attack has taken the mental burden off of Baker and allowed him to just rely on his arm. That approach has allowed him to produce like a top-10 quarterback this season and he’ll likely parlay that performance into a fat contract extension that the team totally won’t regret in two years. Just ask 49ers and Rams fans.

Offensive Coordinator of the Year

Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Charles: Arthur Smith, Titans

For the second season in a row, the Titans had an explosive, creative offense that shredded defenses all year long. According to Ben Baldwin of The Athletic, the Titans finished second in expected points added per play (0.190) and success rate (50.8%), trailing only the Packers. Ryan Tannehill continued to put up efficient passing numbers while Derrick Henry trampled defenses for over 2,000 yards. Smith came out of nowhere, but has solidified himself as one of the best play-callers in the NFL over the past two seasons.

Steven: Brian Daboll, Bills

Any other answer is wrong. In fact, I’m willing to give Daboll the regular Coach of the Year award for the work he’s done this season. From the pass concepts to the run game to the pass protections, everything was perfect in Buffalo this year and the result is this buzzsaw of an offense we’ve seen run through teams over the past month. I don’t know how Josh Allen turns out if Daboll wasn’t in charge of his development, but I know it wouldn’t look this good. And, sure, the Bills are loaded at receiver, but we’ve seen coaches get less out of more in recent years.

Defensive Coordinator of the Year

(AP Photo/Keith Srakocic)

Charles: Keith Butler, Steelers

The Steelers have a ton of versatile talent on defense, but finding the right roles to make that versatility mesh can be difficult. Keith Butler and the Steelers defensive job did a masterful job getting the most out of their talent. Butler utilized players like T.J. Watt and Minkah Fitzpatrick perfectly to maximize the destruction they could inflict on offenses. Pittsburgh finished second in expected points added per play (-0.106) and first in success rate (39%). Not bad!

Steven: Brandon Staley, Rams

Even if the results weren’t quite as good as they ended up being, I would have probably picked Brandon Staley for the award anyway. Mostly because of his uniquely modern approach to playing defense, which puts an emphasis on stopping the run with fewer numbers in order to better defend the pass.

That Staley’s approach led to this…

…made it a no brainer for me.

Most Improved Player

Charles: Quinnen Williams, Jets

Quinnen Williams performed like one of the best defensive tackles in the league this year. Williams finished his second season with seven sacks and was legitimately playing at an All-Pro level by the end of the season. Over his final four games, Williams notched 3.5 sacks and seven quarterback hits. That would extrapolate to 14 sacks and 28 quarterback hits over a full 16 game season. With his athleticism and growing arsenal of pass-rush moves, Williams should be a premier interior presence for years to come.

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Steven: Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

I’m taking a major L on this one, but what other choice do I have? The dude went from one of the worst quarterbacks in the league (statistically speaking) to one of the very best (statistically speaking) in a year. He deserves this made up award. Yes, as I said earlier, everything about Buffalo’s offense is perfect right now, but Allen’s skill set plays a large role in that, and he still had to make all those throws to open receivers. I’m not sure the player we saw in 2019 hits them as often as he has this season.

Einstein In-Game Adjustment of the Year

Charles: Ravens’ use of Orlando Brown vs Indianapolis

Nfl Coach Of The Year Odds

Baltimore had to figure out how to power through multiple injuries along the offensive line and the offseason retirement of Marshal Yanda. It wasn’t easy, but they did find out that Pro Bowl offensive tackle Orlando Brown can play multiple positions across the offensive line. When the Ravens were driving down the field in the second quarter against the Colts, they flipped Brown all over the offensive line to try and create favorable blocking matchups for themselves.

Desperation leads to innovation, or something like that.

Steven: Cardinals vs. Dolphins, Week 9

Admittedly, I probably have to grind more tape to answer this one correctly, so I’ll just pick the game I wrote about earlier in the season. There wasn’t any one galaxy brain adjustment in the Cardinals-Dolphins — unless you count Kliff’s protection adjustment that led to Christian Kirk’s long touchdown pass — but, instead, it was the punch-counterpunch nature of the game that made it so fascinating from an X’s and O’s perspective.

Worst Game of the Year

Charles: Dolphins vs Jets, Week 6

The Dolphins beat the Jets 24-0, but it wasn’t a very convincing win for the Dolphins even though they shut out the Jets. The Dolphins didn’t convert a single third-down conversion until Tua Tagovailoa came into the game with just over two minutes left in the game. The game really came down to a completely inept performance by the Jets offense. Joe Flacco threw for 186 yards on 44 attempts and the Jets averaged just 3.8 yards per play. The Dolphins only needed to kick one field goal after halftime to cruise to a victory, but it wasn’t a particularly entertaining game to watch. A non-dominating shutout victory is a rarity, but it happened and it was awful.

Steven: Saints vs. Broncos, Week 12

Denver had a wide receiver starting at quarterback. New Orleans had a tight end behind center. The results were just as ugly as one would suspect, with Kendall Hinton and Taysom Hill exchanging unsightly passes all afternoon.

RBSDM.com

The most hilarious thing about this game is that the Broncos had Hinton chucking the ball downfield more than the Saints did with Hill, who is supposedly a real, live quarterback in their minds.

Next Gen Stats

Coach of the year odds nfl

This game would have been a lot more fun if it was close late, but the Saints run game allowed them to win 31-3. It wasn’t even competitive.

Worst Play of the Year

Charles: Giants run an RPO with no routes

Early in the season, the Giants somehow ran an RPO with no one going out for a pass. Daniel Jones executed a run fake, Devonta Freeman transitioned into a pass block, and the Giants had absolutely no one ready to catch a pass.

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That play set the tone for a dismal season on offense for the Giants. The Giants ranked 30th in expected points per play (-0.056).

Steven: Raiders last-minute TD to beat Jets

This may have actually qualified as the best play if the Jets had held onto the top pick in the draft. Instead, they won TWO games and ruined Gregg Williams’ heroic call to keep the tank alive. I don’t know if I hate a Cover 0 call in that situation in a vacuum, but the Jets had an undrafted corner who runs a 4.5 40-yard dash on a first-round pick who runs a 4.2 … with no safety help.

My runner-up would have been the Chiefs’ reverse WR pass to Patrick Mahomes from a few weeks ago, but I’m convinced Andy Reid and Eric Beineimy were just bored at that point in the season.

Funniest Play of the Year

Charles: Joe Flacco’s sack against the Dolphins.

If you don’t remember this play, just watch. He just kept running back and running back until he was sacked for a 28-yard loss. Not his finest moment of the season.

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So graceful.

Steven: Jared Goff’s interception vs. Seattle, Week 16

It’s been over a week and I still haven’t gotten over how bad this throw was…

I know Goff was under pressure, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a quarterback miss a five-yard throw by that much. This was arguably worse than that one time Matt Cassel threw an interception on a throw that was flagged for intentional grounding.

EPA Darling of the Year

(Photo by Quinn Harris/Getty Images)

Afl Coach Of The Year Odds

Charles: Darren Waller, Raiders

Darren Waller wasn’t just one of the most valuables tight ends in the league, he was one of the most valuable receivers in the league, period. Waller finished the season with 1,196 yards and nine touchdowns and ranked 10th total expected points added (49.1) through Week 16 according to Sports Info Solutions among all receivers. Considering Waller is just the 10th highest paid tight end in the league on an average salary basis ($7.45 million), he’s turned into quite the bargain for the Raiders.

Steven: Ryan Tannehill, Titans

Ryan Tannehill has a chance to become the Aaron Donald of this category. He’s always been a decent quarterback, but this offense he finds himself in has supercharged his production with a large dosage of play-action passes and heavy run boxes to throw against. But it’s hard to argue against the results. He just finished off a second top-5 statistical season in a row. It’s equally hard to actually watch Titans games and come away thinking that you just watched one of the better quarterbacks in the league play.

Least Valuable Player of the Year

(Photo by Rob Carr/Getty Images)

Charles: Dante Fowler, Falcons

Fowler was signed to a three year, $45 million deal by the Falcons after he was blessed with the opportunity to play next to Aaron Donald in 2019. Fowler dealt with an injury, but still only finished with three sacks in 14 games. That’s obviously not good enough for one of the highest-paid edge defenders in the league. Fowler only had four tackles for loss on the season, as well. If Fowler is still on the Falcons by the start of next season, he’ll obviously be looking to improve on a lackluster 2020 season.

Steven: Carson Wentz, Eagles

Before I started the research for this response, I felt a little bad for Wentz, who’s been piled on all season. Then I saw that he made $34.9 million in cash from the Eagles in 2020 and all of that sympathy melted away. Here’s a list of quarterbacks who averaged more EPA per play than Wentz did this season: Brandon Allen, Matt Barkley, Nick Foles (ouch), Nick Mullens, Joe Flacco, Andy Dalton and, of course, Jalen Hurts. Wentz did manage to finish ahead of Nate Sudfeld, so he has that going for him.

Best Play Design of the Year

Charles: Chiefs v. Panthers, Week 9

Remember that time the Chiefs put Patrick Mahomes in motion before the snap and he threw a touchdown?

Nfl Coach Of The Year Odds

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Poor linebackers. That’s got to be absolutely brain-breaking and it’s hard to blame them.

Steven: Jaguars v. Colts, Week 1

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I probably could have gone in a more creative direction with this one, but the reason I love this particular design is that Brian Daboll stole later in the year and it led to one of the prettier touchdown plays of the season.

Nba Coach Of The Year 2020

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Current Coach Of The Year Odds

It just seems like a ridiculously hard play to defend from the defense’s perspective with the jet motion, the play-action fake that looks like it could be a zone-read keeper and then the natural rub for the wheel route.