Every Philadelphia Eagle in the running for NFL Honors awards this season

The Philadelphia Eagles have been snubbed at the NFL Honors for more than a decade. When you don’t win an award, it’s best to say, ‘Well, those awards are dumb. They mean nothing and the people who vote don’t know ball.’ Deep down, though, it hurts.

There have been plenty of players over the past handful of years who have absolutely deserved national recognition for what they’ve done, and they never end up getting it. That’s actually what’s dumb.

A loaded Eagles' roster means there a bunch of players who could win awards this season

There are a handful of players on the roster (and a curmudgeonly old defensive coordinator) who are at or near the top of their respective categories. For posterity’s sake, these odds are from Vegas Insiders’ list.

Most Valuable Player

The last time the Eagles had a player who won the NFL’s MVP was Norm Van Brocklin in 1960… so, it’s been a hot minute since it’s happened.

Right now, the Bills’ Josh Allen (+150) and the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson (+200) are switching back and forth between who has the best odds to win the MVP every single week. Behind them, it’s the Lions’ Jared Goff (+600), Patrick Mahomes (+1400), and then Jalen Hurts (+1400).

The general thought about the MVP is that it goes to the quarterback of one of the teams that wins their conference. Jalen’s not playing better than Josh or Lamar right now, so if he were to win, it’d probably be through the NFC first-seeded quarterback route.

For what it’s worth, Saquon Barkley is +4000 to win the MVP, but the award has gone to a quarterback every year since 2012. Adrian Peterson won it that season after he rushed for 2,097 yards and 12 touchdowns. 

If you want to look at that yardage as a precedent for a non-QB to win the award, Saquon will need 960 more rushing yards and four more touchdowns over the last seven games. That’s about 137 yards per game. 

It would be the longest of long shots for that to happen… but this is Saquon we’re talking about. Through him, everything is possible.

Offensive Player of the Year

If Saquon were to be the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year, he would be the first Eagle ever to do it. Right now, he has the best odds to win at +115, with Derrick Henry (+140) right behind him, and Ja’Marr Chase (+700) rounding out the top three. 

It’s cool that this year the discussion for OPOY is ‘Saquon and Derrick Henry are so good’ and not ‘Tyreek might be able to win it if he gets 2,000 yards.’ The football world is much more fun when you don’t have to argue using numbers and stats, and instead, you get to argue about backward hurdles or monster stiff arms.

Defensive Player of the Year

Going into the season, we all kind of hoped that Jalen Carter was going to explode off the screen and throw down DPOY performances week after week. That hasn’t necessarily been the case.

Sure, he’s playing really well, but if you’re going to win the DPOY, you need sacks or interceptions. He’s only got 3.5 sacks so far this season, and that’s why he’s got really bad odds to win. DraftKings has him at +2200, but almost everyone else has him at +10000 or more. 

Right now, T.J. Watt has the best odds at -185. It would be the second time he and his crazy eyes win the award (2021). We’ll see him in Week 15 when the Steelers come to Philadelphia.

The last Eagle to win this award was Reggie White back in 1987 when he had 21 sacks, four forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery for a touchdown.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

The Eagles drafted three skill players in the 2024 draft, running back Will Shipley (fourth-round), wide receiver Ainias Smith (fifth-round), and wide receiver Johnny Wilson (sixth-round). 

So far this season: Shipley has 19 carries for 49 yards. Smith has three catches for six yards and one carry (it was a backward pass) for two yards. Wilson has two catches for 14 yards and a touchdown. 

These guys aren’t going to win the award. Jayden Daniels, Bo Nix, and Brock Bowers are all having too good of rookie seasons. 

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Okay, now we’re talking. Quinyon Mitchell has +320 odds to win this award which just puts him behind the Rams’ Jared Verse (-190). The only reason Quinyon isn’t at the top is because of his lack of interceptions and Verse’s penchant for getting after the quarterback. 

Right now, Verse has 4.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, and one fumble recovery. He’s good, but he’s not as good as Q. You could make a strong argument that sacks are easier to come by than interceptions.

Generally, sacks are due in part to the other guys on the defensive line, whereas interceptions are made by just one guy. On top of that, there is an opportunity for sacks on every single passing play. Interceptions are only there when the ball gets thrown near you.

We’re at a point where quarterbacks don’t throw the ball at Quinyon because he’s so good in coverage. It was early in the season when quarterbacks were testing him, and he had three near interceptions. He’s just not getting the opportunity anymore.

The Eagles are going to Los Angeles this week to play the Rams, and that means there will be an indirect matchup between Verse and Q. If he can make a play and get a pick against Matthew Stafford while Verse gets handled by the Eagles’ offensive line, it’ll give him a good jump in the DROY odds.

Side note: Quinyon says that he’s heard the nicknames, and he likes ‘Quintanamo Bay.’ If he likes it, then that’s what he gets called. This guy rocks.

Comeback Player of the Year

This award has become a joke. In 2022, Geno Smith won it because he played well… and that’s it. He didn’t come back from an injury or anything, he just used to be bad, and then he was good. That same year, 34-year-old Brandon Graham came off of an Achilles tear and had 11 sacks. It’s nonsense.

The Eagles don't really have anyone who’s eligible for this award after being really healthy in 2023. If there was someone to nominate, it would be Mekhi Becton who was perpetually hurt when he played for the Jets, and now that he’s an Eagle, he’s a top-tier right guard.

The Eagle to win this award was Michael Vick in 2010 who threw for 3,018 yards, 21 touchdowns, and just six interceptions. He also ran for 676 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Coach of the Year

Sirianni’s antics, bad play calling, and general responsibilities aren’t going to allow him to win this award. Especially when you consider the talent on his team’s roster. Typically, this award goes to the coach of a team that overperforms based on the team’s talent.

Assistant Coach of the Year 

There are no odds available for this one, but Vic Fangio absolutely should win it. He’s turned the defense around from being at or near the bottom in 2023 to the best defense in the league this season. That’s simply incredible. 

This wouldn’t be the first time he’s won this award. Back in 2018, he won when he was the Bears defensive coordinator, and that defense was arguably not as good as his defense is right now.

Something to consider about this award is that it’s named poorly. It should be “Coordinator of the Year” instead of “Assistant Coach of the Year.” Assistant coach of the year implies that any positional coach could win, but if that was the case Jeff Stoutland would have won it for the past eight years. 

Play/Moment of the Year

In the past, plays like Justin Jefferson’s catch against the Bills, Justin Tucker’s 66-yard field goal against the Lions, and Odell Beckham Jr.’s one-handed catch have won this award. This year it’s going to be Saquon’s backward hurdle. There’s simply nothing cooler than that.

Hell, they just put it in Madden. It’s unprecedented for a guy to do something so awesome that they put it in a video game less than a month later. To be fair, technology has never been able to do that before, but let’s not focus on that part. Let’s focus on our guy who did the most awesome physical act in the history of mankind.