We are now a week removed from the end of the Washington Redskins 2019 regular season — a year in which they finished with a 3-13 record and missed the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season.
Though there were very few accolades handed out to anyone other than punter Tress Way — who was named to both the AP All-Pro Second Team, as well as the NFL Pro Bowl — that doesn’t mean that the team should go completely void of accolades. Here are our Redskins Wire end of season awards.
Most Valuable Player
Terry McLaurin | Wide Receiver (Rookie)
You could argue that Way deserves the MVP award, as he is the only player to receive any accolades from the league this season, but come on. We all know that McLaurin was the most explosive player in Washington this season, and he was arguably the only player who gave the Redskins any credibility as well.
After starting out the year on an absolute tear — McLaurin is the first player in NFL history to have over 60 yards and a touchdown in each of his first three career games — the rookie finished the year with 919 yards and seven touchdowns on 58 receptions. He had a touchdown in six different games and surpassed 60 yards receiving eight total times. He was also named to the Pro Football Focus Top 50 All-Rookie list.
All of these stats are just different ways to say the same thing: Terry McLaurin is good at football. Without his production this past season, the Redskins abysmal 3-13 record that saw both a coach and team president fired could have been a lot worse. If there is one player in Washington that you have high hopes for going forward, McLaurin is that guy. A lot of players on the team have a chance to be good in the future; McLaurin has a chance to be great.
Offensive Player of the Year
Adrian Peterson | Running Back
If we hadn’t given McLaurin the MVP award, he would undoubtedly be the OPOY, but we want to spread the wealth a little bit. Unfortunately for the Redskins, there was very little production outside of the rookie receiver, which leads us to dub Adrian Peterson as the POY on offense, which can serve as a thank you for yet another season of him putting the offense on his back and chugging forward.
At the age of 34, Peterson followed up on his 1,000-yard season from 2018 and put up 898 yards and five touchdowns in 15 games played. With an average of almost 60 yards per game, it wasn’t the stats so much as the reliability that gives AP this award in our eyes. While second-year back Derrius Guice was set to take over as the RB1 this season, his early-season injury left Peterson to shoulder the load and carry Washington forward. Later in the year, when Guice returned, AP took a step back and let the young gun work. However, when Guice was injured again, AP was still there, ready to shoulder the load when called upon and reassume his workhorse status. Like McLaurin, this year could have been even worse than it already was, had Peterson not been around.
Defensive Player of the Year
Matt Ioannidis | Defensive End
In our opinion, Matt Ioannidis could have won two awards this year: DPOY, and Breakout Player of the Year. Of course, as a fourth-year player, we all obviously had a sample size of work to base Ioannidis’ play off of this year, but he really showed how dynamic and disruptive he can be on the defensive line.
Ioannidis was voted to the Pro Bowl as an alternate, which is well deserved based on his 64 total tackles, 8.5 sacks, 16 quarterback hits and 11 tackles for loss. In 2018, Ioannidis rang up 7.5 sacks, but he more than doubled his number of tackles year over year and showed his ability to stay productive without Jonathan Allen and Daron Payne next to him, both of whom missed some time due to injury this year.
With new defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio looking to implement a 4-3 defensive scheme in the coming year, Ioannidis will likely shift to a defensive tackle position where he can become a disrupter in the middle. If we are to base his future production on this past season, Ioannidis should be able to carve out a pretty nice career in Washington.
Special Teams Player of the Year
Steven Sims Jr. | Kick Returner (Rookie)
Again, this award could have easily been given to Punter Tress Way, as he was the only player on the team who was actually given a real award, and for his work on special teams at that. But to be honest, we are a bit tired of talking about Way, and would rather give some more shine to the undrafted rookie out of Kansas.
Sims was the last member to make the 53-man roster cut this preseason, and he absolutely did the most with his opportunity. After being thrust into the kick returner spot early in the year, Sims was able to show off his agility and killer speed by returning 32 total kicks for 819 yards and a touchdown — an average of 25.6 yards per attempt.
Aside from his work on special teams, Sims was also able to receive a solid target share down the stretch as offensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell found a way to implement his quickness into the offense, creating new wrinkles that kept opposing defenses unsure of where the play was going. Sims finished the year with 310 yards and four touchdowns on offense, and he proved to be a reliable option for Haskins down the stretch. Many people will think of McLaurin and Derrius Guice when they think about the future stars of this offense, but Sims is definitely worthy of being in that conversation.
Most Improved Player Award
Dwayne Haskins | Quarterback (Rookie)
I mean, obviously, right? The first time we saw Dwayne Haskins play in the regular season, he threw for barely 100 yards and three interceptions against the Giants. In his last game, he threw for 133 yards and two touchdowns in the first half before leaving with an injury.
If you were to compare the game tape from the two games, it would show the night-and-day changes that Haskins underwent this season. He finished the season with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions to go along with over 1,300 yards in nine total games. What once looked like it was an over-ambitious first-round pick ended up looking like something that could actually work down the road in Washington. This isn’t to say that Haskins will without a doubt be a franchise quarterback for the Redskins, but it at least seems to be a possibility.
Rookie of the Year
Cole Holcomb | Linebacker
It’s pretty hard to pick a single Rookie of the Year for the Redskins this year, as most of their productive players were rookies. This award could easily go to McLaurin, but with him receiving the MVP award for the team, it felt better to give this to our second-best rookie on the team: Cole Holcomb.
Drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 draft, Holcomb proved to be a steal for Washington this season, as he stepped into a starting linebacker spot with ease finishing the year with 101 tackles, the third-most on the team.
The Redskins were put into a tough position coming into this season after the loss of Reuben Foster in the offseason, but Holcomb assured the team that he could be a reliable option for them in the middle going forward.
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