Tag: OPOY

247Sports names two Tigers as potential 2024 DPOY/OPOY candidates

Two Tigers were named potential 2024 DPOY/OPOY candidates by 247Sports.

Since 2014, Clemson football has claimed seven ACC Offensive/Defensive Player of the Year awards, and it looks like it will have a couple more candidates this season.

For OPOY, Deshaun Watson won the award in 2015, Travis Etienne won back-to-back seasons in 2018-2019, and Trevor Lawrence won the following year in 2020. Two defensive ends and a linebacker earned the three DPOY awards, including Vic Beasley (2014), Clelin Ferrel (2018), and Isaiah Simmons (2019).

According to Grant Hughes, the Tigers have legitimate contenders for both honors this season. The first is quarterback Cade Klubnik. Last season wasn’t spectacular for the former five-star. He recorded 2,844 yards through the air for 19 touchdowns and nine interceptions, with a passer rating of 126.3. But with a returning offensive line and optimism for an improved wide receiver corps, Klubnik could have a breakout season.

Hughes wrote:

Three different Clemson quarterbacks have taken home ACC Player of the Year in the last decade, and Klubnik will look to add his name to the list in 2024. The former five-star recruit didn’t have the breakout sophomore season many expected last year, throwing for 2,844 yards and 19 touchdowns with nine interceptions. There’s hope Klubnik can take the next step as a junior with a re-tooled receivers room and after another offseason with offensive coordinator Garrett Riley.

For defense, Hughes chose LB Barrett Carter. Unlike Klubnik, Carter had a good Junior campaign with 62 total tackles, which was good enough for second on the team. He also had 3.5 sacks, a fumble recovery, and an interception. However, 2023 did take a small dip compared to his season before. On the other hand, with Jeremiah Trotter Jr. going pro, Carter is the top dog in the linebacker room.

On Carter, Hughes wrote:

Carter put together an All-ACC campaign in 2023 and surprised some around the conference when he opted to return for his senior season in 2024. He’s readying for one final audition for the NFL, and his draft stock will largely depend on his performance this fall. A heady player and supreme athlete, Carter racked up 62 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks last season. He’s got the tools to make a run at ACC Defensive POTY in 2024.

Here’s how Brock Purdy, 49ers fared in MVP and other NFL post-season awards voting

Here’s how the voting shook out for all the NFL post-season awards the #49ers were involved in:

The 49ers were well-represented in the NFL post-season awards given out at Thursday’s NFL Honors ceremony. Kyle Shanahan, Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey were all up for awards, but only one of them took home hardware.

McCaffrey won the Offensive Player of the Year award after leading the NFL in rushing and scrimmage yards, and tying for the league lead in touchdowns. McCaffrey and Purdy both lost out on the MVP award, while Shanahan was passed over in Coach of the Year voting.

How close did they come to winning awards though, and which player unexpectedly received votes?

Here’s how the voting went for each award per the APs Josh Dubow, with first-second-third place votes counted, followed by their total points:

49ers RB Christian McCaffrey wins NFL Offensive Player of the Year

Christian McCaffrey is the Offensive Player of the Year!

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey has been named the NFL’s Offensive Player of the Year. The award was announced Thursday night as part of the NFL Honors Ceremony.

It’s not a huge surprise McCaffrey won the award, which has become a de facto non-quarterback MVP award in an era where the MVP is almost exclusively a QB award. McCaffrey was also a top-five MVP finisher.

This season the 49ers star RB led the NFL with 1,459 rushing yards. He was also the league leader in scrimmage yards (2,023) and touches (339), and tied for the league lead with 21 total touchdowns. McCaffrey was rewarded with a Pro Bowl trip, a First-Team All-Pro nod, an NFC Offensive Player of the Week award and two Offensive Player of the Month awards.

As good as quarterback Brock Purdy was this year, it was clear McCaffrey was San Francisco’s best offensive player, and his OPOY award is just a cherry on top of what was a sensational season.

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Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey both NFL MVP finalists

Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are both MVP finalists. Other awards stuff here:

The 49ers have a few players and coaches among the top five finalists for the AP NFL post-season awards. Highlighting that group are quarterback Brock Purdy and running back Christian McCaffrey, both of whom are finalists for the AP NFL MVP award. McCaffrey is also an Offensive Player of the Year finalist, while head coach Kyle Shanahan is among the top five vote-getters for Coach of the Year according to the AP’s Josh Dubow.

While Purdy’s MVP case derailed some on Christmas night when he tossed four interceptions in a game where MVP favorite Lamar Jackson played exceedingly well, it’s noteworthy that he was still one of the top five in voting. There were cases made in media that he didn’t deserve credit for what San Francisco was doing, but he was always going to garner MVP attention for putting up 4,280 passing yards, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions while completing 69.4 percent of his throws and averaging a league-high 9.6 yards per attempt. He was also the NFL’s highest-rated passer at 113.0. His MVP case is strong, but he’s not likely to win the award over Jackson.

McCaffrey because of his position was always more destined to be the NFL’s OPOY. It’s hard for a running back to win MVP, as illustrated by the fact no non-QB has won that award since 2012 when Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson took it home.

The 2023 campaign was as good a run as any non-QB has made at the award since that Peterson season. McCaffrey finished the season with the league lead in rushing yards (1,459), touches (339), yards from scrimmage (2,023) and total touchdowns (21). Had Jackson not had such a stellar end to the season, or had the Ravens not had the best record in the NFL, there’d be an extremely strong case for McCaffrey to be the league’s MVP.

Other MVP finalists included Jackson, Bills QB Josh Allen, and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott.

McCaffrey is much more likely in line to land his first Offensive Player of the Year honor. He’s among the top-five in voting for that award as well, and the OPOY has become the de facto non-QB MVP award. Jackson and Prescott are also finalists here, along with Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill and Cowboys WR CeeDee Lamb. Given his consistent dominance all year and his place among the MVP finalists it would appear McCaffrey is the frontrunner to take this trophy home.

The final 49er represented among the AP NFL award finalists is head coach Kyle Shanahan, who is one of the five finalists for Coach of the Year. It’s hard to envision him winning because the criteria so often leans toward a coach doing more with less. Had Purdy not been as good or had the team dealt with high-profile injuries, then Shanahan might have had a better case. But he’s in the running with DeMeco Ryans from the Texans, Kevin Stefanski from the Browns, Dan Campbell from the Lions and John Harbaugh from the Ravens.

That’s not to say Shanahan did a poor job. He coached a team to the No. 1 seed while that group put up sensational offensive numbers. However, Ryans turned around a franchise, Stefanski’s club went 11-5 despite perhaps the worst QB situation in the league, and Campbell got Detroit to the playoffs. All of them are more likely to win than Shanahan, who oversaw a dominant effort from a top-flight roster that was already expected to be great.

That the 49ers have three finalists for these awards is a testament to how good they were this season, and underscores why they find themselves in the NFC championship game.

Winners of the AP NFL awards will be announced February 8 at the NFL Honors ceremony at 6:00pm Pacific Time.

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Dolphins 2023 midseason awards: From MVP to most improved

Midseason awards for Miami at the bye week.

With the NFL season moving to 17 games last season, there’s no longer an exact mid-point in the year, but nine games seems like a good spot to start assessing teams.

The Miami Dolphins have gone 6-3 through the first nine weeks, and they’re currently in first place in the AFC East, ahead of the Buffalo Bills, and they’re in fourth in the conference.

As Mike McDaniel’s team heads into their bye week, now is a great time to assess the performance of some of the team’s best players.

Let’s reflect on the first half of the 2023 season and hand out some midseason awards.