Tag: PFWA

Former Dolphins coach nominated for lifetime award

Former Dolphins coach nominated for lifetime award

Between the “No Name” Dolphins defense of the 1970s and the “Killer B’s” defense of the 1980s, long-time Miami Dolphins assistant Bill Arnsparger has left one heck of a mark on this history of the franchise. Under the direction of NFL great Don Shula, Arnsparger helped create tactical defensive approaches still used to this day — including being credited with manufacturing one of the early iterations of the 3-4 defense.

Over two separate tenures from 1970-1973 and 1976-1983, Arnsparger oversaw the defense on four of Miami’s five total Super Bowl appearances (1971-1973 & 1982).

To say that you can’t talk about the complete history of the Miami Dolphins without dedicating a chapter to Coach Arnsparger would be an understatement. That fact makes the latest news all that much more delightful for Miami Dolphins fans to hear — Arnsparger has been named as one of eight nominees for the Paul “Dr. Z” Zimmerman award for lifetime achievement by the Pro Football Writers Association.

The association identifies the award as one specifically geared towards an assistant coach in the NFL. Past winners include notable names such as Wade Phillips, Dante Scarnecchia, Howard Mudd, Dick LeBeau, Jim Johnson, Bud Carson and others.

In addition to Arnsparger, this year’s nominees include:

  • Romeo Crennel
  • Dick Hoak
  • Rod Marinelli
  • Bobb McKittrick
  • Floyd Peters
  • Buddy Ryan
  • Bobby Turner

Arnsparger does have the championship pedigree to deserve serious consideration for the award. The final results for this year’s winners is scheduled to be announced beginning later this month on June 22nd.

49ers GM John Lynch wins PFWA Executive of the Year award

John Lynch was the only choice for Executive of the Year.

It wasn’t long ago the 49ers were staring at a 4-12 record and in need of some serious roster overhauls to elevate themselves to contender status. General manager John Lynch and the front office went to work in the offseason and wound up building a roster in three years that has the 49ers as the No. 1 seed in the NFC and on the verge of their seventh Super Bowl berth.

Lynch has overseen a dramatic change to the team’s personnel in his three seasons. Some of the key acquisitions include George Kittle in the fifth round of the 2017 draft and Fred Warner in the third round of the 2018 draft. He traded a second-round pick for Jimmy Garoppolo at the trade deadline in 2017, and signed cornerback Richard Sherman prior to the 2018 campaign.

This offseason he made perhaps the two biggest acquisitions when he traded a second-round pick for pass rusher Dee Ford, and used the No. 2 overall pick on defensive end Nick Bosa. Those two alone have helped catapult the 49ers’ defense to one of the league’s best. Kwon Alexander was the first free agent signing of the offseason and quickly became the heartbeat of the 49ers’ defense. The team also drafted Deebo Samuel in the second round, and linebacker Dre Greenlaw in the fifth round. Greenlaw became a crucial piece of the defense filling in for Alexander when Alexander went down with a pectoral injury. Another key offseason move was re-signing defensive back Jimmie Ward. Ward, while injured through most of his first five seasons, has been a rock in the 49ers’ secondary and landed on the list of Pro Bowl alternates.

Lynch’s most important move of the year might’ve come during the year when he shipped a pair of draft picks to the Broncos in exchange for wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders. Sanders helped elevate the 49ers’ passing game to a new level that may have allowed them to get over the hump and into the NFC championship game.

It’s hard to find a GM more worthy of the Executive of the Year nod given the dramatic changes the 49ers made to their roster in just one offseason. While they would’ve been better in 2018 had Jimmy Garoppolo stayed healthy all year, they still went from fringe playoff team to the favorite to be the NFC’s representative in the Super Bowl.

Lamar Jackson wins PFWA’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year awards

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson got an early start on his awards this season, winning the MVP and OPOY awards from the PFWA.

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The Baltimore Ravens are raking in the awards for their work in the 2019 regular season. On top of tying the NFL record for players sent to the Pro Bowl and having five players make the All-Pro roster, Baltimore is in line for a number of key awards this offseason.

Chief among them is quarterback Lamar Jackson, who kicked off award season by being named the MVP and Offensive Player of the Year by the Pro Football Writers of America.

While this isn’t the official NFL MVP or OPOY awards — those are handed out by the Associated Press — it’s still a huge honor. Jackson joins great quarterbacks like Tom Brady, Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers in winning the PFWA MVP award. It’s also likely a precursor to Jackson winning the actual NFL MVP award in the NFL Honors ceremony the day before Super Bowl LIV.

Jackson had a spectacular season, improving as a passer over the offseason to match his electric ability when running the football. Jackson set a ton of franchise and NFL records along the way while missing Week 17 and getting rested in the fourth quarter of five different games.

He finished the regular season with 3,127 passing yards, 36 touchdown passes (led the NFL) and just six interceptions over 15 games. Jackson also broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record with 1,206 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns.

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2 Broncos named to PFWA’s All-Rookie Team

Broncos guard Dalton Risner and tight end Noah Fant made PFWA’s 2019 All-Rookie Team.

Denver Broncos offensive lineman Dalton Risner and tight end Noah Fant both made the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2019 All-Rookie Team, it was announced Tuesday. Risner allowed 2.5 sacks in 16 starts this season. Risner was also named to Pro Football Focus’ All-Rookie Team.

Fant led all rookie tight ends in receptions (40), yards (562) and yards per catch (14) this season. Fant was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2019 NFL draft. Risner was selected by Denver in the second round.

No team in the league has more PFWA All-Rookie selections over the last two years than Denver (four). Last season, running back Phillip Lindsay and outside linebacker Bradley Chubb made PFWA’s All-Rookie Team. Lindsay was voted to the Pro Bowl and Chubb was a Pro Bowl alternate in 2018.

Broncos safety Justin Simmons did not make the PFWA’s All-NFL Team or All-AFC Team but he did take home second-team All-Pro honors from the Associated Press. Simmons is set to become a free agent in March and Denver is expected to make him a high priority this offseason.

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3 Saints rookies receive PFWA recognition after 2019 debut

The Pro Football Writers of America recognized New Orleans Saints Erik McCoy, C.J. Gardner-Johnson, and Deonte Harris on its All-Rookie Team

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Three members of the New Orleans Saints rookie class were recognized by the Pro Football Writers of America on their 2019 All-Rookie Team, highlighting their impressive efforts during their first season in the NFL.

Saints center Erik McCoy, cornerback C.J. Gardner-Johnson (who went by Chauncey in college before abbreviating it in the pros), and punt returner Deonte Harris were each singled out as top performers. Of that group, Harris was also named a first-team All-Pro and Pro Bowler.

McCoy snapped the ball on 99.4% of the plays run by the Saints offense, and played a combined 1,141 snaps between his time on offense and defense, per Pro Football Reference. That total trailed only right tackle Ryan Ramczyk, who tied McCoy’s snap count on offense but logged three more appearances on special teams. The consistency and mistake-free football McCoy played with (he didn’t draw a single penalty flag in the final six weeks) is remarkable to see out of a rookie.

Encouragingly, the Saints got great returns on both prospects they traded up to acquire. The trade package that helped New Orleans move to pick McCoy in the second round of last year’s draft also netted them a fourth-round pick that was swapped again in a leap up for Gardner-Johnson.

It took the safety some time to earn playing-time with the defense, but he ultimately finished tenth-best in snaps played there (546) while also logging the seventh-most snaps on special teams (205). He was credited with just four missed tackles on 46 attempts, a rate of 8.0%. Only first-team All-Pro linebacker Demario Davis had a better missed tackle rate (4.3%) among Saints players who attempted 40-plus tackles.

As for Harris: he had the best season for a punt returner in the Sean Payton era, having returned 36 punts to gain 338 yards (leading the NFL in both categories), a rate of 9.4 yards per try. He also finished the year tied with Buffalo Bills kick returner Andre Roberts for the fourth-most yards in that phase (644), but did so with fewer kick returns than all of the players ranked above him (24).

It took a little longer for Harris to become comfortable fielding kickoffs in the NFL than punts — which should be expected given he played at small-school Assumption College before this — but he was ferocious down the stretch, picking up 100-plus kick return yards in four of his last seven games, including three matchups when opposing teams were too scared to kick to him.

So, all told, that’s not too bad for a draft class in which the Saints didn’t own a first-round pick. It’ll be intriguing to see where they go next.

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Eagles RB Miles Sanders named to the 2019 PFWA All-Rookie Team

Miles Sanders named to the 2019 PFWA All-Rookie Team

The accolades continue to roll in for Miles Sanders and on Tuesday the Eagles running back was named to the 2019 PFWA All-Rookie Team.

San Francisco 49ers’ defensive end Nick Bosa was selected as the 2019 Rookie of the Year and the Defensive Rookie of the Year, chosen in voting conducted by the Professional Football Writers of America (PFWA).

Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs, who led all NFL rookies in rushing yards and rushing touchdowns, was selected as the 2019 Offensive Rookie of the Year over Sanders.

At the end of November, Sanders led ALL NFL rookies with 709 all-purpose yards and became the first NFL running back since Adrian Peterson, to amass 500+ scrimmage yards and 250+ return yards in his first 8 career games.

When November ended, Sanders was the only NFL rookie this season, to amass 200+ rush yards and 200+ rec. yards as well.

Sanders finished his rookie season with 179 rushes for 818 yards and 3 rushing touchdowns. Sanders was equally dangerous as a wide receiver, posting 50 catches for 509 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Texans OT Tytus Howard makes PFWA All-Rookie team

Houston Texans rookie offensive lineman Tytus Howard made the PFWA’s All-Rookie team, the sportswriting organization announced Tuesday.

Houston Texans right tackle Tytus Howard made the Pro Football Writers of America’s 2019 All-Rookie Team, the sportswriting organization announced Tuesday.

The 2019 first-round pick from Alabama State played in eight games for Houston, starting in all of them, and was a key part of getting the Texans’ offensive line turned around. Going from a unit that allowed quarterback Deshaun Watson to be sacked a league-leading 62 times in 2018, the addition of Howard helped drop Watson’s sacks down to 44 on the season.

Howard also cleared the way for running back Carlos Hyde to produce his first 1,000-yard season of his six-year career with 1,070 yards and six touchdowns on 245 carries.

The 6-5, 322-pound offensive lineman was placed in injured reserve on Nov. 30, a day before the Texans beat the New England Patriots 28-22 on Sunday Night Football for their biggest win of the regular season. Howard sustained an MCL sprain in Week 6’s 31-24 win over the Kansas City Chiefs that he couldn’t shake off. Despite missing the next two games and returning for Week 9’s 26-3 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars in London, the injury was too much for him to battle through and he only played two more games thereafter.

3 Steelers named to PFWA All-NFL team

The Steelers defense is well represented on the PFWA All-NFL team.

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Another week. More postseason honors.

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The Pittsburgh Steelers defense continues to be recognized in postseason honors. The Steelers trio of defensive stars are all All-Pros and now have been voted by the Pro Football Writers Association of America to their All-NFL team.

Linebacker T.J. Watt, safety Minkah Fitzpatrick and defensive tackle Cam Heyward all made the team. These three perfectly represent each level of a Steelers’ defense that kept them in the playoff hunt all season despite a litany of injuries.

Everyone expected big things from Heyward and Watt but the addition of Fitzpatrick during a rare in-season trade is the move that really put the Steelers defense over the top. It is easy to imagine just how good this team would have been if Ben Roethlisberger hadn’t been hurt and this defense didn’t feel like they had to win every game.

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Russell Wilson selected as quarterback for 2019 PWFA All-NFC Team

For the first time in his career, Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has been selected to the Pro Football Writers’ All-NFC team.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s season might be over, but he’s already starting to collect some honors for his impressive 2019 campaign.

For the first time in his career, Wilson was named to the Pro Football Writers of America 2019 PFWA 2019 All-NFC Team. Linebacker Bobby Wagner was also selected to the roster as well as the 2019 PFWA All-NFL team.

Here’s a look at who else around the conference made the cut.

Offense

QB – Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks

RB – Dalvin Cook, Minnesota Vikings; Christian McCaffrey, Carolina Panthers

WR –Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons; Michael Thomas, New Orleans Saints

TE – George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers

C – Jason Kelce, Philadelphia Eagles

G – Brandon Brooks, Philadelphia Eagles; Zack Martin, Dallas Cowboys

T –David Bakhtiari, Green Bay Packers; Ryan Ramczyk, New Orleans Saints

Defense

DE – Danielle Hunter, Minnesota Vikings; Cameron Jordan, New Orleans Saints

DT – Aaron Donald, Los Angeles Rams; Grady Jarrett, Atlanta Falcons

OLB – Shaquil Barrett, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Chandler Jones, Arizona Cardinals

MLB – Bobby Wagner, Seattle Seahawks

CB – Marshon Lattimore, New Orleans Saints; Richard Sherman, San Francisco 49ers

S – Anthony Harris, Minnesota Vikings; Harrison Smith, Minnesota Vikings

Special Teams

PK – Wil Lutz, New Orleans Saints

P – Tress Way, Washington Redskins

KR – Cordarrelle Patterson, Chicago Bears

PR – Deonte Harris, New Orleans Saints

ST – J.T. Gray, New Orleans Saints

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Jets S Jamal Adams named to PFWA All-NFL Team

Jamal Adams has been named to the PFWA All-NFL Team.

You can add another accomplishment to Jamal Adams’ career year.

The Jets safety was named to the Pro Football Writers Associations All-NFL Team for the first time in his career. Last season, Adams was named to the PFWA All-AFC Team.

The 24-year-old safety has had a long list of teams he’s been named to this season. Along with the PFWA All-NFL Team, Adams was named a First-Team All-Pro for the first time ever and he made his second straight Pro Bowl.

Adams had another fantastic season with Gang Green in his third year out of LSU. He recorded 75 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, one interception, two touchdowns, seven pass defenses, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery.

Adams is undoubtedly the leader of this football team. He routinely finds ways to make plays and rarely comes off the field. This past season he took his play a step further, blossoming as a pass-rusher under the tutelage of Gregg Williams. There’s not many safeties who can make that sort of impact.

As the accolades pour in, the Jets will have to ponder a new deal for Adams. He’s eligible for a contract extension and his next deal is going to be a massive one. The question is, who is going to give it to him?