Tag: rams awards

Rams 2020 awards: MVP, Rookies of the Year, Breakout Player and more

Handing out awards for the Rams’ top performers from the 2020 season, including Aaron Donald, Jalen Ramsey and Cam Akers.

The 2020 season didn’t end the way the Los Angeles Rams hoped, losing in the second round of the playoffs to the Green Bay Packers. But that doesn’t mean the season was a failure.

There’s a lot for the Rams to build on ahead of the 2021 season after getting key contributions from rookies, younger studs such as Darious Williams and Sebastian Joseph-Day, and improving immensely on defense.

To put a bow on the season for Los Angeles, we handed out individual awards for some of the top performers. Aaron Donald was predictably recognized, as were Cam Akers, Austin Corbett and Leonard Floyd.

Here are our 2020 end-of-season awards for the Rams.

Myles Garrett edges Aaron Donald in midseason Defensive Player of the Year voting

USA TODAY’s columnists voted for their pick and Donald wasn’t the popular pick.

Aaron Donald is tied for the league lead with nine sacks, has the most pressures of any player (48) and already has 15 quarterback hits in just eight games. He’s been absolutely dominant once again for the Rams, but he’s still not the unanimous favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year.

USA TODAY’s columnists each voted for the NFL’s most important awards at the midway point and for Defensive Player of the Year, Donald only received two of seven votes. The others all voted for Myles Garrett, who’s tied with Donald for the league lead at nine sacks.

Donald was the only Rams player to receive a vote for any of the awards, which isn’t surprising. They don’t have a true MVP candidate outside of Donald, and no one on offense is putting up big enough numbers to be considered for Offensive Player of the Year.

Cooper Kupp could technically be a contender for Comeback Player of the Year, but now with Alex Smith starting for Washington, he probably has that wrapped up after his miraculous recovery from a gruesome leg injury. Smith received six of seven votes from USA TODAY’s panel.

There’s still a long way to go with eight games remaining for most teams, so Donald will have a chance to pull away from Garrett. But there’s no doubt they’re the top two candidates for that award.

 

 

Rams 2020 midseason awards: MVP, best rookie, most underrated

Handing out awards and superlatives from the first half of the Rams’ 2020 season.

The Rams have gotten off to a 5-3 start in 2020, which for most people is a disappointing record. They could very easily be 6-2 if not for a controversial pass interference penalty against the Bills, but they are what their record shows.

There’s plenty of reason for hope after the first half of the season, especially after seeing how some of their individual players performed. To put a bow on the first eight games of the year, we handed out midseason awards for things such as MVP, top offensive player and the most underrated player.