NFL Analysis
1/23/25
6 min read
Biggest Snubs For 2025 NFL End of Season Award Finalists
The NFL awards will be announced in a couple of weeks, but the league's list of finalists for each award includes a few surprising omissions.
That's not to say that these players should have won the respective awards. For the most part, there's a clear frontrunner (or two) for each award, including Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen for the league's MVP. However, it's still nice for players to receive some recognition for a strong year of on-field play.
The NFL announced the finalists for each major award on Thursday morning, so let's dive into the biggest snubs from the league's biggest awards.
Biggest Snubs From 2025 NFL Awards
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Buck Irving, RB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
The 2024 NFL Draft was loaded with quarterbacks and wide receivers who are already taking the league by storm. However, the season that Bucky Irving had deserves some love.
Irving was just a fourth-round pick out of Oregon but quickly became the star running back in Tampa Bay's backfield. He finished the year with 207 carries for 1,122 yards and eight touchdowns, averaging a very strong 5.4 yards per carry.
A bonkers Bucky Irving play, but my favorite part may be Baker digging as fast as he possibly can to get down the field despite trailing the ball by 10 yards lol. pic.twitter.com/qzuLfBNb0m
— Jon Ledyard (@LedyardNFLDraft) November 25, 2024
Contact balance was Irving's best trait coming out of college, and that continued in the NFL. In fact, Irving led all ball carriers with 4.03 yards after contact per rush attempt, a full 0.12 yards ahead of second place.
Other rookies had great years, and it's tough to only pick five for OROY. However, it's a shame that a running back who showed such promise as a Day 3 pick didn't get named a finalist.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Edgerrin Cooper, LB, Green Bay Packers
Jared Verse will likely run away with this award after establishing himself as one of the best power rushers in the NFL. However, the fact that Edgerrin Cooper wasn't even named a finalist doesn't seem right, given his impact on Green Bay's defense.
Despite dealing with injuries in training camp and during the season, Cooper was immensely disruptive when on the field for the Packers. In 14 games, he generated 87 total tackles, 3.5 sacks, a forced fumble, an interception, and 11 pressures on just 51 pass-rushing snaps.
Cooper's play speed and instincts helped turn the tide multiple times for the Packers, earning Defensive Rookie of the Month once and Defensive Player of the Week twice in his first NFL season.
There are some deserving candidates on the finalists list, but Cooper deserved to be a finalist compared to the resumes of one or two other players on the list.
Assistant Coach of the Year
Kliff Kingsbury, OC, Washington Commanders
There was a time when Kliff Kingsbury looked like an NFL flameout. Instead, he used 2024 to help develop rookie QB Jayden Daniels into one of the best quarterbacks in the league.
Instead of trying to make Daniels something he's not, Kingsbury leaned into the Heisman Trophy winner's strengths, utilizing his deep ball accuracy and mobility to Washington's advantage while mixing in his staple quick-game passing plays.
Kliff Kingsbury wants to run GT Counter and he has a bunch of ways to protect it pic.twitter.com/Glh7ZJuq9s
— Coach Dan Casey (@CoachDanCasey) October 20, 2024
The result was a quarterback setting rookie records with 891 rushing yards and a 69 percent completion rate. The offense has taken an even bigger leap forward in the playoffs, with Daniels playing some of his best football one game away from the Super Bowl.
Playoff performance doesn't factor into end-of-year award voting, but the way Kingsbury helped Daniels immediately transition into NFL stardom deserves some praise.
Defensive Player of the Year
Kerby Joseph, SAF, Detroit Lions
Kerby Joseph may not be the most popular player in the NFL. However, for him to not get any recognition for Defensive Player of the Year after such an impressive 2024 campaign is surprising.
Joseph has been a ball hawk throughout his career, but he put up career-best numbers with a league-leading nine interceptions to go along with 83 total tackles and 12 pass breakups. He was one of the most reliable tacklers at the safety position as well, posting the fourth-lowest missed tackle rate among safeties who played at least 600 snaps in 2024.
However, some voters likely shied away from Joseph because of his reputation as a "dirty" player who consistently goes low at the knees of offensive players to bring them down.
That reputation may or may not be fair, but it shouldn't impact how he's recognized for his performance this year as one of the league's most dominant defense players, especially on a team that was pulverized by injuries.
Offensive Player of the Year
Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
A tight end has never won Offensive Player of the Year, and Earl Campbell is the only player in NFL history to win the award as a rookie.
Brock Bowers shouldn't come close to winning the award this year, but he at least deserves his flowers for one of the best breakout seasons for a skill player in a long time.
Brock Bowers one hand pic.twitter.com/zjUAFv0Qo3
— Steve Palazzolo (@StevePalazzolo_) December 8, 2024
Despite playing tight end, Bowers finished third in the league with 112 catches, taking those for 1,194 yards and five touchdowns. He was the clear focal point of the Raiders' offense and continued to thrive despite poor quarterback play and a struggling offense around him.
Bowers was so dominant that he set multiple NFL records, most notably breaking the rookie catch record, previously set by Puka Nacua in 2023 with 105 catches. For reference, the next closest tight end in NFL history was Sam LaPorta in 2023, who is 15th all-time in rookie catches with 86.
As one of the most hyped-up tight end prospects in years, Bowers lived up to the hype and then some. He almost instantly became one of the best tight ends in the NFL, and the future is only going to be brighter once the Raiders find their long-term quarterback.
The OPOY finalists are all more than deserving, but there hasn't been enough talk about Bowers' rookie season.
