NFL Analysis
2/7/25
6 min read
NFL Honors 2025: Biggest Winners, Losers From This Year's Award Ceremony
The NFL awards for the 2024 season have been revealed, and while some winners were chalk picks, a handful of awards featured some big surprises.
Awards aren't the ultimate goal for players, but they're an important part of history for fans when looking back on the NFL and who the most outstanding players were in a given year. They also play a part in the voting process for the Hall of Fame, with cases and resumes being stacked up against all-time greats based on All-Pro appearances, Pro Bowls, and top accolades.
Now that the 2024 awards have been revealed, let's examine the biggest winners and losers in terms of their respective legacies.
Winners
Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills 
Josh Allen would certainly want to trade an MVP award for a chance at a Super Bowl ring. Still, this was a pivotal moment for Allen to be remembered in the history of the NFL.
Despite so many exciting seasons, Allen had never won a national award. He's a two-time second-team All-Pro and a three-time Pro Bowler, but he was never named an Offensive Player of the Year or MVP.
That changed this season, and deservedly so. Allen carried a Bills team with plenty of questions heading into 2024 to a 13-4 record, throwing for 3,731 yards, 28 touchdowns, and a career-low six interceptions. He also continued to be an asset in the running game, rushing for 531 yards and another 12 touchdowns.
Lamar Jackson shouldn't be considered a loser as a two-time MVP, but voter fatigue appeared to play a factor in Allen winning his first MVP. Regardless of how he won it, it's a major milestone for Allen's legacy as one of the most exciting QBs of this current era.
Les Snead, GM, Los Angeles Rams
In a draft class where so many offensive players were taken in the first round, Jared Verse made sure that the league would remember him as one of the best picks of the 2024 NFL Draft.
The first defensive player wasn't taken in 2024 until the Indianapolis Colts took Laiatu Latu with the 15th overall pick. The Los Angeles Rams ended up taking the fourth defensive prospect with the 19th pick, and there was pressure on GM Les Snead to nail his first first-round pick since 2016.
Snead couldn't have made a better pick. With Aaron Donald retiring, the Rams desperately needed a new disruptive playmaker up front, and Verse did exactly that. Along with 4.5 sacks and two forced fumbles, Verse led all players across the league with 89 pressures this season, according to Pro Football Focus.
It's hard to nail a first-round pick quite like that, as Snead continues to look like one of the best drafting general managers in the NFL.
The NFC East
The NFL Honors reminded everyone that the future is bright for the NFC East.
Jayden Daniels had one of the best seasons for a rookie quarterback in NFL history, winning Offensive Rookie of the Year in a historically loaded rookie class featuring the likes of Brock Bowers, Malik Nabers, Brian Thomas Jr., Ladd McConkey, Drake Maye, and countless other impactful first-year players.
Daniels has the Washington Commanders looking like a long-term contender, while the Eagles have built out the best roster in football, with Saquon Barkley on the precipice of having the best season for a running back (regular and playoffs) in NFL history. He deservedly was named Offensive Player of the Year but also finished third in MVP voting.
The Dallas Cowboys and New York Giants have a lot to work on going forward, but the Commanders and Eagles' major recognition at the NFL Honors showed just how great a year it was for these two teams.
Losers
Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
Only three wide receivers since 2000 have led the league in receiving yards, catches, and receiving touchdowns. Ja'Marr Chase will be the first to do that without garnering any major awards.
Steve Smith Sr. was named Comeback Player of the Year after achieving the wide receiver triple crown in 2005, while Cooper Kupp was a Super Bowl MVP and OPOY after doing so in 2024. While Chase was named a first-team All-Pro, he was beaten out by Barkley for this year's Offensive Player of the Year award.
It's not like Barkley didn't deserve the award as one of just nine running backs to ever rush for 2,000 yards in a single season. However, Chase comes away as a loser from the NFL Honors simply because of the horrible timing of his best season as a pro.
Dan Campbell, HC, Detroit Lions
There's no way that Dan Campbell actually cares about losing the Coach of the Year award, but losing it to a divisional rival in Kevin O'Connell might sting just a little bit.
Despite injuries to key players throughout the 2024 season, Campbell kept the Lions believing in themselves all year, securing a first-round bye, the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and another NFC North title with a 15-2 regular-season record.
That wasn't enough to win COTY, but Campbell also came out as a loser after having to remember just how talented his top assistant coaches, Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn, were. Johnson was named Assistant Coach of the Year, while Glenn finished third for the award.
Campbell now has to spend the offseason replacing two of the best assistant coaches in football while trying to prepare his team for another Super Bowl run.
Pass Rushers
A defensive lineman or EDGE had won the Defensive Player of the Year award in nine of the last 10 seasons before 2024. That streak has ended after a quiet season from the league's top pass rushers.
Trey Hendrickson might have had the best case after a league-leading 17.5 sacks this season, but the lack of team success for the Cincinnati Bengals made it an uphill battle. The same can be said for Myles Garrett, while T.J. Watt had a disappointing tail end of the season that drastically hurt his case.
Zack Baun might have had the best case outside of Pat Surtain II and the pass rushers after such a dominant breakout season for the Eagles, but he finished fifth in the voting.
The league's top pass rushers weren't on legitimate Super Bowl contenders this year, and it hurt their chances at DPOY in the process.
