Tag Archives: awards

Kevin’s 2012 NFL All Pro Team

Yesterday we revealed the winners of our awards for the 2012 NFL season. To continue with the theme of recognizing the game’s best players of this season, today I’d like to reveal my 2012 All-Pro team. Keep in mind, this team was selected solely by me; it wasn’t decided by all of us. If you asked some of the other Couchletes for their all-pros, I’m sure they’d have many more 49ers on their team. But me? I’m a little more unbiased than them (that’s right, zero Green Bay Packers on my all-pro team).

A lot of thought went into this team so I want to explain a little for context. You’ll see no fullback on this team. Only a handful of teams even use a fullback anymore, so instead of naming one for the sake of history like the AP does (I guess that’s why they do it), I decided to name a modern all-pro team, replacing the fullback with a third wide receiver. Apologies to Vonta Leach, Marcel Reece and Michael Robinson. Sorry, guys, I can’t rationalize putting one of you on the team over someone like Brandon Marshall.

Another thing the AP does with their team, and a lot of writers do the same thing, is name 12 people to their defense – four down lineman and four linebackers. Again, that’s not a modern lineup. Hell, that’s not even a legal lineup unless you want a 12 men on the field penalty. Either choose a 4-3 or a 3-4. I decided to go with a 4-3 for mine so you’ll see four down linemen and three linebackers.

Like I said, I put quite a bit of thought into this, but let me know what you think. If you think I’m out of my mind (or even if you actually agree with me), leave a comment.

Kevin’s 2012 NFL All-Pro Team

Offense
Quarterback – Peyton Manning, Denver Broncos
Running Back – Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings
Wide Receiver – Calvin Johnson, Detroit Lions
Wide Receiver – Andre Johnson, Houston Texans
Tackle – Duane Brown, Houston Texans
Guard – Mike Iupati, San Francisco 49ers
Center – John Sullivan, Minnesota Vikings
Guard – Marshal Yanda, Baltimore Ravens
Tackle – Ryan Clady, Denver Broncos
Tight End – Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots
Wide Receiver – Brandon Marshall, Chicago Bears

Defense
Defensive End – J.J. Watt, Houston Texans
Defensive Tackle – Geno Atkins, Cincinnati Bengals
Defensive Tackle – Vince Wilfork, New England Patriots
Defensive End – Cameron Wake, Miami Dolphins
Outside Linebacker – Von Miller, Denver Broncos
Inside/Middle Linebacker – Daryl Washington, Arizona Cardinals
Outside Linebacker – Jerod Mayo, New England Patriots
Cornerback – Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks
Cornerback – Charles Tillman, Chicago Bears
Free Safety – Jairus Byrd, Buffalo Bills
Strong Safety – Eric Weddle, San Diego Chargers

Special Teams
Kicker – Blair Walsh, Minnesota Vikings
Punter – Thomas Morstead, New Orleans Saints
Return Specialist – Jacoby Jones, Baltimore Ravens

By Kevin York
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @kevin_york
You can contact Kevin at kevin@thecouchletes.com

The Couchletes’ 2012 NFL Season Awards

By Kevin York

In December, I wrote a post previewing the NFL season awards, going division by division and highlighting the best players of the year and the potential candidates for our year end awards. Today we’re ready to reveal the best of the best, our choices for MVP, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookies of the Year, and Coach of the Year.

I’m not going to go through our winners and highlight a lot of stats. If you want that, check out all the other sports sites. We’re Couchletes. We don’t have the time or means to do all the research to show why a quarterback is more valuable than a running back, so I’m not going to approach this like that. I’m just going to talk, like Couchletes do.

MVP – Peyton Manning

Photo Credit: (Peter Aiken/AP)

Peyton Manning showed us what he’s worth this year. Six wins. This year’s Denver team wasn’t much different than last year’s – except at quarterback. Exchanging Tim Tebow for Peyton Manning gave them six additional wins and the top seed in the AFC. Ironically, in the playoffs the two quarterbacks reached the exact same point. We’re not going to focus on that though since this is a regular season award.

Why Manning over Adrian Peterson? Manning was playing the most crucial position on the football field and led an entirely new offense for Denver. He brought it all together. Yes, Peterson was the entire offense for Minnesota, but a quarterback has more responsibilities.
Others considered: Adrian Peterson, Tom Brady

Offensive Player of the Year – Adrian Peterson

Photo Credit: (Patric Schneider/AP)

Peterson very nearly had an all-time great season, as in better than anyone else – ever. He missed attaining that status by only nine yards. Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson actually did have an all-time great year, breaking Jerry Rice’s single season receiving yards record. So why Peterson over Johnson? It was a tough decision, but ultimately, Peterson carried more of his team’s offensive load. He needed people to block for him, but did the rest himself. Johnson needed someone to throw him the ball and people to give that person time to get him the ball. We found Peterson’s year slightly more spectacular than Johnson’s.
Others considered: Calvin Johnson, Tom Brady, Brandon Marshall

Defensive Player of the Year – J.J. Watt

Photo Credit: (Dave Einsel/AP)

J.J. Watt redefined the way not only defensive linemen play the game but also the way offensive linemen play it. It’s mind-blowing how quickly a man that big can move. Equally impressive is how great he is at defending both the run and the pass. Rarely do you find a lineman that excels so much at both. A lot of attention went to Aldon Smith and his quest to break the single-season sack record. Lost in all of that attention was the fact that Watt was just as close to breaking it.
Others considered: Von Miller, Aldon Smith, Geno Atkins

Offensive Rookie of the Year – Andrew Luck

Photo Credit: (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

This was a strong category, but we ultimately decided that Andrew Luck stood out more than the other contenders. Luck put up great numbers for a rookie and did it without much help around him, not nearly as much as Russell Wilson and Robert Griffin III had to work with. Those two had great running games and great offensive lines to take the pressure off of them a bit. Luck didn’t have either of those and had a receiving corps comprised of Reggie Wayne and a number of no-names. Additionally, Luck was handed the entire playbook from day one. Wilson and RG3 were allowed to gradually assume more of the offense each week. That’s why we saw the Redskins running Baylor’s offense near the beginning of the year. Luck didn’t get that luxury and proved he could handle it.
Others considered: Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III, Alfred Morris

Defensive Rookie of the Year – Luke Kuechly

Photo Credit: (Bob Leverone/AP)

This is the award that goes largely unnoticed. The general public doesn’t know the defensive rookies nearly as well as the offensive rookies. Those people missed the play of Carolina’s Luke Kuechly, a middle linebacker who should soon be finding himself appearing in Pro Bowls alongside the likes of Patrick Willis. Kueckly anchored that defense, a unit that didn’t have a lot of talent, and played superbly.
Others considered: Casey Hayward, Janoris Jenkins, Bobby Wagner

Coach of the Year – Chuck Pagano/Bruce Arians

Photo Credit: (AJ Mast/AP)

No one expected the Indianapolis Colts to be very good this year. After news surfaced that Head Coach Chuck Pagano would miss much of the season due to treatment for leukemia, the expectations fell even more. The job that Chuck Pagano and Bruce Arians did this year given the circumstances was extraordinary. Arians certainly proved he deserved a head coaching job, which he received in Arizona, and I’m excited to see what Pagano can do given a full season next year. This combination overachieved with a team that didn’t have a ton of talent. Getting the kind of results they did make it hard to argue with giving them this recognition over any other.
Others considered: Pete Carroll, Jim Harbaugh, Leslie Frazier

By Kevin York
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @kevin_york
You can contact Kevin at kevin@thecouchletes.com

Year End NFL Awards Preview

By Kevin York

The 2012 season isn’t yet over, but we’re already looking ahead to some of the annual festivities that come after all sixteen regular season games have been played. Yesterday we analyzed next year’s fate for all 32 head coaches. Today we’re previewing the major end of season awards – MVP, Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year, Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Coach of the Year; but we’re going to approach it slightly different than we’ve seen in the past. We’ll go division by division, highlighting players in each division that could be considered for these awards.

Keep in mind, this preview is not recognizing any official award winners (we’ll hand out The Couchletes awards after the regular season), just discussing who should be considered. In fact, I’m doing this completely in a vacuum without discussing it with my fellow Couchletes experts, so it’s possible, though not likely, that people could win our awards that I don’t even discuss here.

AFC East

Photo Credit: (Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

MVP:
Tom Brady has had another excellent year for the Patriots and in a weak division, there’s really no one else worthy of considering here. If I were forced to give another candidate, I would probably say Brady’s teammate Wes Welker, although I don’t expect him to get any attention in the league-wide vote.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Again, Tom Brady. And again, if forced to give another name, I’d say Welker. And the same as with the MVP talk, Welker will get no love in the real vote.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Miami defensive end Cameron Wake has had a nice season. Cases could be made for New England’s Vince Wilfork or Jerod Mayo, Buffalo’s Jairus Byrd and the New York Jets Antonio Cromartie, but we likely won’t see many, if any, votes for AFC East players in the final vote.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Ryan Tannehill by default. No one else has really stood out offensively and Tannehill has led Miami to a respectable finish in his first year under center.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Chandler Jones of New England has had a solid season even though he missed a little time to injury. I think he’s stood out the most of all defensive rookies in the division.
Coach of the Year:
This comes down to Bill Belichik and Joe Philbin, both of whom will likely receive votes for league coach of the year. For me with coach of the year, it comes down to who exceeded expectations so I would have to give the slight edge to Philbin.

AFC North

Photo Credit: (Amy Sancetta/AP)

MVP:
Ray Rice has stood out the most. The Ravens don’t really have much of an offense outside of Rice (remember that 30 yard fourth down conversion Rice gained?), which makes it all the more baffling during those periods when coach John Harbaugh neglects the run, so it’s a testament to Rice that the Ravens offense has performed as well as it has.
Offensive Player of the Year:
I have to go with Rice again. He’s stood out more than any other offensive player in the division this year.
Defensive Player of the Year:
This is a crowded division for this honor. Browns linebacker D’Qwell Jackson and cornerback Joe Haden, Bengals DT Geno Atkins, Steelers linebacker Lawrence Timmons and Ravens DT Haloti Ngata all deserve consideration. Ultimately, I think it comes down to Jackson and Atkins. Both the Browns and Bengals have had good defensive units on the field this year, much improved from what we saw last year, and they were led by these two men, respectively. I give a slight edge to Atkins because his impact has extended beyond instances where he’s made the play to situations where his presence has allowed others to make plays.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
All the Rookie of the Year talk has been around Andrew Luck, Robert Griffin III and Russell Wilson, and amidst this good quarterback play, Browns running back Trent Richardson has really been overshadowed. Richardson has been the rock of a Browns offensive that doesn’t have a great passing game, meaning defenses can load up the box to shut down Richardson. Yet many defenses haven’t been able to do that. The other person that deserves mention is Baltimore kicker (yes, kicker) Justin Tucker.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Vontaze Burfict, the undrafted free agent Bengal linebacker out of Arizona State has had surprising impact on the Cincinnati defense. In the AFC North, he’s performed better than any other rookie on the defensive side of the ball.
Coach of the Year:
The Bengals Marvin Lewis has again put Cincinnati in the thick of the playoff race, with a chance to win the AFC North. His coaching has exceeded that of his AFC North counterparts in Pittsburgh and Baltimore as Mike Tomlin and John Harbaugh’s teams have struggled a bit (at least for them). Cleveland’s Pat Shurmur has done a nice job, but not quite as nice as Lewis.

AFC South

Photo Credit: (Getty Images)

MVP:
Andrew Luck has helped to significantly change the culture of the Colts from what we saw last year and is largely the reason the Colts are in a place to make the playoffs. He’s had more impact on his team than anyone else in this division.
Offensive Player of the Year:
A strong case could also be made for Luck in this category, but I have to give the nod to Arian Foster. While Luck has played exceptionally, he’s also made a few mistakes along the way (to be expected since he was handed the Colts full offense on day one, by a team that has no running game; Luck IS the offense); Houston’s Foster hasn’t had those type of mistakes and has been one of the best running backs in the league.
Defensive Player of the Year:
J.J. Watt is an absolute monster. He’s redefined the way defensive lineman will play and is equally outstanding against the pass and run. Watt is one of the favorites for league Defensive Player of the Year.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Andrew Luck is the top offensive rookie in this division, hands down.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Weak class for this division so I’m actually inclined not to name a winner. I’d love to hear thoughts if someone feels passionately about one of the rookies in this division.
Coach of the Year:
Gary Kubiak has done a nice job in Houston this season, but the Indianapolis duo of Chuck Pagano and Bruce Arians could take the league Coach of the Year award for what they’ve managed to do with a young Colts team.

AFC West

Photo Credit: (David Zalubowski/AP)

MVP:
What Peyton Manning has done this year after major surgery is remarkable. The Broncos had a good team last year, but Manning has really pushed them over the hump with is leadership and offensive ability. No one else in this division really even enters the conversation with the Denver quarterback.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Jamaal Charles really was the only source of offense for the Chiefs this year, yet teams still couldn’t stop him. While Manning had a great year, in terms of pure offense, I think Charles was better.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Denver’s Von Miller was the best linebacker in the league this year, a force against the run and the pass. He will likely finish in the top three, maybe top two, when the league hands out its DPoY award after the season.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
I don’t think I can name anyone here. None of the division’s offensive rookies have done enough to warrant a mention.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Another division with a weak class here, but San Diego’s Melvin Ingram has done just enough to get mentioned here.
Coach of the Year:
John Fox has had a good year, but also gets this honor by default since his three counterparts in this division all could find themselves on the hot seat after the season.

NFC East

Photo Credit:(Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)

MVP:
Robert Griffin III has impressed everyone in his rookie season and led an outstanding turnaround in the nation’s capital. No one else in the division nears the impact he’s delivered.
Offensive Player of the Year:
In a year in which the Giants offense has struggled with injuries, the Cowboys have struggled with consistency and the Eagles have been downright atrocious, this comes down to two rookies – RG3 and his teammate Alfred Morris. I give the slight edge to Griffin.
Defensive Player of the Year:
There are a lot of big defensive names in this division, from Demarcus Ware to Justin Tuck to Justin Pierre-Paul, but none have had truly standout seasons.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
See Offensive Player of the Year. Griffin over Morris by a hair, giving RG3 three nods in the NFC East.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
I guess Dallas’ Morris Claiborne, although he hasn’t played quite as well as many expected.
Coach of the Year:
Mike Shanahan finally got his quarterback and now he seems to have the Redskins headed in the right direction.

NFC North

Photo Credit: (Brian Peterson/MCT)

MVP:
This comes down to Adrian Peterson and Aaron Rodgers. I can make cases for both, but ultimately look at Minnesota and realize that without Peterson, they could be in line for a top three draft pick. With him, they’re on the verge of the playoffs. If Rodgers was taken away from the Packers, they still have the talent to be around .500.
Offensive Player of the Year:
This division is loaded. Peterson, Rodgers, Chicago’s Brandon Marshall and Detroit’s Calvin Johnson. These four could possibly be the top four vote getters when this award is decided. When I cast my vote for the Couchletes Offensive Player of the Year, I’ll have Peterson, Johnson and Marshall as 1-2-3.
Defensive Player of the Year:
Chicago Bears teammates Tim Jennings and Charles Tillman could both make an impact in the league wide voting for this award. I give a slight nod to Jennings for his consistency throughout the year.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
The rookie on the offensive side of the ball who sticks out is Minnesota tight end Kyle Rudolph, but while he’s had some real standout games, he’s also had some where he made little impact. The rookie has struggled with consistency. Unfortunately, no one else really comes to mind in this division.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Green Bay cornerback Casey Hayward may actually win this award and no one in the NFC North comes close to his performance on the year.
Coach of the Year:
The Packers’ Mike McCarthy did an astute job guiding the team through a rough start to the year to a second straight division win.

NFC South

Photo Credit: (Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP)

MVP:
Matt Ryan started the year hot, as a top three quarterback, and although he cooled off toward the end of the season, still stood out as most valuable player in this division.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Tampa Bay running back Doug Martin had an outstanding season, emerging as a top rushing threat in the entire league and standing out in a down year for other big offensive weapons in the division such as Drew Brees and Cam Newton.
Defensive Player of the Year:
This division’s top defensive player could be Panther rookie Luke Kuechly. He stood out to me more than any other defender in this division.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
See Offensive Player of the Year.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
See Defensive Player of the Year. Tampa rookies Mark Barron and Lavonte David should also get recognized for their performance this year as well though.
Coach of the Year:
Greg Schiano made a big impact on not only his team, but the league this year (remember his refusal to allow teams to down the ball when leading and trying to run out the clock?), but Mike Smith of the Falcons stood out a little more than the Tampa rookie coach.

NFC West

Photo Credit: (Jamie Squire/Getty Images)

MVP:
Seattle rookie quarterback Russell Wilson, while not putting up outstanding numbers, has had tremendous impact. There are those, including some of my Couchletes colleagues, that I know would try to argue San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick would warrant consideration. To them I say, you’re crazy. Wilson’s resume is better and he’s had more impact on that team than Kaepernick has had on an already top tier 49er unit.
Offensive Player of the Year:
Marshawn Lynch has more rushing yards and more touchdowns than San Francisco’s Frank Gore and receives the nod from me, although both have had strong seasons.
Defensive Player of the Year:
San Francisco’s Aldon Smith is within reach of Michael Strahan’s single season sack record (currently tied with Houston’s J.J. Watt) and will warrant discussion in the Defensive Player of the Year conversation, but I question if his teammate Justin Smith has had more impact.
Offensive Rookie of the Year:
Wilson. No one else comes close.
Defensive Rookie of the Year:
Rams cornerback Janoris Jenkins has had a great season, silencing many of the critics who raised questions about him during the draft process. While he’s tops, Seattle has also had several rookies provide immediate impact on the defensive side of the ball, with middle linebacker Bobby Wilson leading the way.
Coach of the Year:
Jim Harbaugh and Pete Carroll both warrant consideration, but as I stated in my choice for AFC East coach of the year, expectations play a large part in my determination. Everyone knew San Francisco would be good this year, not many expected Seattle to be this good.

By Kevin York
Follow Kevin on Twitter at @kevin_york