By Ben Melamed — Correspondent

The season of NFL awards is upon us. NFL honors were announced on Thursday, February 10th, including OPOY (Offensive Player of the Year), DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year), OROTY (Offensive Rookie of the Year), DROTY (Defensive Rookie of the Year), COTY(Coach of the Year), CPOTY(Comeback Player of the Year), WPMOTY (Walter Payton Man of the Year), and MVP (Most Valuable Player)  were awarded

In the MVP race, Aaron Rodgers won the award. Sharon High School Freshman Tommy Farkas says that Tom Brady should have been the MVP. “[Brady is] a great leader and he’s been playing for so long, he knows the game so well he makes others better with his knowledge.”

Sharon High School Freshman Aidan McAuliffe also says that Brady should have been the MVP.  “[Brady] just doesn’t let his team lose, we saw that in the divisional game, Aaron Rodgers could be down 2 scores and walk away, Brady is Brady.” 

For OPOY, the betting favorites were Colts running back Johnathan Taylor and Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp. Kupp won the award. Mcauliffe said Cooper Kupp deserved to win OPOY. “[Kupp] he’s breaking records, he just had an insane season, he almost broke the receiving record and won the triple crown, so why not? Also, he’s a high motor player.”

Sharon High School freshman Cole Arundale said that Cooper Kupp brought value to the rams and deserved OPOY “[Kupp wins OPOY] because both value and statistically he’s the best and he brought a very high impact to the ram and a good role model for the rookies and the kids.” 

In the DPOY race, the betting favorites were Myles Garrett, T.J. Watt, and reigning DPOY Aaron Donald. Watt won the award. Sharon High School freshman Jeff Priel said T.J. Watt was the best choice. “It’s very close between [Watt]  and Donald because even though [Watt]. has the stats, Aaron Donald is the most dominant player in the league. [Watt]. tied the single-season sack record in only 14 games, dominated every game he played in, and basically put the team on his back and led them to the playoffs. I don’t see how you don’t give it to him.”

Cole Arundale also said that T.J. Watt deserved to win. “[Watt] because he’s the best Watt brother  and he had the most sacks in a season, he tied for the most sacks ever, and he helped out the steelers, who were bad without him.” 

Aidan McAuliffe said that Watt should have won the award for tying Micheal Strahan’s single-season sack record. “[Watt] had 22.5 sacks in fewer games than Michael Strahan, he pretty much broke the record and the steelers team without him probably would have been below 0.500, he carries the steelers, he’s their only hope.”

The race for Coach of the Year was dominated by Zac Taylor of the Bengals, Bill Belichick of the Patriots, and Mike Vrabel of the Titans, the favorite being Zac Taylor. Vrabel won the award. Sharon High School Freshman Sebastian Volk says that Taylor was the best choice. “[Taylor] brought a team who won 2 games last year to the superbowl, although Vrabel got the first seed without his top player, playoff success is still more important and the bengals roster is a less talented team.”

Arundale says that Zac Taylor deserved to win. “[Taylor] reason being he took last year’s number 1 draft pick and a team of nobodies to the superbowl. He has a good offensive playbook and he calls very well, I’m personally a fan of mesh spot, I run it alot on madden. Besides that, I like him because he made the most of his team and his ability to coach his team to the victory has been unmatched this season.”

McAuliffe said Zac Taylor turned his team around and deserved the award. “I’ll take Taylor, they went from 4 wins to 11 wins and they’re in the superbowl. They barely made any changes and they have had nothing but good coaching. Second guy is Bill Belichick, he took some nobodys to very solid pieces and they went from 7-9 to 10-7.”

OROY has multiple candidates with a case to take the award, Players such as Najee Harris, Mac Jones, Ja’Marr Chase, and Jaylen Waddle come to mind. Chase won the award. Sharon High School Freshman Jacob Katz says Mac Jones deserved the award. “[Jones] brought the Patriots to the wild card and went on a 7 game win streak with them. Jones has patience in the pocket and he’s not afraid to take a hit, most qbs run for their lives or throw an interception out of fear. Jones doesn’t, he stays calm and smart. That’s why Mac Jones will win OROY”

Arundale says that Chiefs rookie Creed Humphreys, a center, deserved the award. “[Creed Humphreys] because he was literally the best at his position in the whole NFL.”

McAuliffe says that Ja’Marr Chase, Bengals wide receiver, deserved the award. “I would like to say Jones, but it’s gotta be Chase because he literally, that’s probably the only offseason decision they made, and he took them from the slums to the superbowl, and he’s a top 5 wide receiver.”

DROY is the only award with a consensus winner, Micah Parsons. His impact on the Cowboys and his stats and ability have been unmatched across all rookies. Sharon High School Freshman Ruhan Sah says that Parsons’ mindset is “crazy”. “Some of the things [Parsons] says shows he isn’t like other rookies and he plays and acts like he’s been in the league for a long time, along with this, he’s incredibly versatile, he can play anywhere.”

Arundale says that Parsons is dominant. “It’s that he’s big, he’s strong, he’s fast, we have seen how fast he is from how he beat tyreek hill in the fastest man competition, he had a ton of sacks and he helped the 8-8 cowboys go 9-7, forever 8-8, cowboys up. You know they are playing the Superbowl in Dallas from now on so that there will never be a home field advantage.”