Midseason Awards

[Ratboy]

Click Here (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/06/SPGFAFJHD81.DTL)

-- MVP: Quarterback Jake Plummer, Denver. With coach Mike Shanahan, offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak and quarterbacks coach Pat McPherson whispering in his ear, Plummer finally is the player he was supposed to be years ago. He has learned how to manage games, hasn't thrown an interception in six games, and his 12-3 TD-interception ratio is the best of his career.

-- Defensive MVP: Defensive end Dwight Freeney, Indianapolis. He's not leading the league in sacks as he did a year ago (one of his teammates, Robert Mathis, is among three atop the list), but he's still the player opponents scheme to avoid on the Colts' improved defense. In seven games, Freeney has made six sacks, recorded 11 quarterback pressures and forced four fumbles.

-- Least valuable player: Running back Jamal Lewis, Baltimore. With the Ravens' passing game in shambles, again, they need Lewis more than ever. In seven games, he has 387 yards rushing and 3.0 a carry, and he has a former teammate announcing that Lewis is not playing hard because he doesn't like his contract.

-- Least valuable defensive player: The Saints have plenty of candidates but the winner is defensive end Charles Grant, who made 201/2 sacks the last two years and has 11/2 this year.

-- Most surprising team: New York Giants. Philadelphia was expected to win the NFC East again, Dallas was said to be better, and Washington's Gibbs was supposed to correct the errors of his first year back on the sidelines. Instead, it's the Giants who share the best record in the NFC and lead the division.

-- Most disappointing team: Minnesota. No competition for this award, on land or on sea.

-- Best coaching job: Old friend Mike Holmgren finally appears to have the Seahawks playing well on defense, and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is under control. Seattle is in great shape to earn a first-round playoff bye because the remaining schedule includes only one road game against a team with a winning record (Dec. 5 at Philadelphia).

-- Worst coaching job: Dom Capers, Houston. The Texans not only stopped improving in this, their fourth year, they regressed badly. They're 32nd on offense, 31st on defense (just the reverse of the 49ers).

-- Best assistant coach: Ron Turner, offensive coordinator, Chicago. The Bears lost their starting quarterback, Rex Grossman, in training camp, Turner got rookie Kyle Orton, a fourth-round draft choice, ready to play, and the Bears are in first place in their division. A nod, also, to Cincinnati defensive coordinator Chuck Bresnahan, the Raiders' former coordinator. The Bengals lead the league with 28 takeaways including 20 interceptions. At that pace, they'd finish with 40 interceptions, a total exceeded only three times in history.

-- Best executive: Shanahan Denver. He was criticized for importing four defensive linemen from Cleveland, but they have helped, and so have the cornerbacks he drafted with the Broncos' first three draft picks.

-- Best rookie: Orton. In four games during October, he threw five touchdown passes, just one interception, completed 57.7 percent of his passes and helped the Bears win three in a row. The kid has been consistent, especially for a rookie, with successive passer ratings of 84.9, 84.9, 77.5 and 89.4 in the last four games.

-- Best defensive rookie: Middle linebacker Odell Thurman, Cincinnati. A second-round draft pick, Thurman has made four interceptions and he was the Bengals' leading tackler in five of their eight games.

-- Best free-agent signing: Wide receiver Plaxico Burress, N.Y. Giants. Eli Manning's new best friend has caught 40 passes for 577 yards and five touchdowns.

-- Worst free-agent signing: Quarterback Kurt Warner, Arizona. The Cardinals were lulled into thinking Warner could revive his career and lift their team. Wrong.

-- Best trade: The Redskins got Santana Moss from the Jets in a swap of wideouts, giving up Laveranues Coles. Moss' speed is a key to the Washington offense. He has caught 42 passes for 777 yards and five touchdowns. Coles caught one TD pass last year.

-- Worst trade: Houston gave the Raiders second- and third-round draft choices for cornerback Phillip Buchanon. The Raiders used one of those picks for promising linebacker Kirk Morrison. Buchanon has been benched.

-- Rising star: Quarterback Carson Palmer, Cincinnati. He leads the NFL in completion percentage (69.7) and touchdown passes (16) and is second in passer rating behind Ben Roethlisberger.

-- Falling star: Quarterback Brett Favre, Green Bay. That bizarre last play against Cincinnati said it all when Favre, instead of spiking the ball and taking a last-play shot at the end zone from the Bengals' 30, started running around like a lost rookie, ran past the line of scrimmage and then threw an underhanded shovel pass to end the game. He leads the NFL with 13 interceptions.

-- Most improved player: Manning, N.Y. Giants. As pointed out in a column earlier in the week, he has made one of biggest leaps ever in passer rating after his rookie year.

-- Most improved defensive player: Linebacker Cato June, Indianapolis. June, a safety in college, was moved to linebacker by the Colts. His five interceptions are three more than he had in two previous full NFL seasons.

-- Least improved offensive player: Quarterback Joey Harrington, Detroit. He's averaging 5.58 yards an attempt with four touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 55.6 rating. Awful.

-- Least improved defensive player: Cornerback Fred Smoot, Minnesota. After 16 interceptions in four seasons with Washington, he has one this year.

-- Comeback player: Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tennessee. A bargain free agent because of knee problems, he shares the NFL lead with eight sacks. In three previous seasons, he made a total of four sacks.

[SoCalBronco]

Odell Thurman as best Defensive rookie?

Still think our players are getting proper respect, Zach?

[GonzoLays]

Ratboy, that "woman" in your avatar looks like David Schwimmer in a wig.

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/image.php?u=1544&dateline=1131218142http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:fep1sKVAgg8J:www.tinne.dk/Billeder%2520p%25E5%2520hjemmeside/David%2520Shwimmer/schwimmer-bang.jpg

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Plummer's played well, but I just think giving the MVP to a QB who ranks 21st in yards per game is just silly.

To me the MVP is clearly Steve Smith or Shaun Alexander.

[-Slap-]

Odell Thurman as best Defensive rookie?

Still think our players are getting proper respect, Zach?
Odell Thurman might not even be the best rookie MLB in the League. Mosi's kid, Lofa Tatupu, up there in Seattle, has been outstanding this season.

[nooner]

Mvp...LT

[Ratboy]

Ratboy, that "woman" in your avatar looks like David Schwimmer in a wig.

http://www.orangemane.com/BB/image.php?u=1544&dateline=1131218142http://images.google.com/images?q=tbn:fep1sKVAgg8J:www.tinne.dk/Billeder%2520p%25E5%2520hjemmeside/David%2520Shwimmer/schwimmer-bang.jpg

You still wouldnt deny "her"

[-Slap-]

Mvp...LT
No kidding. Do people realize LT has accounted for 18 TDs already?

13 rushing, three passing, two on receptions.

He's clearly the best player in football as far as I'm concerned.

[-Slap-]

-- Most improved defensive player: Linebacker Cato June, Indianapolis. June, a safety in college, was moved to linebacker by the Colts. His five interceptions are three more than he had in two previous full NFL seasons.
I think you can make a strong case for Gerard Warren right here.

[Bob's your Information Minister]

No kidding. Do people realize LT has accounted for 18 TDs already?

13 rushing, three passing, two on receptions.

He's clearly the best player in football as far as I'm concerned.

And yet his team is 5-4.

[No1BroncoFan]

Plummer's played well, but I just think giving the MVP to a QB who ranks 21st in yards per game is just silly.

To me the MVP is clearly Steve Smith or Shaun Alexander.
Good gawd, but you're a stat-geek.

[-Slap-]

And yet his team is 5-4.
2-7, at best, without him.

[errand]

2-7, at best, without him.

While LT might be the best player in the NFL...as far as being MVP this year....i wonder what the Broncos record would be without Jake playing as well as he has...or better yet if he were to go down/

[Bob's your Information Minister]

Good gawd, but you're a stat-geek.

Indeed.

[DB-Freak]

While LT might be the best player in the NFL...as far as being MVP this year....i wonder what the Broncos record would be without Jake playing as well as he has...or better yet if he were to go down/

You could make that kind of case of for a lot of QBs out there.

And other players I guess.

[Jens1893]

steve smith

[-Slap-]

You could make that kind of case of for a lot of QBs out there.

And other players I guess.
No doubt that QB is the most indespensible position. The current structure of the game, regarding expansion and economics mean only a handful of teams have competent backup QBs these days.

[ludo21]

LT is MVP so far IMO. Amazing how much a difference maker he is. The team is only 5-4, but w/o him they wouldnt be a .500 team.

Alexander deserves it too, as well as SS. Should be an interesting 2nd half of the season.

Plummer is an MVP candidate, but wont get it and plus doesnt deserve it, but thats ok because that means our running game is dominating! :thumbs:

[FantomForce]

LT4MVP
Hands down! The man has all the tools

[SoCalBronco]

Odell Thurman might not even be the best rookie MLB in the League. Mosi's kid, Lofa Tatupu, up there in Seattle, has been outstanding this season.

Lofa has played well, as has Derrick Johnson from KC, Merriman from SD and Channing Crowder from Miami. LBs have done well in this draft for the most part. Im just glad and still awestruck that teams like the Titans put up the 6th pick overall on guys like Pac Man Jones, while we had quite possibly the two best rookie cornerbacks fall into our laps several hours later.

http://www.denverbroncos.com/resources/custom/Images/Top%20Stories/2005/rookie_corners_051009.jpg

[Garcia Bronco]

And yet his team is 5-4.

the best 5-4 team out there I tell ya....best 3-2 away team as well....of course the Bengals are the best 4-1 away team.ROFL!

[bendog]

come on guys, wins mean everything when the mvp guy is not a bronco, but nothing when the guy is. Get with the program on boob's logic.

I'd go for LT, but Alexander is deserving. The thing with LT is, given brees is having a decent statistical year, how can the team NOT have won 6 games .... the shotty factor.

[Broncoman13]

Odell Thurman as best Defensive rookie?

Still think our players are getting proper respect, Zach?


Sorry SoCal... I can't agrue with this one. As good as DWill, Foxxy, and even DJohnson have been, Odell has been better! I guess Derrick Johnson has a pretty good arguement, but I think Odell has made more plays.

Btw, weren't there a lot of people that were dogging my boy DJ saying he wasn't going to be a player? I hate that he's a Chef, but dude is a hell of a player!

[Broncoman13]

come on guys, wins mean everything when the mvp guy is not a bronco, but nothing when the guy is. Get with the program on boob's logic.

I'd go for LT, but Alexander is deserving. The thing with LT is, given brees is having a decent statistical year, how can the team NOT have won 6 games .... the shotty factor.


Alexander, Steve Smith, Edge James, Tomlinson..... if you're waying wins (which you should) into the equation. Edge would be front and center if they played a Broncoesque schedule so far. Tomlinson if they were winning. Steve Smith is responsible for atleast three of Carolina's 6 wins!

[Mediator12]

Sorry SoCal... I can't agrue with this one. As good as DWill, Foxxy, and even DJohnson have been, Odell has been better! I guess Derrick Johnson has a pretty good arguement, but I think Odell has made more plays.

Btw, weren't there a lot of people that were dogging my boy DJ saying he wasn't going to be a player? I hate that he's a Chef, but dude is a hell of a player!

I was one of the guys skeptical of Derrick Johnson and after watching him wiff several times versus Lamont Jordan yesterday and fail to cover him on plenty of occasions I still think he is not as good as everyone thinks he is. It is self fulfilling prophecy on his reputation, not his performances to date. He has made some plays, but missed alot more than DJ Williams did at this point last year.

BTW socal, Here is an Interesting mid season award from Gil Brandt. A guy who knows how to watch Film and write at the same time.

Notice who the Defensive SAM midseason Player of the year is, none other than DJ Williams partner. People who watch tape have noticed!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9021070

[bendog]

Alexander, Steve Smith, Edge James, Tomlinson..... if you're waying wins (which you should) into the equation. Edge would be front and center if they played a Broncoesque schedule so far. Tomlinson if they were winning. Steve Smith is responsible for atleast three of Carolina's 6 wins!
yeah, but I just couldn't vote (assuming I had one) for a WR. Agree also that wins factor in. Maybe its unfair but I tend ot discount Edge's stats cause of the Payaton Harrison factor.

[Mediator12]

yeah, but I just couldn't vote (assuming I had one) for a WR. Agree also that wins factor in. Maybe its unfair but I tend ot discount Edge's stats cause of the Payaton Harrison factor.

Actually Edgerrin has benefitted mightily this year since teams are trying to keep Manning from beating them. It is a pick your poison and teams think they have a better chance containing James and keeping coverages to stop Manning's big play abilities. That being said, he is still performing at an MVP level though and stepping up to keep that offense potent.

[Elway 4 Life]

Plummer's played well, but I just think giving the MVP to a QB who ranks 21st in yards per game is just silly.

To me the MVP is clearly Steve Smith or Shaun Alexander.

OR TOMLINSON

[Elway 4 Life]

-- Best coaching job: Old friend Mike Holmgren finally appears to have the Seahawks playing well on defense, and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is under control. Seattle is in great shape to earn a first-round playoff bye because the remaining schedule includes only one road game against a team with a winning record (Dec. 5 at Philadelphia).

Holmgren has always done good with the seahawks during the regular season it's the playoffs that he sucks in.
Marvin Lewis is the coach of the year hands down. I would say Fox is a close runner-up.

[bendog]

Lewis for sure. It's not close.

[ludo21]

Lewis for sure. It's not close.



Mike Shannahan :coach:

[Rock Chalk]

Pryce for COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE DAMN YEAR!

[SoCalBronco]

I was one of the guys skeptical of Derrick Johnson and after watching him wiff several times versus Lamont Jordan yesterday and fail to cover him on plenty of occasions I still think he is not as good as everyone thinks he is. It is self fulfilling prophecy on his reputation, not his performances to date. He has made some plays, but missed alot more than DJ Williams did at this point last year.

BTW socal, Here is an Interesting mid season award from Gil Brandt. A guy who knows how to watch Film and write at the same time.

Notice who the Defensive SAM midseason Player of the year is, none other than DJ Williams partner. People who watch tape have noticed!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9021070

Well, thats always nice to see. Good stuff. :thumbsup:

[orange 4 life]

good stuff tribbey.

as for plummer, i think he has a legit chance to finish as mvp.

it depends more on our defense than plummer himself.
if the defense can keep teams down early and we can avoid playing from two or more scores down, plummer should continue the path he's on.
if we start getting burned defensively, plummer will throw for alot more yards, and alot more picks too.

im glad to see plummer get the nod, but i have to be honest and say RIGHT NOW in the season i'd have to give the mvp to carson palmer, and i think its a pretty easy decision.

that said, i DONT think palmer will be there in the end, and that bodes well for jake (not that he cares about the award).

the team winning is all that matters, but it is nice to see plummer finally receiving the credit he's long deserved.

jake

[errand]

You could make that kind of case of for a lot of QBs out there.

And other players I guess.

Yes, you could....so I guess the $64 million question is which team can overcome the loss of their "star" player.

For instance if the Broncos lost Bell, or Anderson it would hurt, but would it hurt as much as losing Jake? Probably not. Look at KC....losing Holmes last season hurt, but not as much as many thought due to Johnson filling in Ok for them. ditto for the Broncos RB's. Droughns gained over 1,200 yards despite not getting the starting nod until week 5-6.....

Anyways, it is harder to play Qb than it is to play RB in the NFL, so a QB will more than likely get the nod in a close race.

[DB-Freak]

Yes, you could....so I guess the $64 million question is which team can overcome the loss of their "star" player.

For instance if the Broncos lost Bell, or Anderson it would hurt, but would it hurt as much as losing Jake? Probably not. Look at KC....losing Holmes last season hurt, but not as much as many thought due to Johnson filling in Ok for them. ditto for the Broncos RB's. Droughns gained over 1,200 yards despite not getting the starting nod until week 5-6.....

Anyways, it is harder to play Qb than it is to play RB in the NFL, so a QB will more than likely get the nod in a close race.
Funniest part about this post is that it really didn't do anything to detract from my statement at all.

Thanks for the obvious.

[elsid13]

I was one of the guys skeptical of Derrick Johnson and after watching him wiff several times versus Lamont Jordan yesterday and fail to cover him on plenty of occasions I still think he is not as good as everyone thinks he is. It is self fulfilling prophecy on his reputation, not his performances to date. He has made some plays, but missed alot more than DJ Williams did at this point last year.

BTW socal, Here is an Interesting mid season award from Gil Brandt. A guy who knows how to watch Film and write at the same time.

Notice who the Defensive SAM midseason Player of the year is, none other than DJ Williams partner. People who watch tape have noticed!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9021070


Been nice for the oline to get some love, I think that they have played better then been in years. Nalen and Lepsis have done outstanding jobs this year.

[BreesLightning]

Shawne Merriman will win rookie of the year, period.

He has 5 sacks and two forced fumbles in three starts. He'll probably end up with 10 plus sacks this season if he starts the rest of the way (which he should).

Not to mention, the kid is the youngest player in the league.

Derrick Johnson who??

[Rock Chalk]

Shawne Merriman will win rookie of the year, period.

He has 5 sacks and two forced fumbles in three starts. He'll probably end up with 10 plus sacks this season if he starts the rest of the way (which he should).

Not to mention, the kid is the youngest player in the league.

Derrick Johnson who??
I dont know. Darrent WIlliams and Foxworth are both making big noise what with the injury to Champ and all. Both have made big plays in big games and got national media attention from it. While I do not doubt the merits of Shawne Merriman, your mentioning of his name is the first I have heard it. Now, that may not mean a whole lot, there are a lot of playerss I do not know, but there are many that I do know who have been making waves in the national scene, moreso than Merriman that is. JMO.

For instance, I thought DJ Williams had a better year than Vilma did last year, but Vilma got the nod over DJ...more media attention being on the Jets and all. Its about talent AND media coverage, so overall numbers may not mean much in the grand scheme of things.

[BreesLightning]

I dont know. Darrent WIlliams and Foxworth are both making big noise what with the injury to Champ and all. Both have made big plays in big games and got national media attention from it. While I do not doubt the merits of Shawne Merriman, your mentioning of his name is the first I have heard it. Now, that may not mean a whole lot, there are a lot of playerss I do not know, but there are many that I do know who have been making waves in the national scene, moreso than Merriman that is. JMO.

For instance, I thought DJ Williams had a better year than Vilma did last year, but Vilma got the nod over DJ...more media attention being on the Jets and all. Its about talent AND media coverage, so overall numbers may not mean much in the grand scheme of things.


His problem was that he missed most of training camp and the beginning of the season with injuries. He is just now starting to come on. The kid is going to be something special.

Here's some press from Pastabelly: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/columns/story?columnist=pasquarelli_len&id=2216406 (also mentions one of your rookie CB's)

For the lazy:

"Rookie to watch:
It's the time of the campaign for all of those half-season awards. You know, the most valuable player of the first half of the season, the defensive player of the first half, and all those other faux plaudits media outlets are so fond of choosing. Well, since my wonderful, sage bosses have relieved us of such duties this year (thanks guys, honest), we haven't had to dwell very much on how we might have doled out those honors. There isn't a single guy in the NFL, and we checked, who has a bonus in his contract rewarding him for being player/rookie/grand poobah of the half-season. So why fret too much over it?

But this much we did think about: If you want to add a player to your personal watch list for potential defensive rookie-of-the-whole-season honors, put San Diego first-round linebacker Shawne Merriman on your radar screen.

We're not certain if Merriman, the 12th prospect chosen overall in April, was the top defensive rookie through the first nine weeks of the season. Linebackers Odell Thurman (Cincinnati), DeMarcus Ware (Dallas), Lofa Tatupu (Seattle) and Derrick Johnson (Kansas City) probably all deserve to be on the half-season short list. Ditto Denver cornerback Darrent Williams and Philadelphia defensive tackle Mike Patterson. But we're guessing that when the real rookie of the year honor is awarded after the season, Merriman will be a strong contender.

The former University of Maryland star is beginning to mature, and quickly, on and off the field. In Sunday's win over the New York Jets, he posted nine tackles, a sack and two quarterback pressures. That raised his sack total to five, all in the last five outings. Merriman is a perfect fit for the 3-4 front the Chargers employ, a hybrid defender who still plays best moving forward, but who figures to get better in reverse with more playing time. He may not be the best defensive rookie of the half-season, but by the end of the year, Merriman could be a monster."

[Rocket 7]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/writers/don_banks/11/08/midseason.awards/index.html

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Lofa has played well, as has Derrick Johnson from KC, Merriman from SD and Channing Crowder from Miami. LBs have done well in this draft for the most part. Im just glad and still awestruck that teams like the Titans put up the 6th pick overall on guys like Pac Man Jones, while we had quite possibly the two best rookie cornerbacks fall into our laps several hours later.

http://www.denverbroncos.com/resources/custom/Images/Top%20Stories/2005/rookie_corners_051009.jpg

He is now known as Ms. Pacman in Tennessee

[Billy Clyde Puckett]

Notice who the Defensive SAM midseason Player of the year is, none other than DJ Williams partner. People who watch tape have noticed!

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/9021070

So where all all those maners who think that DJ is having a bad year. Even though his stats are down, he is making more of a team contribution than last year.

[airportis]

Click Here (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2005/11/06/SPGFAFJHD81.DTL)


-- Comeback player: Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, Tennessee. A bargain free agent because of knee problems, he shares the NFL lead with eight sacks. In three previous seasons, he made a total of four sacks.

You are INSANE if you think anyone but Steve Smith is comeback player of the year

[Rock Chalk]

You are INSANE if you think anyone but Steve Smith is comeback player of the year
Offensive yes, defensive Trevor Pryce.