Saints rookie Tyler Shough is among five finalists for the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year Award, with fan voting helping to establish the final list.
Christian McCaffrey is the first player to be a finalist for three AP NFL awards in the same year, joining Josh Allen, Trevor Lawrence, Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford in the running for The Associated Press 2025 NFL Most Valuable Player award.
McCaffrey and Maye are also finalists for Offensive Player of the Year. McCaffrey and Lawrence are among the finalists for Comeback Player of the Year.
The winners will be announced at “NFL Honors” on Feb. 5. A nationwide panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the league completed voting before the playoffs began. Votes were tabulated by the accounting firm of Lutz and Carr.
Voters selected a top 5 for the eight AP NFL awards. First-place votes were worth 10 points. Second- through fifth-place votes were worth 5, 3, 2 and 1 points.
Here are the finalists for the eight AP NFL awards:
OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart, Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka, Patriots running back TreVeyon Henderson, Panthers wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan and Saints quarterback Tyler Shough are the finalists.
Shough saw the least starts of any player on the list, but had arguably as big an impact as any, taking over a 1-7 team and leading the Saints to a 5-4 record down the stretch, including a four-game winning streak. That run also included back-to-back 300-yard passing games, the first two for a Saints rookie in franchise history, while also setting new rookie records for passing yardage (2,384), touchdowns (10) and completion percentage (67.6%).
McMillan is the current betting favorite to win the award, catching 70 passes for 1,014 yards and 7 touchdowns as the Panthers won their first NFC South title since 2015.
DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
Giants edge rusher Abdul Carter, Seahawks defensive back Nick Emmanwori, Falcons edge rusher James Pearce Jr., Browns linebacker Carson Schwesinger and Falcons safety Xavier Watts are the finalists.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
Josh Allen, the reigning MVP, threw for 3,668 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, posting a 102.2 passer rating while leading Buffalo to its seventh straight playoff appearance. He also ran for 14 TDs. The Bills were knocked out of the playoffs by Denver in the divisional round and fired coach Sean McDermott.
Trevor Lawrence helped Jacksonville win 13 games and the AFC South title. He had 4,007 yards passing, 29 TDs and 12 picks. The Jaguars were eliminated by the Bills in the wild-card round.
Christian McCaffrey, an All-Purpose All-Pro, ran for 1,202 yards and 10 TDs and caught 102 passes for 924 yards and seven TDs. He played a key role in helping the injury-depleted San Francisco 49ers win 12 games.
Drake Maye had 4,394 yards passing, 31 TDs and eight picks to lead the New England Patriots to an AFC East title and an appearance in the AFC championship game on Sunday. Maye led the NFL in passer rating (113.5) and completion percentage (72).
Matthew Stafford led the NFL with 4,707 yards passing and 46 TDs. He threw eight picks and finished second to Maye with a 109.2 passer rating. Stafford was first-team All-Pro for the first time in his 17-year career.
Last year, Lamar Jackson was the first-team All-Pro QB but was edged out by Allen for MVP.
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Coach of the Year
Liam Coen led the Jaguars to a 13-4 record and a division title in his first season, a nine-win turnaround for the franchise.
Ben Johnson guided the Chicago Bears to an 11-5 record and their first NFC North championship in seven seasons.
Mike Macdonald led the Seattle Seahawks to a 14-3 record and the NFC’s No. 1 seed. The Seahawks host the Rams in the NFC championship game on Sunday.
Kyle Shanahan guided the 49ers to 12 wins despite a slew of injuries to key players, including losing defensive stars Nick Bosa and Fred Warner for the season.
Mike Vrabel, the 2021 AP NFL Coach of the Year, took the Patriots from worst to first, a 10-win turnaround in his first season with the team.
Assistant Coach of the Year
Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio, Vikings defensive coordinator Brian Flores, Broncos defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, Seahawks offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak and Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels are the finalists.
Comeback Player of the Year
Lawrence, McCaffrey, Patriots wide receiver Stefon Diggs, Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson and Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott are the finalists.
Defensive Player of the Year
All-Pro edge rusher Will Anderson Jr. had 12 sacks for the Houston Texans and was a major part of the NFL’s No. 1 ranked defense.
Broncos edge rusher Nik Bonitto had 14 sacks for the league’s second-ranked defense.
Browns edge rusher Myles Garrett, a unanimous choice for All-Pro, set a single-season record with 23 sacks and had 33 tackles for loss. He was the 2023 AP Defensive Player of the Year.
Lions edge rusher Hutchinson had 14 1/2 sacks.
All-Pro edge rusher Micah Parsons had 12 1/2 sacks in 13 1/2 games before tearing his ACL in his first season in Green Bay.
Offensive Player of the Year
Puka Nacua, Bijan Robinson and Jaxon Smith-Njigba join Maye and McCaffrey as finalists.
Nacua and Smith-Njigba were unanimous selections for All-Pro.
Nacua led the NFL with 129 catches for 1,715 yards and 10 TDs for the Rams. Smith-Njigba caught 119 passes and led the league with 1,793 yards receiving and had 10 TDs.
Robinson, who was All-Pro running back, led the NFL with 2,298 yards from scrimmage. He ran for 1,478 yards and seven TDs and caught 79 passes for 820 yards and four scores.
WWL Radio staff writer Jeff Nowak contributed to this report