With Week 9 in the books, we have officially reached the halfway point of the 2023 NFL season. With that in mind, it is time to look back at the best performers so far and give out our Midseason Awards.
Our team of Kevin Sayer, Tayyib Abu, Lee Wakefield, Kieran Horne, William Lane, Tyler Schickert, and Jack Brentnall came together to make their picks and name some honourable mentions along the way.
MVP – Lamar Jackson
It’s a closely fought race for MVP but Lamar Jackson edges out the rest of the competition. The Ravens quarterback has been outstanding and shown no issues translating to a more pass-heavy offense. He is completing a league-high 71.5% of his passes, throwing for 1,954 yards, nine touchdowns and just three interceptions. Per PFF he has logged a 5.1% big-time throw rate and a turnover-worthy play rate of just 2.7%.
He’s also continued to be a dynamic rushing threat, with 439 yards and five touchdowns. He is tied for the sixth most forced missed tackles in the NFL this season and leads the league with 19 runs of 10+ yards.
Honourable mentions: CJ Stroud, Tyreek Hill
Offensive Player of the Year – Christian McCaffrey
McCaffrey is having an absolutely outstanding season in San Francisco. He leads the NFL in both rushing yards and rushing yards after contact. He is also tied for the most forced missed tackles in the NFL and sits second and third in breakaway and explosive carries respectively.
On top of this he is also one of the best pass catchers in football. McCaffrey has provided 292 yards on his 32 receptions this season, averaging 1.52 yards per route run. For context, that is higher than Eagles wide receiver Devonta Smith. McCaffrey’s ability to be a true difference maker in the run game and as a receiver is unmatched.
Honourable mentions: Tyreek Hill, AJ Brown
Defensive Player of the Year – Myles Garrett
There were plenty of worthy candidates for this award but Garrett has been special for the Browns this year. He is thriving under Jim Schwartz and having the best pass rushing year of his career. He already has 10 sacks, which is tied for the most in the NFL, and he has also contributed seven quarterback hits. Garrett also leads all defenders with a 26.2% pass rush win rate.
He has forced an NFL-high four fumbles already this year and his 30 defensive stops rank ninth amongst edge rushers.
Honourable mentions: TJ Watt, Dexter Lawrence
Offensive Rookie of the Year – CJ Stroud
Stroud showed in Week 9 why he deserves to win this award. His record-setting performance against the Buccaneers felt like his real arrival at the NFL level and he showed the poise and composure you would expect from an NFL veteran. Through nine weeks he has thrown 14 touchdowns and just one interception, marking the best touchdown/interception ratio in the league.
He also leads all rookies in passing yards, yards per attempt, and big-time throw rate. Most impressive is how Stroud is doing this with a below average supporting cast and making true NFL throws. Stroud leads the league in the percentage of his throws to intermediate areas of the field.
Honourable mention: Puka Nacua
Defensive Rookie of the Year – Jalen Carter
We’ve seen a number of great defensive performances from rookies, but Carter just edges out the rest of the competition. The Eagles have used him primarily as a pass rusher through the first nine weeks to devastating effect. He has racked up 29 pressures, five of which are sacks. He sits eighth amongst interior linemen in pressures, despite ranking 33rd in the number of pass rushing snaps played.
Carter also leads all rookie defensive linemen with an impressive 19.1% pass rush win rate. For context, that puts him ahead of the likes of Chris Jones and Javon Hargrave.
Honourable mentions: Brian Branch, Devon Witherspoon
Comeback Player of the Year – Chase Young
The former No. 2 overall pick made headlines when he was traded to the 49ers before last week’s trade deadline, but before that he was putting in a shift in Washington. After two injury-plagued seasons with the Commanders, Young seems to have finally managed to stay healthy and he’s showing why he was widely regarded as one of the best defensive prospects in recent years.
He has amassed 38 pressures, just one fewer than the likes of Myles Garrett and TJ Watt, both of whom are in Defensive Player of the Year contention. Young has also logged an 18.4% pass rush win rate, which ranks 12th at the position.
Honourable mentions: Breece Hall, Damar Hamlin
Coach of the Year – John Harbaugh
This was the most closely contested award of the bunch, with four different coaches getting the nod from our panel. Harbaugh just managed to edge out his competitors, and it isn’t hard to see why. His Ravens team lead the league in DVOA. They are the best team in the league in net points per drive and they sit second in success rate. This is in a year where they have had absences at key spots and their first year running an entirely new offense.
Honourable mentions: DeMeco Ryans, Dan Campbell, Mike McDaniel
Assistant Coach of the Year – Mike Macdonald
Macdonald is now in his second season as the Ravens’ defensive coordinator and has firmly established himself as one of the brightest young coaching minds in the game. He has turned the Ravens into an absolute juggernaut this season. They are giving up 0.09 touchdowns per drive, which is the lowest total since the famous 2000 Ravens team.
They are also allowing the second lowest points per drive of any defense over the past decade and they are allowing the fourth lowest drive success rate in that timespan too.
Honourable mentions: Jim Schwartz, Ben Johnson