So since we're at around the midseason point, we can take a look at who's leading in the awards race.
Odds for the winner of MVP, Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Coach of the Year, and other awards have been popular on NFL betting sites.
It's not always the case that the frontrunner for the award in Weeks 8-9 is at the same spot in Week 16 or 17, though. However, it gives us an idea of who is being considered. Perhaps the person who's in fourth or fifth place will climb up to the top by the end of the season.
For example, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes had been the popular preseason pick for MVP this season. NFL.com is one of the media outlets that had the gunslinging QB as their pick.
However, if you look today, the landscape has changed. Now we are seeing Dallas Cowboys' Dak Prescott and Arizona Cardinals' Kyler Murray as the MVP frontrunners. NFL.com did not have either QBs listed in their MVP prediction.
With that said, let's take a look at where the awards races in the NFL stand currently, and our current midseason prediction for who will win as well.
MVP
Here's a look at the odds for Most Valuable Player right now:
+350 - Kyler Murray, QB, Cardinals
+400 - Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
+450 - Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills
+700 - Tom Brady, QB, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
+800 - Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
+1000 - Aaron Rodgers, QB, Green Bay Packers
Murray and the Cardinals are rolling right now, but can he make it last? If the Cardinals can maintain their No. 1 standing, they can pull it off. I believe whatever QB is leading the No. 1 NFC seeded team is the frontrunner unless Josh Allen's performance stands out more.
Thus, Rodgers, Stafford, and Brady all have a chance at taking it away from Murray. If the Cardinals aren't the best NFL team, I believe Murray may fall down the rankings.
I'm going out on a limb right now, but my preseason predictions had the Green Bay Packers being the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Though my MVP pick was Mahomes that time, right now I'm going to roll with Rodgers, despite his odds currently.
The Packers had just defeated the Cardinals at the time of this writing, so Rodgers over Murray has to be my pick.
NOTE: Current odds listed are from right before Week 8 of the 2021-22 NFL season
Offensive Player of the Year
+350 - Derrick Henry, RB, Tennessee Titans
+800 - Cooper Kupp, WR, Rams
+1000 - Davante Adams, WR, Packers
+1200 - Kyler Murray, QB, Cardinals
It's no surprise that Henry is leading in the odds here, as he is basically single-handedly carrying the Titans right now. Him rushing for 200 yards every game just seems normal and expected, with two touchdowns on top of that.
Kupp has been killing it, too. He is the best receiver in fantasy football to have on your team right now. Adams being up there shouldn't be a surprise—he was my preseason pick for the award. Murray could be in the running as well, especially if he doesn't win MVP.
I believe it will be Henry winning it. However, I think Murray could be in the running too at the end.
UPDATE: In light of the news of Henry likely missing this season due to a foot injury, Kupp may be a frontrunner now. His teammate Matthew Stafford could also get it. With this news, along with Adams missing the last game for the Packers, I'll go with Kupp to win the award.
Defensive Player of the Year
+350 - Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns
+500 - Trevon Diggs, CB, Cowboys
+600 - TJ Watt, DE, Pittsburgh Steelers
+800 - Aaron Donald, DT, Rams
Garrett in the lead isn't surprising. He was my preseason pick as well. I also can't forget he had 4.5 sacks all by himself in a game earlier this season.
Diggs isn't far behind, who leads the league in interceptions. Watt has been making big plays as well. And, of course, Donald is in the running for this award every year.
I am going to play it safe and stick with Garrett as the prediction, although Diggs and Watt are great dark horse picks as well. The only thing holding Garrett back is Cleveland's record though, while Dallas continues to improve after their win over the Vikings.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
-140 - Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals
+400 - Mac Jones, QB, New England Patriots
+800 - Najee Harris, RB, Steelers
+900 - Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jacksonville Jaguars
+1200 - Kyle Pitts, TE, Atlanta Falcons
The award is Chase's to lose now, especially after his performance against the Baltimore Ravens. Chase will definitely earn it too if the Bengals make the postseason, too. Before then, I had Jones as the favorite, but the emergence of Chase has changed things.
Watch out for Kyle Pitts, though. The Falcons are finally starting to use him correctly. If Atlanta could make a run with Pitts balling out, there's a shot for him too.
The Patriots are also on the fringe of being a playoff team or missing this year. Making the postseason will give Jones a shot at the award, but my prediction as of today has to be Chase.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
+200 - Micah Parsons, LB, Cowboys
+700 - Jayson Oweh, OLB, Ravens
+900 - Jeremiah Owusu-Koramoah, LB, Browns
+1000 - Jamin Davis, LB, Washington Football Team
+1000 - Asante Samuel, Jr., CB, Los Angeles Chargers
+1000 - Azeez Ojulari, LB, New York Giants
My preseason prediction was way off, where I had Indianapolis Colts defensive end Kwity Paye as my pick.
The emergence of the Cowboys this season has changed things, with Trevon Diggs forming an awesome duo with Michah Parsons on the Dallas defense. Parsons is the clear frontrunner currently, and I'm not going against it as of right now.
Comeback Player of the Year
-350 - Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys
+650 - Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals
+1400 - Jameis Winston, QB, New Orleans Saints
+2000 - Carson Wentz, QB, Indianapolis Colts
+2000 - Nick Bosa, DE, San Francisco 49ers
+2000 - Derwin James, S, Chargers
Prescott was my preseason pick, and that's not changing. With him being one of the frontrunners for MVP already, he has the Comeback Player of the Year locked up right now.
Wentz and Burrow have a shot at winning it, though. They both have been playing stellar this year as well. Winston had also been impressive before he went down due to injury versus the Buccaneers.
I believe the QB with the best combination of stats and team success will win this award. So far, Prescott has the best combination of the two factors.
The only thing holding him back is if he misses more games like he did in Week 8. Then it will be Burrow's to lose.
Coach of the Year
+450 - Brandon Staley, Chargers
+750 - Kliff Kingsbury, Cardinals
+1000 - Sean McVay, Rams
+1000 - Zac Taylor, Bengals
+1200 - Sean McDermott, Bills
+1400 - Mike McCarthy, Cowboys
Staley has got the Chargers off to a hot start after years of struggles for the franchise. If Los Angeles can keep it up, he definitely can win it. But his spot at the top is not the safest. I believe it's the least safe out of all the frontrunner odds on this list.
Kingsbury could very well claim it, especially if Arizona finishes out with the league's best record or the No. 1 seed in NFC. The Bengals are killing it too, which could give Taylor some leverage for the award.
Despite these three coaches losing in Week 8, I believe the award will come down to either Staley, Taylor, or Kingsbury. Since they are coming off losses though, it improves McVay's chances. He's a dark horse.
Buy I really enjoy Staley's Ted Lasso-like approach to things, so I'm going to go ahead and roll with him as my midseason prediction for Coach of the Year.
