Lance's Offensive Player of the Year Candidates

Patrick Mahomes is the one player that I feel most guilty about not including. He’s a legit threat to eclipse 5,000 yards and 50 touchdowns every season, which puts him in position to win OPOY every year. The problem he could run into is people who will stop comparing his numbers to everyone else and start comparing them to himself. He also doesn’t offer the same running ability as Jackson, and that means he can’t make up for those slight down-ticks in his passing stats by filling in the gaps on the ground.

Derrick Henry is not one for catching the ball out of the backfield save for a screen pass here and there. His big stat marker last season was his touchdown total, which is going to be difficult for him to improve upon. He’d have to hit closer to the 2000-yard mark and have double digit touchdowns to be in contention for this award in today’s NFL.

Michael Thomas broke the NFL record with 149 receptions, posted over 1700 yards and came pretty dang close to double digit touchdowns all on his way to taking this award home last year. In order to win back to back its highly likely that he would have to improve on at least two of those categories, if not all of them. The odds are stacked against him, especially with Emmanuel Sanders now in the lineup.

Here are my top 5:

1)      RB Nick Chubb (Cleveland)

Reason: Seem far-fetched? Maybe not as much as your initial take. Let me lead off by saying Kareem Hunt’s status plays a role in my ranking for Chubb. He got into some more trouble this offseason and I have yet to hear anything official on what’s going to come of that. With him in the picture Chubb fell just shy of 1,500 rush yards while splitting receptions almost evenly with Hunt (36 for Chubb, 37 for Hunt). An increase in pass game reps would certainly boost his status for this award. The other major factor I’m taking into account here are the additions of Jack Conklin, Jedrick Wills and Kevin Stefanski. Wills was a beast in the ground game at Alabama, while Conklin was helping pave the way for Henry’s monster 2019 season. Meanwhile, Stefanski was calling the shots for Dalvin Cook who had a huge 2019 season as well. All things are pointing toward a big 2020 for Chubb.

2)      QB Lamar Jackson (Baltimore)

Reason: Lamar’s rushing stats will be difficult for him to duplicate, but if he can keep them relatively high while building on his passing stats, he’s going to be right back in the thick of the OPOY and MVP races. Baltimore’s talented roster won’t hurt either.

3)      QB Kyler Murray (Arizona)

Reason: The Cards wanted to ensure Murray would be able to grow, so they went out and brought in one of the best Receivers in the league, and they drafted Joshua Jones to compete for the starting job at Right Tackle. Murray’s stats should take a leap forward, the Cardinals should take a leap forward, and his rushing capabilities should add in the extra flair he’ll need to get consideration here and for MVP.

4)      RB Saquon Barkley (NY Giants)

Reason: Barkley is a dual-threat, explosive back who is a threat to torch a defense every time he touches the ball. The Giants drafting Andrew Thomas at 4 was a sign that they are dedicated to improving the conditions in front of Barkley and Daniel Jones. The high ankle sprain he suffered toward the beginning of the 2019 season is hopefully behind him, and in front of him is a bright successful 2020 season.

5)      RB Christian McCaffrey (Carolina)

Reason: CMC almost didn’t make my top 5. He became the third player in NFL history to post 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 yards receiving. Marshall Faulk did it in 1999 and Roger Craig did it in 1985, neither player was able to do it again. The odds are heavily stacked against CMC being able to accomplish that feat a second time, especially in 2020. So, like Mahomes, he may be graded differently then the other players, in that if he doesn’t hit 1,000/1,000 he’ll be glossed over in the awards voting.