Predicting next season's NFL award winners

With Super Bowl LV nearly upon us, theScore's football editors look ahead to the 2021 season and predict the winner of every major award.

Most Valuable Player

Mahomes will likely be the MVP favorite year in and year out for the next decade. The Chiefs' star quarterback has been a top-three candidate in each of the last two seasons after winning the award in his first campaign as a starter in 2018, and four of our nine editors believe he'll add to his already loaded trophy case next season.

The only other quarterback to receive more than one vote was Watson, who earned two. It's an intriguing pick considering his current situation with the Texans. The 25-year-old wants out of Houston, but it doesn't seem like the team will grant his demand. Watson is undoubtedly a top-five talent and could easily make a run at MVP if he's traded to a ready-built contender.

Allen, Tannehill, and Herbert all received one vote apiece. The Bills quarterback made a massive leap in 2020 and pushed Aaron Rodgers and Mahomes for MVP honors late in the year, while the Chargers youngster is the best bet to be the latest second-year quarterback to earn the award.

Notably, no one believes Rodgers will be able to replicate his MVP campaign next season.

Offensive Player of the Year

The only award with absolutely no consensus from our editors is Offensive Player of the Year, which speaks to the level of skill-position talent around the league. While no one - rightfully - picked a running back to earn MVP (only Adrian Peterson has broken the quarterback monopoly over the last 14 years), the position got a lot of love here.

It appears everyone believes Derrick Henry's reign as the rushing king will end in 2021. The Titans running back didn't receive a single vote coming off the 2,000-yard season that earned him this year's award. Instead, three other consensus top-five backs - Kamara, Chubb, and Cook - each got one vote, as did two of the position's new generation in Taylor and Gibson.

Diggs and Adams, arguably the two most dominant receivers in 2020, also got a vote each. The Bills wideout led the league in catches, while the Packers pass-catcher had the most receiving touchdowns. With Allen and Rodgers throwing to them, there's no reason to believe either will struggle to reach those heights again.

Defensive Player of the Year

It's tough to win Defensive Player of the Year unless your job is hunting quarterbacks. It's not impossible, as shown by Stephon Gilmore's outstanding campaign in 2019. But Gilmore, Luke Kuechly, and Troy Polamalu are the only non-pass-rushers to snag the award over the last decade, and our editors widely expect that trend to continue.

Garrett (three) surprisingly earned more votes here than three-time winner Donald (two), and - even more surprisingly - T.J. Watt didn't receive a vote despite earning 20 votes for this year's award. Garrett was in the thick of this season's race before contracting COVID-19 midway through the year, and it does feel like the 25-year-old has yet to reach his peak.

Three ascending stars in Young, Alexander, and White round out the rest of the predictions. The Washington Football Team's pass-rusher earned Defensive Rookie of the Year honors with a 7.5-sack campaign, and anyone who watched him for even a game saw a burgeoning monster.

Coach of the Year

Our editors seem to believe the Dolphins are ready to leap into the upper echelon of the AFC.

Flores, who's been widely praised for turning Miami around in two seasons, got the most votes with three. While 2020 ended in disappointing fashion with the Dolphins falling short of the playoffs at the final hurdle, their potential was evident. Perhaps a few of our editors were also influenced by reports that Miami is one of Watson's preferred destinations.

This award often goes to the coach of the team that improves the most under new leadership instead of the coach of the best squad overall. Staley and Saleh were the two first-year coaches to garner votes from our editors, and it's easy to see why. Staley is taking over a Chargers team with a potential star in Herbert and a far more talented roster than its record suggests. The Saleh-led Jets, meanwhile, only have one way to go with plenty of assets to help jump-start the rebuild.

Comeback Player of the Year

The battle for next season's Comeback Player of the Year award will be a star-studded affair.

Prescott leads our predictions with four votes. The Cowboys quarterback was on pace to break Peyton Manning's single-season passing yards record before suffering a gruesome season-ending ankle injury in Week 5. He appears on course to be ready for the start of next season, but he still needs an extension from Dallas. Otherwise, he could be making a triumphant return in a different uniform.

Burrow, Bosa, and Beckham are all coming off ACL injuries. Thankfully, all three should have enough time to be ready for Week 1. Burrow suffered his injury in December, so he's facing the quickest turnaround, but the Bengals quarterback seems confident he'll be good to go after a strong rookie year.

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Barring something totally unforeseen, Lawrence is the only incoming rookie whose destination is already clear. Presumably set to join the Jaguars as the first overall pick, the Clemson star got four of our nine votes. He would be the favorite regardless of destination, though; he's simply that good a prospect.

Etienne, Lawrence's former teammate, was the only other player to receive more than one vote. Running backs have taken home this award in four of the last eight seasons. Etienne is the best bet to hit the ground running thanks to his explosiveness and natural pass-catching ability, though the athletic and powerful Harris - who got one vote - is a close second.

Notably, Fields was the only quarterback besides Lawrence to earn a vote even though he's not a lock to be the second passer drafted. Along with Fields, Zach Wilson and Trey Lance are the other contenders to follow Lawrence, and all three have the potential to make a surprising Herbert-like jump to the NFL level. Their candidacies will likely depend on the immediate quality of their respective landing spots.

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Unlike Offensive Rookie of the Year, our predictions for the defensive award has no clear favorite. It makes sense. Unlike last year, which featured Young, this year's class lacks a clear-cut top prospect and has no blue-chip pass-rushers.

As a result, our editors predict a linebacker-heavy race next season. Parsons, widely regarded as the top defensive prospect in the class, leads the way with three votes, followed closely by Owusu-Koramoah and Collins with two apiece. Linebackers used to dominate this award, but they've been pushed aside of late, with Darius Leonard the only recent winner.

Two highly touted defensive backs in cornerback Surtain and safety Moehrig also got one vote each. The former has the size and technique to start from Day 1 after a standout career at Alabama, while the latter is a playmaking center fielder who could make quarterbacks pay for challenging him early.