Matt Williamson is a former scout for the Cleveland Browns and spent 10 years at ESPN as a scout and co-host of "The Football Today Podcast." Find him on Twitter @WilliamsonNFL.
Six teams have played four games thus far, and the rest of the NFL franchises have five games under their belts. While that's a somewhat small sample size and many things will obviously change, it is enough to go on when identifying which players are really shining thus far. Below are my way-too-early picks for the major NFL awards.
Most Valuable Player: Alex Smith
Smith is leading the NFL’s best team right now. His yards per attempt are also the best in football - something few ever thought would be the case. As usual, Smith isn’t turning the ball over, but he's making more big plays than we're accustomed to seeing from the 13-year veteran.
Smith has been highly accurate to all levels of the field while performing very well under pressure. Andy Reid’s scheming and the emergence of Kareem Hunt have been instrumental in the success of Kansas City’s attack - a very difficult offense to play against - but Smith is the one making it all go.
Offensive Player of the Year: Aaron Rodgers
The MVP and Offensive Player of the Year are basically the same award, but let's stray from that principle a little to spread the wealth. No one is playing better football right now than Rodgers, and with all due respect to Smith and the Chiefs, Green Bay’s record is only one game worse. As usual, Rodgers is lethal in all phases of quarterbacking, as Dallas found out Sunday.
Rodgers' 13-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio tells a lot about this special player. Again, as usual, Rodgers’ highs are very high and occur with great regularity. Meanwhile, his lows are few and far between. Rodgers has also done all this despite suspect pass protection, with the Packers' offensive tackles missing significant time through five games.
Defensive Player of the Year: Aaron Donald
J.J. Watt won’t be in contention for an award that he used to own. Last season’s winner, Khalil Mack, has picked up where he left off in 2016, and many of the usual names have started the season very strong on this side of the ball. However, none have been as tough to play against as Donald.
Even though Donald didn’t play the first game of the season, he is performing at least as well as at any point of his amazing, somewhat underappreciated career. He is an utter wrecking machine that destroys offenses up the middle, and he's lived on the other side of the line of scrimmage in 2017.
Go back and watch what Donald did to the Seahawks on Sunday. It was yet another amazing showing from the NFL’s best defensive player.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Kareem Hunt
Deshaun Watson and Leonard Fournette are coming on strong, but Hunt deserves this award despite slightly slowing down in the past two games - at least, compared to the amazingly high standards he set to begin his career. Much of Hunt’s production is now coming late in games, and he probably won’t be able to sustain the volume of very long runs he put up at the start of the season.
He's an every-down back that is quite useful in the passing game, although his blocking still needs improvement. But Hunt does his best work when handed the football. He has power and balance, and finishes runs with intensity and consistency. Having Tyreek Hill, Travis Kelce, and now Hunt at Reid and Smith’s disposal has completed Kansas City’s lethal offense.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Jamal Adams
This one's a tough pick.
Though he's only played 19 snaps in 2017, Myles Garrett still has a shot at winning this award; he had two sacks in his debut Sunday. Cornerbacks Tre’Davious White and Marshon Lattimore have been terrific on defenses that struggled in 2016. But Adams is the pick here - and it shouldn’t be long before this do-it-all safety ranks among the best players at his position.
The Jets have a blitz-happy defense, and Adams goes after quarterbacks well and often in this scheme, something Todd Bowles must love about his first-round pick. He's a highly capable run-stuffer, can align near the line of scrimmage or far off the ball, and has excellent man and zone coverage skills.
Fellow rookie safety Marcus Maye has also played well, but Adams is a star in the making and a building block for New York.
(Photos courtesy: Action Images)
