As another NFL season concludes and Super Bowl 59 approaches, it’s time for the media covering the league to distribute significant individual NFL honors. For Sporting News, this translates to announcing our esteemed professional football accolades as well. The established procedure continued in 2024, with all deserving recipients chosen through voting by peers across the league.
Winners for Offensive Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, Comeback Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year were chosen by their peers. Voting for Coordinator of the Year and Coach of the Year was restricted solely to head coaches. Voting for Executive of the Year was exclusively permitted for front-office employees and personnel decision-makers.
In all instances, players, coaches, and executives were instructed not to select anyone from their own squad. Ballots were distributed electronically across the league, and most teams cast their votes prior to the early-January deadline. Here are the results — a few of which may surprise some people.
Offensive Player of the Year: Saquon Barkley, RB, Eagles
2024 statistics: 345 attempts, 2,005 rushing yards, 13 touchdowns; 33 catches for 278 yards, 2 touchdowns.
Barkley experienced an incredible season after transferring from the NFC East competitor Giants during free agency. He is just the second Eagles player to receive the Sporting News NFL Player of the Year award, 70 years after its inception in 1954, succeeding quarterback Norm Van Brocklin, who won it in 1960. He is the first Eagle to earn this distinction since the award was divided into distinct offensive and defensive categories in 2008.
Barkley joins the ranks of recent non-quarterback victors Tyreek Hill (2023), Justin Jefferson (2022), and Jonathan Taylor (2021), earning recognition that prior NFL rushing leaders Christian McCaffrey and Josh Jacobs missed out on. Barkley drew attention for his impressive rushing yards and significant plays, guiding the Eagles’ run-focused offense and ending several seasons of disappointment with his initial team.
Defensive Player of the Year: Myles Garrett, EDGE Browns
2024 statistics: 14 quarterback sacks, 3 fumbles forced.
Garrett is the first DPOY to win again for SN since another future Hall of Famer, J.J. Watt, received consecutive awards as a Texans defensive end in 2014 and 2015. Garrett continued to be his powerful self in pass-rushing and run disruption, although the overall performance of the Browns defense declined with some inconsistent play in the back seven. Garrett recorded 14 sacks for the second year in a row and ended significantly ahead of his main competitor, the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, a former champion.
Comeback Player of the Year: Sam Darnold, QB, Vikings
2024 stats: 4,319 passing yards, 35 TDs, 12 INTs, 7.9 yards per attempt, 66.2 completion percentage, 102.5 passer rating
Darnold is the second Vikings player to win the award since its SN inception in 2008, following Adrian Peterson and his 2,097-yard rushing season in 2012. Quarterbacks have dominated this award of late, winning seven consecutive times. Andrew Luck started the streak in 2018, and Tua Tagovailoa continued it as the previous winner.
Darnold won by a considerable margin over another quarterback, Joe Burrow, who had a massive season after missing much of 2023. He also didn’t have much competition from Chargers running back JK Dobbins, who came back from a torn Achilles to star for his new team. The nature of the award is to come back well from poor play and adversity, not just injury. Darnold got the nod for his late-blooming season in Minnesota being so impressive.
Rookie of the Year: Jayden Daniels, quarterback, Commanders
2024 statistics: 3,568 passing yards, 25 touchdown passes, 9 interceptions, 7.4 yards per attempt, 69.0 completion rate, 100.1 quarterback rating, 891 rushing yards, 6 rushing touchdowns.
Daniels is the third player from Washington to receive this award since it began in 1955, following quarterback Robert Griffin III (2012) and Hall of Fame wide receiver Charley Taylor (1964). Daniels established rookie records for completion rate and rushing yards by a quarterback.
He also came close to leading the Commanders to the Super Bowl after guiding Washington to a 12-5 turnaround and victories on the road in the wild-card and divisional rounds. He makes a strong argument for being the greatest rookie QB in NFL history due to his dual-threat capabilities and transformative professionalism. Daniels is featured on the preliminary watchlist for securing his first MVP award in 2025.
Coach of the Year: Kevin O’Connell, Minnesota Vikings
O’Connell is also an honorary coordinator of the year as he calls plays for Minnesota’s high-scoring offense, which ranked No. 12 in passing and No. 9 in scoring. He received this accolade for successfully transitioning to QB, leading Darnold to a career-best season after first-round rookie J.J. McCarthy suffered a knee injury in preseason. He likewise possessed a powerful team headed by Flores.
The previous Rams assistant is just 39, with many more great years to come. O’Connell excelled in the voting among his colleagues, finishing far ahead of second-place Dan Campbell, who received the accolade for guiding the Lions the previous season.
Coordinator of the Year: Ben Johnson, Offensive Coordinator, Lions
Johnson surpassed two defensive coordinators, the Vikings’ Brian Flores and the Eagles’ Vic Fangio, to win the award quite comfortably. Similar to 2023 recipient Mike Macdonald, who received this honor as Ravens coordinator prior to becoming the Seahawks head coach, Johnson is departing from his team.
Johnson aims to guide the NFC North competitor Bears and franchise QB Caleb Williams to significant achievements. In Johnson’s last season with the Lions, they ranked No. 2 in average yards per game (409.5), No. 2 in total passing yards (4,474), No. 5 in total rushing yards (2,488), and No. 1 in average points scored per game (33.2).
Executive of the Year: Brad Holmes, General Manager, Lions
Campbell was unable to replicate his success, but Holmes managed to do so, even with strong competition from Brandon Beane (Bills), Eric DeCosta (Ravens), Kwesi Adofo-Mensah (Vikings), Howie Roseman (Eagles), and Adam Peters (Commanders).
Holmes had another solid offseason, adding rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold, defensive tackle D.J. Reader, guard Kevin Zeitler, and kicker Jake Bates as essential pieces to enhance a roster packed with both youthful and seasoned talent. The admiration for Holmes continues to be strong in a league filled with excellent decision-makers.