The NFL Honors were held on Thursday, February 5, 2026, and the story of the evening was the Hall of Fame class. But the seasonal awards also had plenty of intrigue. The MVP, Coach of the Year, Protector of the Year, and more were handed out. Here’s who won as well as who probably should’ve won.
NFL MVP
Winner: Matthew Stafford
The MVP award was as close as it has been in two decades. Five voting points separated the two top candidates, and Matthew Stafford won it. His stats are impressive, as he posted 4,707 yards, 46 touchdowns (the most by a wide margin), and only eight interceptions. He also had a 71.o QBR and 109.2 passer rating.
Who Should’ve Won: Drake Maye
Drake Maye led Stafford in a ton of advanced analytics like EPA. He also led the entire sport in completion percentage while also having the most yards per attempt. That kind of aggressiveness and accuracy is not seen often. He also had the highest passer rating and QBR in the NFL without any sort of major talent around him on offense.
Defensive Player of the Year
Winner: Myles Garrett
It’s no surprise that Myles Garrett won the Defensive Player of the Year. Counting stats aren’t great, and he does have the 17th game to help, but setting the NFL sack record with 23 sacks in a season is more than enough to justify this award. He was exceptional all year long for a Browns team that had nothing else going for it.
Who Should’ve Won: Myles Garrett
With all due respect to literally any defensive player in the NFL this season, there was no chance anyone was taking this from Garrett. He was voted unanimously, and for good reason. No one else came close.
NFL Coach of the Year
Winner: Mike Vrabel
The New England Patriots went from 4-13 to 14-3 in 2025, and the biggest change they made was hiring Mike Vrabel. It is usually as simple as that, and while it’s not a playoff award, it helps that his team is in the Super Bowl and was the AFC’s number two seed.
Who Should’ve Won: Mike Macdonald
The award too often goes to a coach who turned a team around from bad to good. What about a coach who helped his team go from mediocre to the best in the sport? Mike Macdonald took over a team that had talent but wasn’t very good. He helmed the best defense in the sport by most metrics (including DVOA) without a single All-Pro on that side of the ball. He probably should’ve won the award.
Offensive Rookie of the Year
Winner: Tetairoa McMillan
Tetairoa McMillan is the only rookie to have eclipsed 1,000 receiving yards, and he did that on a pretty mediocre, run-first offense. He was special, and because his QB counterparts either struggled or didn’t play a ton of games, this was his award.
Who Should’ve Won: Tetairoa McMillan
The rest of the finalists were a running back who started really slow, a wide receiver who went two months without topping 70 yards, and two quarterbacks who combined to make 21 starts. There was really no other choice.
Defensive Rookie of the Year
Winner: Carson Schwesinger
Carson Schwesinger ran away with the Defensive Rookie of the Year award. He got 40 first-place votes. The Cleveland Browns had a dominant defense thanks to Myles Garrett, but they also got a big boost from the second-round linebacker who racked up the sixth-most tackles in the sport with 2.5 sacks and 11 tackles for loss.
Who Should’ve Won: Nick Emmanwori
Carson Schwesinger probably deserved the award, but Nick Emmanwori deserves a shoutout. It should’ve been a whole lot closer. Emmanwori was all over the field as Mike Macdonald’s chess piece in the center of the best defense in the NFL. The award is mostly about production, but it seems like Emmanwori’s impact was overlooked. It didn’t help that he got hurt a couple of times.
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