The usual suspects would be Tom Brady of the New England Patriots and Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts. Drew Brees of the New Orleans Saints is there and back with a mission. But the time has come for Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons to make a big leap, not just in terms of big numbers, but in terms of big results. Look for the Falcons to go 12-4 this year with Matt Ryan elevated to the Brady/Manning dynasty.
In terms of other quarterbacks, the San Diego Chargers’ Philip Rivers will put up huge numbers, and the St. Louis Rams’ Sam Bradford will avoid a sophomore joke. Colt McCoy of the Cleveland Browns will surprise everyone with his passing rate and ERA, but the team would have to go 12-4 for him to turn heads. So don’t look to these QBs to compete for NFL Player of the Year this year.
A running back like Adrian Peterson of the Minnesota Vikings has a chance, but only if his QB and WR are good enough to allow defenses to do more than focus on him. Don’t look to Donavan McNabb to scare defenses in the NFC North this year, so while Peterson will get plenty of numbers because he’ll be the only offensive weapon, he won’t get enough to set him apart as an offensive juggernaut in 2011. Of course, put Adrian Peterson behind Tom Brady, and Peterson would be a piece of cake to win it all.
In addition, it is difficult for running backs to win awards due to the running-by-committee philosophy now prevalent in the league. One running back rarely handles the most efforts, and as a result, neither puts up commanding numbers. They are critical to the team’s success, they just aren’t out there like Walter Peyton was in the past.
What about wide receivers? Like the flowers in the popular song of the 1960s, we wonder where they all have gone. Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans is about the only one you could say he’s better than everyone else in the league, but by how much? There is no longer a clearly superior Chad Johnson Ochocinco 85, nor a Terrell Owens. Remember? He once was famous for being famous. How short our memories….
Today, we love receivers like Wes Welker of the New England Patriots. Not the 50 yards down the sidelines, but the 7 yards on 3rd and 6. But while these guys have plenty of catches and some decent yards, they don’t break far enough from the pack to justify winning Offensive Player of the Year. . grant.
So where are we headed? My pick: Matt Ryan of the Atlanta Falcons.