• QB Lamar Jackson wins his second MVP award: Jackson put together two of his best performances of the season against the best opponents on his schedule, helping him lock up the award before sitting in Week 18.
• EDGE Myles Garrett claims multiple honors: PFF's Dwight Stephenson Award, Defensive Player of the Year and Best Pass Rusher all belong to the elite Browns edge defender in 2023.
• QB C.J. Stroud, CB Devon Witherspoon earn the top rookie awards: Stroud led the Texans into the postseason with a rookie head coach alongside him, and Witherspoon stuffed the stat sheet for the Seahawks amid lockdown coverage.
Estimated Reading Time: 10 mins
The 2023 NFL regular season is over, which means it’s Award Season! The NFL playoff bracket is set, and while the rest of the NFL is already looking ahead to free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft, it’s worth taking a moment to reflect on the season that was and recognize the best performances of the year.
PFF’s awards are based on the regular season only — just like the Associated Press awards. Playoff performances can affect a player’s standing in the PFF 101 rankings after the postseason, but the following honors are awarded based on the 2023 regular season. In addition, while PFF’s play-by-play grading forms an excellent foundation, it isn't the entire basis of the awards. The level of competition, a player’s role, scheme and several other factors factor in to determine the final winners.
MVP: QB Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Honorable mention: QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills; QB Brock Purdy, San Francisco 49ers; WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
There has seldom been an MVP race as wide-open as this season. The only thing separating Jackson at the top has been a lack of letdown performances. Every time another player had the chance to seal his MVP candidacy, they had a disqualifying performance or got injured. When Jackson became the front-runner, he put together two of his best games against the best opponents on his schedule, solidifying his status.
Dwight Stephenson Award: EDGE Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Honorable mention: WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins; EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys
PFF’s Dwight Stephenson Award is given to the best player in the NFL, regardless of position. In truth, Myles Garrett has been at this kind of level for several years now, but the improvement of the Browns' supporting cast made it so much more obvious this season. Garrett, as the best player on the NFL's best defense, was an unmatched force off the edge. His 27.5% pass-rush win rate wasn’t just the best in the league this year by 3.4 percentage points; it was the best PFF has ever measured over a single season. He was a true game-changer this season.
Offensive Player of the Year: WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
Honorable mention: RB Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys
Tyreek Hill was threatening to not just eclipse the single-season receiving record, but also become the first receiver to break 2,000 yards over a season, before getting hurt late in the year. He still broke the record for yards per route run, ending the season with 3.83, significantly ahead of the previous best mark set by Steve Smith in 2008. Hill is the most dangerous receiver in the league, and Miami’s innovation of quick-motion pre-snap only added to the threat.
Defensive Player of the Year: EDGE Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Honorable mention: EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys; DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
This was an incredible year for defensive players. Micah Parsons and Aidan Hutchinson became just the fourth and fifth players in PFF’s history to record 100-plus pressures over a season. DaRon Bland set an NFL record with five pick-sixes. But the top defensive player was Myles Garrett, who had the best season of his incredible career with a little bit more help around him.
Rookie of the Year: QB C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Honorable mention: WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; CB Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks; DI Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles
Stroud became the first rookie quarterback to make the playoffs with a rookie head coach since Andrew Luck and Chuck Pagano combined to achieve that feat in 2012. Stroud hit the ground running immediately and looked like a star with a supporting cast that didn't seem like anything special on paper before the season. Stroud finished the regular season ranked 14th in overall PFF grade and will now look to make some noise in the postseason.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: QB C.J. Stroud, Houston Texans
Honorable mention: WR Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams; RB De'Von Achane, Miami Dolphins
It was a great year for rookies on offense. De'Von Achane looks like he’s planning on averaging eight yards every time he carries the football. Puka Nacua broke rookie receiving records that have stood since 1960. But C.J. Stroud, who looked like a top-tier quarterback without a top-tier situation right from the get-go, gets the nod here.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: CB Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks
Honorable mention: DI Jalen Carter, Philadelphia Eagles; EDGE Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans
Jalen Carter seemed like he had this award locked up halfway through the season, but his production cooled off as the Eagles' defense collapsed. Devon Witherspoon became the second straight standout rookie cornerback after Sauce Gardner‘s standout 2022 campaign. Witherspoon was a force in all areas of the game for the Seahawks, notching three sacks as part of his 10 pressures on the blitz to pair with 10 pass breakups in coverage.
Comeback Player of the Year: S Damar Hamlin, Buffalo Bills
Honorable mention: QB Joe Flacco, Cleveland Browns; QB Baker Mayfield, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Comeback Player of the Year is a very indistinct concept that tends to anger people because of its lack of clarity. Baker Mayfield came back from poor play last season to lead the Buccaneers to postseason play. Joe Flacco has improbably led the Browns back to the playoffs as their fourth quarterback of the year, fresh off the couch at 38 years old. Also very impressive. Damar Hamlin made it back to an NFL roster and then back onto an NFL field after suffering cardiac arrest on one a year ago. Comebacks don’t get much bigger than that, even if his playing time was minimal.
Best Receiver: WR Tyreek Hill, Miami Dolphins
Honorable mention: WR CeeDee Lamb, Dallas Cowboys; WR Brandon Aiyuk, San Francisco 49ers
When you break the record for yards per route run and threaten 2,000 yards over the season until the last couple of games, you were probably the best receiver in football that year. Justin Jefferson being injured for much of the year certainly helped Hill’s case, but CeeDee Lamb ran him close.
Best Offensive Lineman: T Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions
Honorable mention: T Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers; C Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions
Sewell’s 93.1 PFF run-blocking grade is one of the best single-season grades ever earned by an offensive lineman, trailing the likes of Trent Williams at his very peak. Sewell was a monster for the Lions in the run game all year long and was no slouch in pass protection, either. He allowed 20 pressures across 17 games.
Best Pass Rusher: EDGE Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns
Honorable mention: EDGE Micah Parsons, Dallas Cowboys; DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants
Garrett recorded the best pass-rush win rate of any edge rusher over the past 17 seasons of grading. He finished the year with 14 sacks to his name and made at least one game-changing play on a two-point conversion that slipped through the cracks of the official counting stats. Garrett was the best pass rusher in the league this season, even if other players exceeded his numbers in some areas.
Best Run Defender: EDGE Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders
Honorable mention: DI Dexter Lawrence, New York Giants; DI Derrick Brown, Carolina Panthers
Crosby has forced his way into the conversation as one of the best edge defenders in the league, even at a time when the league is full of all-time talents. Crosby was an excellent pass rusher once again this year, but his run defense was on a whole other level. His 92.7 PFF grade in that area was the top mark in the league, and he finished the season with an absurd 58 defensive stops, six more than any other edge rusher.
Best Coverage Defender: CB Jaylon Johnson, Chicago Bears
Honorable mention: CB Sauce Gardner, New York Jets; CB DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys; S Jessie Bates III, Atlanta Falcons
One cornerback finished the season allowing a lower passer rating into their coverage than the passer rating of simply taking an incomplete pass instead: Chicago’s Jaylon Johnson. He allowed just a 33.3 passer rating compared to the 39.6 mark that’s recorded on an incompletion, thanks to his four interceptions. Johnson allowed 195 yards all season long, and even those yards came at a miserly 7.8 yards per reception.
Breakout Player of the Year: QB Jordan Love, Green Bay Packers
Honorable mention: LB Blake Cashman, Houston Texans; EDGE Andrew Van Ginkel, Miami Dolphins; G Tyler Smith, Dallas Cowboys; CB DaRon Bland, Dallas Cowboys
Love had an inconsistent first half of the season before consistently improving over the second half and finishing the year playing as well as any quarterback in the game. His overall PFF grade ranked 12th for the season, and the only passer with a better grade from Week 9 onward was Brock Purdy. Love repeated the trick we saw from Aaron Rodgers of biding his time for years on the bench before seizing his opportunity when given the chance to start.
Best Pass Blocker: T Laremy Tunsil, Houston Texans
Honorable mention: T Tyron Smith, Dallas Cowboys; T Rashawn Slater, Los Angeles Chargers
Tunsil was once again peerless as a pass protector and got the benefit of playing in a lineman-friendly scheme brought over by offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik from San Francisco. Tunsil allowed just 20 pressures over 14 games, earning the second-best PFF pass-blocking grade of any tackle, narrowly trailing Dallas' Tyron Smith, who missed more time.
Best Run Blocker: T Penei Sewell, Detroit Lions
Honorable mention: C Frank Ragnow, Detroit Lions; T Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
Sewell’s run-blocking performance this season was not just excellent but historically excellent. He was one of the best run blockers in the game and one of the best PFF has seen in more than 15 years of grading. He was a big reason the Detroit run game was so successful and both David Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs were able to have such good seasons.
Best Offensive Line: Philadelphia Eagles
Honorable mention: Detroit Lions, Baltimore Ravens
Detroit took the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire, but for the second consecutive season, the Eagles fielded the league’s best offensive line. This season, Philadelphia had to navigate a new starter at right guard, with Isaac Seumalo departing in the offseason. Cam Jurgens and Sua Opeta — who have each played at that spot this season — were both notable downgrades over Seumalo, but the overall unit was still the best in football, given the standard of the other four starters.
Best Passer: QB Tua Tagovailoa, Miami Dolphins
Honorable mention: QB Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys; QB Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills
The league already has too many awards skewed toward quarterbacks, but this one focuses on the best pure passer rather than overall play. Think of it as the Dan Marino award, and so it’s fitting that Tua Tagovailoa wins it this season. Tagovailoa had the league’s fastest average time to throw, and to achieve that with an average depth of target 8.2 yards downfield and an 8.3 yards per attempt figure is remarkable. His timing and accuracy are a huge part of the Dolphins' offensive success.
Best Special Teamer: LB Matthew Adams, Cleveland Browns
Honorable mention: K Chase McLaughlin, Tampa Bay Buccaneers; P Bradley Pinion, Atlanta Falcons
Other special teamers have better PFF grades than Adams, but none can match his combination of performance with playing time. We think of special teams as bit-part players who barely feature, but Adams played 433 special teams snaps — 30 more snaps of game time than Joe Burrow had this year. He ended the year with nine special teams tackles and an 86.0 PFF grade for his work.
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