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Saquon Barkley ran for more than 2,000 yards in the regular season. Photograph: Bill Streicher/USA Today Sports
MVP
Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills. Take your pick between transcendent quarterbacks: Allen or Lamar Jackson. Neither answer is wrong. I edge towards Allen here, for the sole reason that he hasn’t won the award before. That’s not right; it’s not fair. But it’s the only way to split the fine margins between the two.
Jackson has the stronger statistical case. Allen’s is based on numbers and vibes. He sanded the rough edges off his game this year, allowing the Bills to lean into their powerful run game before he donned his cape in crucial moments.
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In a pass-heavy offense, Allen’s numbers may have been even more eye-popping. But by embracing a new style, Allen was able to pilot the most efficient, effective offense of his career.
Most electric player of the season
Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles. Thank you, football gods, for delivering us a healthy Barkley season behind the best run-blocking line in the league. Every Barkley carry this season has been an adventure. You don’t know what’s coming; you just prepare to be amazed. It could be leaping backward over a defender, making a would-be tackler tumble out of his cleats, or slithering through the smallest of gaps before darting away for a 50-yard score. Even without the ball, Barkley has been must-see TV, flattening pass-rushers in protection. But it’s his home-run threat that has sparkled this year. Barkley has 11 rushing touchdowns of 60-plus yards in the regular season and postseason, putting him second all-time behind Adrian Peterson. Not even Jim Brown ripped off chunk plays at this clip.
After the era of Running Backs Don’t Matter, Barkley has proven that handing the ball to the most explosive athlete on the field is still the most thrilling sight in the sport.
Defensive player of the year
Zack Baun,…
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