Ten weeks of the NFL season have officially passed and it’s time to predict the regular season awards that will be handed out at the end of the year. With only seven weeks left, there is plenty of evidence to accurately make predictions.

MVP:

Players such as Russell Wilson, Tom Brady and Alex Smith can certainly make a case to win MVP, but as of right now, its Carson Wentz’s award to lose. Wentz has played phenomenal this season and has led the Eagles to the best record in the NFL at 8-1. He leads the NFL in touchdown passes with 23 and has only thrown five interceptions. He’s currently third in the NFL in quarterback rating with a rating of 71.7 and fourth in the league in passer rating which stands at 104.1. He has one game-winning drive this season against the Giants and mostly outplayed every other quarterback he’s faced.

Offensive Rookie of the Year:

There was no doubt that this award would go to Deshaun Watson. Unfortunately, Watson suffered an ACL tear and will not play for the rest of the season. It looks like Kareem Hunt will run away with this award. Through nine games, Hunt has rushed for 800 yards and four touchdowns. He leads in yards from scrimmage and all-purpose yards. He averages 5.4 yards-per-carry and is on course to help deliver a division title to Kansas City.

Defensive Rookie of the Year:

The Saints have made significant improvements in their defense since last year and Marshon Lattimore has been a big part of their turnaround. He has two interceptions this season and returned one of them for a touchdown. He’s forced and recovered one fumble and made 31 tackles so far and has played outstanding.

Ever since a shaky first NFL game for him, Lattimore has only allowed 10 catches on 20 attempts for 81 yards. Quarterbacks have a 39.8 passer rating in that span which is second best in the league among cornerbacks. Lattimore has been playing like at an elite level in the NFL and has certainly been phenomenal for a rookie.

Offensive Player of the Year:

Le’Veon Bell is used so much in the Steelers offense and with good reason. In a Quarterback-driven league, it’s hard to find a skill player that provides comparable productivity to the Quarterback but that’s exactly what Le’Veon Bell has done this season. Bell has rushed for 840 yards and five touchdowns this season which is good enough to lead the league in rushing yards. He’s also accounted for 251 yards receiving on 40 receptions. He has 260 total touches this season in the running and passing game.

Compare that to Ben Roethlisberger who has thrown the ball 306 times this season and it’s easy to see why the Steelers try to get Bell the ball as much as they can. He is the best player in a very dangerous offense. Its worthy to note that the two games the Steelers have lost this season, Bell got less than 20 carries in both games.

Defensive Player of the Year:

One of the main reasons why the Jacksonville Jaguars are on the rise is because of the play from Calais Campbell. His free agent signing might be the best of the offseason. Campbell leads the leagues with 11 sacks through nine games and has forced two fumbles and has led the Jaguars tied for first place in the AFC South at 6-3. The Jaguars haven’t been in the conversation for the playoff hunt since 2007 and they look like they’re ready to end that drought in large part due to Campbell.

Comeback Player of the Year:

Without a doubt, it’s Earl Thomas. After suffering a horrific broken tibia last year, Earl Thomas is back to playing like the best safety in the league. Thomas has two interceptions this year and one of them was returned for a touchdown. He’s forced one fumble this which prevented Todd Gurley from scoring a touchdown in a very close game. This particular play saved the game for the Seahawks and gave them first place in the division at the time.

He also has 24 solo tackles and 38 total tackles. Thomas is a crucial part of the Seahawks defense and takes away the big play. In the first week he didn’t play this season, the Redskins executed a perfect two-minute drive to win the game. Thomas was certainly missed that game.

Most Improved Player of the Year:

This award doesn’t actually exist in the NFL but if it did, it would go to Jared Goff. He has been helped out considerably by his new head coach and revamped offensive line, but he is playing much better than he did last year. Before this season, Goff had played seven games. He lost every single one and had a 5:7 touchdown to interception ratio. He only completed 54 percent of his passes and had a quarterback rating of 22.2. He also didn’t have the confidence of previous head coach Jeff Fisher and only threw the ball 5.3 yards-per-attempt.

In 2017, Goff has proven that he was worth the number one pick of the 2016 draft. This year, Goff has thrown for 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions so far through nine games. He’s raised his completion percentage to 61 percent and is tenth in the league in quarterback rating at 58.8. That’s higher than proven quarterbacks such as Drew Brees, Russell Wilson, Matt Ryan, Matthew Stafford and Ben Roethlisberger. This year he’s playing with much more confidence as his yards-per-attempt has increased to 8.5. The Rams sit atop of the NFC West due to many factors, one of them being the improved play of Goff.

Coach of the Year:

An argument can be made for Doug Peterson and Bill Belichick is always in the conversation, but this award should go to Sean McVay. The Rams are by far the biggest surprise of the season and McVay has done a terrific job in turning around this organization. During the Jeff Fisher era for the Rams, the team went 31-35-1 in five years. They were at best mediocre in the league and McVay had to take over the worst version of the team where they only won four games in 2016.

McVay has been excellent for Los Angeles and the Rams are first place in the NFC West with a record of 7-2 and are in the conversation right now for home field advantage during the playoffs.