5 Eagles nominated for major year-end NFL awards

Five different Eagles are finalists for major year-end awards from the Associated Press.

Winners for these NFL awards will be announced at NFL Honors on Thursday, Feb. 6 in New Orleans. The Eagles hope they’ll be preparing to play in the Super Bowl a few days later.

Saquon Barkley — MVP and Offensive Player of the Year

In his first season with the Eagles, Barkley had one of the best rushing seasons in NFL history. In 16 games this season, Barkley had 345 carries for 2,005 rushing yards and 13 touchdowns. He also caught 33 passes for 278 yards and 2 more scores. He is just the ninth player in NFL history to have 2,000 rushing yards in a season. Barkley had a shot at the NFL’s all-time rushing record but the Eagles elected to rest their starters in Week 18 because they were already locked into the No. 2 seed in the NFC.

The MVP has mostly been a quarterback award and Barkley is the only non-quarterback of the five candidates. So it seems unlikely he’ll win. But it’s impressive just to make the list.

Vic Fangio — Assistant Coach of the Year

The Eagles defense was in shambles last year under Sean Desai and then Matt Patricia. But Fangio came in and really turned things around. The veteran coach quickly turned around this Eagles’ defense, which finished as the No. 1 defense in the NFL. Despite having a very young group of players, Fangio’s defense was fantastic in 2024.

Zack Baun — Defensive Player of the Year

What a steal of the offseason. The Eagles signed Baun to a one-year deal and most people thought he was going to be a situational pass rusher. Nope. Fangio plugged Baun in at inside linebacker and he went on to have an All-Pro season. In 16 games, Baun had 151 tackles, 3 1/2 sacks, 5 forced fumbles, 11 tackles for loss and 5 QB hits. The Eagles have to figure out a way to re-sign him this offseason.

Cooper DeJean, Quinyon Mitchell — Defensive Rookie of the Year

The Eagles drafted Mitchell with the No. 22 pick and then traded up in the second round to draft DeJean with the No. 40 pick. Mitchell was a starter from Week 1 in São Paulo. DeJean took over in Week 6 after the Eagles returned from their early bye. Both rookies helped turn around the defense in 2024 and played at an extremely high level. Neither intercepted a pass, which might be held against them in voting but anyone who watched the games knows how well they played this year.

Here’s a look at all of the award finalists:

Most Valuable Player

Josh Allen, QB, Buffalo Bills               
Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Jared Goff, QB, Detroit Lions
Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

Coach of the Year

Dan Campbell, Detroit Lions
Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota Vikings
Sean Payton, Denver Broncos                        
Dan Quinn, Washington Commanders                          
Andy Reid, Kansas City Chiefs

Assistant Coach of the Year

Joe Brady, Buffalo Bills                                                    
Vic Fangio, Philadelphia Eagles                                          
Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings                       
Aaron Glenn, Detroit Lions
Ben Johnson, Detroit Lions

Comeback Player of the Year

Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals                     
Sam Darnold, QB, Minnesota Vikings                    
J.K. Dobbins, RB, Los Angeles Chargers                
Christian Gonzalez, CB, New England Patriots                              
Damar Hamlin, S, Buffalo Bills 

Defensive Player of the Year

Zack Baun, LB, Philadelphia Eagles
Myles Garrett, DE, Cleveland Browns                       
Trey Hendrickson, DE, Cincinnati Bengals
Pat Surtain II, CB, Denver Broncos                  
T.J. Watt, LB, Pittsburgh Steelers

Offensive Player of the Year

Saquon Barkley, RB, Philadelphia Eagles
Joe Burrow, QB, Cincinnati Bengals
Ja'Marr Chase, WR, Cincinnati Bengals                                                    
Derrick Henry, RB, Baltimore Ravens
Lamar Jackson, QB, Baltimore Ravens

Defensive Rookie of the Year

Cooper DeJean, DB, Philadelphia Eagles
Braden Fiske, DE, Los Angeles Rams            
Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Philadelphia Eagles
Chop Robinson, LB, Miami Dolphins  
Jared Verse, LB, Los Angeles Rams  

Offensive Rookie of the Year

Brock Bowers, TE, Las Vegas Raiders
Jayden Daniels, QB, Washington Commanders
Malik Nabers, WR, New York Giants
Bo Nix, QB, Denver Broncos
Brian Thomas Jr., WR, Jacksonville Jaguars

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