2025 NFL Super Bowl and Awards Predictions

The NFL season begins this week and there looks to be many exciting storylines to follow heading into the season. The best teams, rookies, coaches, and players on both sides of the ball will all be highlighted throughout the season, but those at the top will be honored with individual awards a week before the Super Bowl is played. Let’s predict who will win these awards and end up as the champions when it’s all said and done.

Disclaimer: These predictions were made before the start of the NFL season, on September 4th, 2025.

Most Valuable Player: Joe Burrow

Joe Burrow led a very potent passing offense in 2024, and there’s no reason to believe he can’t do it again. Burrow led the league in passing yards and touchdowns, and limited turnovers while the Bengals struggled to run the football and had to keep up with other teams offensively since their defense struggled mightily. With Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins earning extensions and the Bengals offense not dealing with injuries or holdouts like they have in recent training camps, everything is set up for Burrow to repeat this type of performance or maybe even mail in a better one. If Burrow can lead the Bengals to the playoff with gaudy numbers supporting his case, he may get rewarded for playing at that level for back-to-back seasons and being the main reason his team got there.

Runner-Up: Lamar Jackson

Defensive Player of the Year: Will Anderson

Will Anderson is a special player. The way he impacts the game as a pass rusher and run defender is difficult to ignore, and he also does a decent job in coverage when asked to drop back into a zone. His sack numbers improved from his rookie season to his sophomore season (7 sacks to 11 sacks) despite the uptick in competition from year 1 to year 2. Between that evidence and his status as a former 3rd overall pick, there’s good reason to believe he may take another step forward and his numbers get another bump. Combine that with Houston likely having one of the best defenses in the league this season and Houston being scheduled to play in a lot of big games, and there’s a strong DPOY case for Anderson.

Runner-Up: Micah Parsons

Offensive Player of the Year: Bijan Robinson

Bijan Robinson is coming off of a season where he was 4th in scrimmage yards (1,887) and it looks like his situation has improved from last year. In 3 games (small sample size) with Michael Penix starting at QB to end the season, Robinson was on pace for over 2,100 yards from scrimmage and had 6 TDs in those games. Is Bijan Robinson going to score 34 touchdowns this season? No, but the former 8th overall pick is capable of racking up a ton of scrimmage yards and getting close to 20 TDs with a solid offensive line and a QB who will keep opposing defenses honest with his willingness to throw it deep.

Runner-Up: Jahmyr Gibbs

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Ashton Jeanty

There’s no other rookie on the offensive side of the ball with the talent level of Ashton Jeanty combined with the volume he’s projected to have in 2025. Jeanty, who was seen as a top 3 player on the consensus big board as a running back during this year’s draft process, enters a backfield with no real competition (Zamir White and Raheem Mostert) and a coaching staff who wants to run the football as much as they can. A heavy dose of the run game has always been part of Pete Carroll’s winning formula and Chip Kelly has become the same way in recent years. With no competition for touches, an ascending offensive line, and a passing game that should be good enough to help support him, Jeanty feels like the clear favorite to win this award.

Runner-Up: Cam Ward

Defensive Rookie of the Year: Abdul Carter

Abdul Carter is one of the best EDGE prospects over the last decade and is entering a situation where there’s less on his shoulders than had he went almost anywhere else. Carter may get a decent amount of 1-on-1 matchups since his teammate, Dexter Lawrence, is a dark horse DPOY candidate himself. Carter will also be set up with a nice partner on the edge opposite of him on just about every snap in teammates Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux. Carter’s elite speed, bend, and ability to convert speed to power when he’s rushing the QB combined with the extra attention his teammates also command should allow him to pile up a good amount of sack numbers as a rookie. Similar to Jeanty, no other rookie on Carter’s side of the football has the combination of talent level and a situation as favorable as his in terms of winning this award.

Runner-Up: Jihaad Campbell

Coach of the Year: Jonathan Gannon

Coach of the Year typically goes to a coach who led a surprising team and/or a QB who’s perceived poorly to the playoffs. The Cardinals are polarizing enough to earn the surprising tag since Kyler Murray has been dismissed by many pundits. The Arizona Cardinals defense, Gannon’s side of the ball, should be much improved this season and would be the swing factor for Arizona making the playoffs if the offense plays at the same level they did last season. If that happens, Gannon improving his side of the ball to the point where they make the playoffs with a QB that many have soured on would make him a real candidate for the award.

Runner-Up: Mike Vrabel

Comeback Player of the Year: Aidan Hutchinson

Aidan Hutchinson was on track for a DPOY before his gruesome leg injury during Week 6. With the injury taking place closer to the beginning of the season rather than the end, Hutchinson had a good amount of time to recover and (hopefully) return to full strength. How quickly Hutchinson can get back to form, if he does, is a question for a big guy coming off of a lower body injury, but all reports say Hutchinson should be fine. If Hutchinson does return to being one of the best defensive ends in the league, there isn’t much stopping him from rightfully earning this award.

Runner-Up: Christian McCaffrey

Super Bowl Prediction: Baltimore Ravens defeat Philadelphia Eagles

The Baltimore Ravens and Philadelphia Eagles feel like the two most balanced teams in the NFL this season. Both teams are riddled with high-end talent on both sides of the ball at every level. The Ravens have one of the best rosters in the league and a 2x MVP who has proved capable of playing well come playoff time even though he has come up short in some big games. The Eagles have the best roster in the NFL, dominate the trenches like no other team in the league whilst employing elite skill talent and players on the back end of their defense, and have a QB who has showed up in big games. Baltimore’s coaching and Lamar Jackson’s unique skillset vs a team that doesn’t see him often both feel like advantages in this hypothetical matchup. Lamar Jackson will get over the hump, win his first Super Bowl ring, and cement himself as an all-time great.

Super Bowl MVP: Lamar Jackson