While the Detroit Lions may have just barely missed out on the playoffs, they had a ton of great seasons by most of their players. They turned their season from the worst team in the league to one of the most exciting and dangerous teams to finish the year. So let’s show some love to the people that made it happen that probably won’t get recognized league-wide.
MVP- Jared Goff, Lions Quarterback
Prior to the season, the whole narrative around the Lions’ offense is that Goff would need to take a major step up and play good football for them to operate, and he delivered. Jared Goff came out the gate instantly playing like the best form himself and leading the Lions’ offense to be one of the most dominant in the league. Goff finished the year with the best touchdown to interception ratio in the league, along with having the fifth most passing touchdowns (29) and the sixth most passing yards (4,438). If not for Goff playing like a top-ten QB all season the Lions wouldn’t have finished this well.
OPOY- Amon-Ra St. Brown, Lions Wide Receiver
You could argue Jamaal Williams or Penei Sewell for this award, but Amon-Ra’s dominance was too good to not give him this award. He established himself as the clear number-one wide receiver for the Lions and possibly a top-ten receiver in the league. Even with missing a few games, Amon-Ra finished seventh in receptions with 1,161 tards and six touchdowns. He also tied the NFL record for most receptions in a player’s first two seasons. Without Amon-Ra St. Brown the Lions’ passing attack would’ve been terrible.
DPOY- Aidan Hutchinson, Lions Edge Rusher
Ever since the start of the season, Aidan Hutchinson has been the best player on the lions’ defense and one of the only players that helped hold it down when the Lions’ needed it. Aidan Hutchinson was tied for the most double-teamed player in the entire league and was still the first player since 1982 to put up nine or more sacks and three or more interceptions. He had the most sacks (9.5) and pressures (45) by any rookie and had three interceptions to go along with two fumble recoveries. If not for the rookie playing so well and helping out the rest of his teammates, the Lions’ defense may have been the worst of all time.
OROY- Jameson Williams, Lions Wide Receiver
Of the Lions’ two offensive rookies, it was a tough race between the two as Jameson Williams barely played all year but was dominant, whereas James Mitchell played all year but had a very limited role. Ultimately I decided to give the award to Jameson Williams because every time he touched the ball it was a big play, where Mitchell was good for one or two short catches after Hockenson was traded. Jameson Williams had only two touches all year but they both went for 40+ yards and he had two more 50+ yard touchdowns called back against the Packers. So while we didn’t see a lot of him, Jameson Williams is showing that next year when he’s fully healthy he will be a problem.
DROY- Aidan Hutchinson, Lions Edge Rusher
This one is pretty self-explanatory if you are the best overall player on the defense and a front-runner for the award among all players, you should get it. Hutchinson was the best of many dominant rookies on the Lions, including Malcolm Rodriguez, Kerby Joseph, and James Houston. So while Detroit had so many dominant rookies on the defensive side of the ball, this one is a no-brainer.
CBPOY- Jared Goff, Lions Quarterback
You could make a great argument for Jeff Okudah here as he played great football after coming back from a torn Achilles, but his production dropped off greatly towards the end of the season. Going into the year the question was what quarterback is Detroit going to sign or draft to replace Goff, but now with how well he played he is being talked about as their franchise Quarterback. This team would have been picking the top five and not hanging in with the top teams in the league if not for Goff’s incredible play this year.
COTY- Dan Campbell, Head coach of The Lions
While Ben Johnson coached extremely well and really helped make their offense what it was, it takes a true leader and great coach to keep a team motivated to help them go from 1-6 to 9-8. Dan Campbell said on Hardknocks that the 2022 Detroit Lions are the team that can and will, and he led them to do that. With a promising-looking offseason ahead, Campbell is looking to be the coach to finally lead Detroit somewhere.
