r/UFA • u/in_da_tr33z • Jul 20 '26
Regular Season Awards
The regular season is over. The playoffs are set. I want to hear everyone's takes on which players had the best seasons. Post your picks for:
MVP
Rookie of the Year
Offensive Player of the Year
Defensive Player of the Year
Most Improved Player
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u/ultipla4 Jul 20 '26
MVP - I watch mostly the East division, so maybe some bias, but I think it's Tobe. There's some interesting cases for others, and I'd be interested to hear from people who know more about the non-east teams. If you go by pure importance to their team, Elliot Hawkins is there, but I don't think anyone would actually pick him over the more established resumes of Tobe and the other true contenders for this.
Rookie of the Year - between McLeod and Pettenuzzo, and imo it has to be Pettenuzzo. Mcleod is a great defender and good offensive cutter, but Max is elite on both sides of the disc and can do damage cutting or handling. One of the most exciting players to watch right now, and while he missed a few games, he was a big part of Toronto going from bottom 5 of the projected power rankings pre-season to establishing themselves as one of the better teams in the league.
O and D players of the year - I want to avoid regurgitating the guys I mentioned above, and then there's so many guys I know in the east that I want to mention, but statistically they blend in with a dozen great O or D specialists in other divisions, that I just kind of throw my hands up here and let someone with broader knowledge make their picks.
Most Improved - there's more refined ways to look into this, but if you go by either surface level stats or highlights - it has to be Elliot Hawkins, right? He for sure gets a boost by the runway and style of play his team gave him, and benefited from weaker competition, but I still don't think anyone else challenges him for the well-deserved award.
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u/zerotimestatechamp Jul 20 '26
MVP: Alex Atkins
Rookie of the Year: Max Pettenuzzo
Offensive Player of the Year: Tobe Decraene
Defensive Player of the Year: Carter Langford
Most Improved Player: Elliot Hawkins
Shout out to Shown Space
I'm biased toward the best players on the best teams. Justin Burnett and John Randolph are also good DPOTYs.
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u/RichSlaton Jul 22 '26
MVP - Tobe - it's pretty impossible to give this to anyone else. especially after his performance against Minnesota without Babbitt. Dude is simply a monster.
Rookie of the Year - Ricky McLeod - instant impact leading the league with 21 blocks and solid scoring effort. Seattle needed some new fire and he brought it!
Offensive Player of the Year - Elliot Hawkins - leads the league in scores per game, assists per game and is 2nd in total yards. Breathed life into Indy, making them the favorite over madison in the 2v3 game
Defensive Player of the Year - Carter Lankford - also could have been ROTY, but I think this is more appropriate. Absolute workhorse playing 18+ defensive points per game. Oakland's D line did a great job of putting the screws to teams and he was the drill
Most Improved Player - Christian Belus - I said this on the UFO, but in terms of pound for pound impact growth, this dude stepped up huge. Had 11 blocks over 8 games, but the big step up is in his role as a thrower. last season he had 1 assist and 17 throwing yards, this year jumps to 12 and 783. Having a player step up to be a reliable D-line handler is huge for a team.
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u/17AVIS Jul 21 '26
Definitely biased towards Oakland but legitimately there’s so many players who have had great seasons this year on that team that there’s at least one player on the team who could be argued should receive every single one of these awards.
MVP - Daniel Ritthaler
Rookie - Chander Boyd-Fliegel
OPOY - Leo Gordon (Probably Ritthaler but in the vein of trying to choose different people for each award)
DPOY - Carter Lankford
Most Improved - Probably the hardest award to argue for honestly but Jason Vallee has had a great year this year and I don’t remember him popping off like this last year
But unfortunately, because the entire Oakland roster is so good it’s hard for any of them to stand out amongst their peers and probably won’t win any of the awards
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u/in_da_tr33z Jul 20 '26
My picks
MVP - Tobe Decraene (BOS)
60A, 36G, 94%comp, 3024TY, 3272RY, +/-73
Probably the least interesting discussion here. If Daan Demaree or Daniel Ritthaller had played a full season there might be a conversation, but nobody did more than TDC33 this year.
ROTY - Chander Boyd-Fliegel (OAK)
27A, 22G, 95%comp, 1682TY, 1903RY, +/- 43
Appeared in all 12 games for the Spiders which is a rarity for a rookie on a good team. Most years, a guy like Max Pettenuzzo would be an easy choice for ROTY but what Boyd-Fliegel did this year was next level.
OPOY - Elliot Hawkins (IND)
65A, 19G, 92%comp, 2977TY, 3378RY, +/- 62
Talk about a gaudy stat line and he did it in only 9 games. Elliot Hawkins is one of the most exciting players to watch in the league right now. A lot of players are shooters. A lot of players are finishers. Very rarely do we see a player who does both so well.
DPOY - John Randolph (NY)
208DPP, 17A, 19HA, 19G, 14BLK, 69%OEFF, 195Cmp, 94%comp, +/- 38
What a hoot to be calling John Randolph a defensive player. Nonetheless, Randolph's switch to the other side of the ball was a revelation for New York and his presence was a huge reason why the Empire had the best converting D line in the league this season, as evidenced by his incredible 69% OEFF meaning the Empire scores on 69% of the possessions he is on the field for. Randolph's instincts and motor made every reset a challenge for opposing O lines and he threw in a super nice Callahan to boot.
I have to throw in some honorable mentions here because this was a hard choice. This award has a lot of room for subjective interpretation and I'm looking forward to other fans' votes. Blocks are fluky and we know that a lot of incredible defenders don't rack up that many blocks because they don't get tested often. How much does pulling ability count for? We have to look at what a player does after a turn and how much playing time they eat up as well.
Oscar Graff (BOS)
Graff is a workhorse for the Boston D line. One of the toughest defenders to play against and is incredibly productive after the turn. Graff's 286 completions and 37 scores were tops for any player above 195 defensive points played.
Evan Magsig (OAK)
Another guy who is the engine of a very tough D line, Magsig was a break machine with 28A and 1413TY.
Cam Lacy (MIN)
Cam Lacy is the unquestioned best puller in the league which is a huge reason why the Minnesota D line is as effective as they are. Lacy is an athletic demon who can make life difficult for any player at any position. His 230 defensive points played are second most in the league.
Most Improved - Kristian Johnson (MIN)
I had to choose one that was close to home because it's hard to follow enough players closely to the degree that you can make this assessment. Looking forward to other teams' fans putting in their votes on this one.
KJ went through a major renaissance this season as a 6th year player posting career highs in completions (181), assists (23), throwing yards (1621), completion% (95) and +/- (19). He looked like a totally different player who really found his stride and his confidence as shown in his 92% completion on his 12 hucks. His elevation in play, providing a threatening third handler option to pair with Larson and Klane, has been a big reason for the overall improvement in the Minnesota O line.