Field Vision First Half Awards 2024

Nine weeks of the NFL season are in the books, which is exactly the half way point of an 18 week season. Every team has now played either 8 or 9 games, so it's time to take an inventory of what's going on around the league. It can be hard to get a handle on what's going on in the league on a week to week basis, but when you take a step back and look at things from a holistic perspective, some great teams and performances have stood out. With that as the backdrop, let's give out some first half awards.

NFL First Half Awards:

It's important to remember that only half the data is in so far. These are not like Vegas odds, where we're trying to project who will win each of these awards at the end of the season. This is simply who deserves the honor if the season ended today.

MVP of the 1st Half- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore: Jackson is the undisputed leader of the Ravens even if Derick Henry is putting up insane numbers for a 30 year old running back. He's also the undisputed quarterback leader in Threat Ratings and EPA/game this season. Jackson has 22 touchdown passes to just 2 interceptions in what could be considered the most efficient season of his career so far. And let's not forget that he's already won 2 MVP's. There are other good candidates and the Ravens do not boast the best record in the league, so it may not turn out this way, but if the season ended today, Jackson would get the nod for his 3rd MVP award.

Coach of the 1st Half- Dan Quinn, Washington: Let's face it, the award to the top coach always goes to the guy who does the most with the least expectations and it's hard to argue against the Commanders in that category. First year head coach Dan Quinn has taken a rookie quarterback and a defense with personnel issues and led them to a 7-2 record. Guys like Dan Campbell and Andy Reid could play their way into this conversation if the Lions or Chiefs put together historic type seasons, but as of right now, Quinn is exceeding expectations the most so he'll take home first half honors.

Offensive Player of the 1st Half- Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia: This award really came down to two running backs on new teams. Henry is putting together huge numbers in Baltimore, but no one has been more important to their teams success than Barkley. He's rushed for 925 yards on the season and led the Eagles to a 6-2 record. He leads all running backs in Threat Ratings at 96.3, almost 7 points ahead of Henry and the Eagles have needed every bit of his production with A.J. Brown and Devonta Smith in and out of the lineup with injuries. The Eagles want to be a run first team and the addition of Barkley has made that a much more attainable goal.

Offensive Rookie of the 1st Half- Jayden Daniels, Washington: There really was no other options for this award. Daniels, as a rookie, is second among quarterbacks in Threat Rating and 2nd in EPA/game. That alone would probably easily secure him this award, but as we mentioned earlier, he's led the Commanders to a 7-2 record. This is a franchise that spent years in obscurity with fans just trying to figure out how they could pry the team out of Dan Snyder's hands. They finally did and it's paying off big time. With all due respect to our coaching winner, Daniels is the biggest reason why.

Defensive Rookie of the 1st Half-Jared Verse, LAR: Verse has been a revelation for the Rams defense that is managing to get enough pressure to be competitive even without Hall of Famer Aaron Donald on the roster anymore. Verse, the 19th overall pick in the 2024 draft is a big part of that. He has only 2 sacks this season, but boasts a pressure rate of 20.3 percent with 24 hurries and 10 QB hits on the season. He has a Havoc Rating of 80 and has been the most impactful rookie on the defensive side so far in 2024.

Defensive Player of the First Half- Brian Branch, Detroit: The Lions have emerged as what most people think has been the most impressive team in football and it's not all offense. Branch moved from corner to safety this season giving the Lions the ability to be versatile in their coverages and use the "Big Nickel" packages with Branch covering in the slot. Branch has filled up the stat sheet with 30 tackles, 6 PBU's, and 4 interceptions while producing a 96.7 Threat rating, second among all safeties behind only teammate Kerby Joseph.

First Team All-Havoc(1st Half)

I detailed this phenomena when we did our quarter poll rankings, but attention span is not exactly a strong suit in today's culture. With that in mind and given the length of this article already, we'll go with one player per position for our First Half First Team All-Havoc. Unlike the awards above, there is no room for my own subjectivity on this team, it's simply the top ranked player at each position in our Proprietary Havoc Ratings. That said, I made the minimum number of games played 6 for the purposes of this list to avoid a few players that have racked up big numbers, but missed time due to injury.

Corner- Marlon Humphrey, Baltimore: Humphrey has been a regular on our weekly All-Havoc teams and now he tops our list of corners at the halfway mark of the season. He has been a stalwart for the Ravens defense this year. Humphrey has 28 tackles, 5 PBU's and 4 interceptions on the season. He's giving up just a 0.6 reception percentage and 9.8 yards per reception this season and regularly making big plays for the Ravens.

Safety- Kerby Joseph, Detroit: Joseph has a near perfect 99.6 Havoc Ratings so far this year, playing alongside our Defensive Player of the Half, Brian Branch. Joseph has collected 35 tackles, 6 Interceptions and 1 pass break up. He is second in our Havoc Ratings in Coverage among safeties, trailing only Branch. The Lions secondary has been way better than expected and the safety play of Joseph has been a big part of that.

Linebacker- Zack Baun, Philadelphia: Baun is the only player on our mid-season All-Havoc team that is a member of the 99.9 club, meaning he is putting together the best Havoc season in our 5 year data set. Baun has 59 tackles, 19 assists, 2 sacks and an interception this season. His 37 stops on the season leads all Linebackers and he boasts a 60.7 percent stop percentage on the season. He's made the weekly All-Havoc team 3 times in 8 games.

Edge- T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh: The defensive line is where our minimum comes into play for the first time. Aidan Hutchinson currently leads all edges in season Havoc rating, but with him out for the season and not having played in a few weeks, we'll give the nod to Watt here. Watt has 6 sacks on the season and an 85.2 percent stop rate. Watt does whatever the Steelers ask, rankings 3rd among edges in run stopping Havoc despite still being one of the best pass rushers in the game.

Interior DL- Zach Allen, Denver: Allen leads all defensive tackles with an 89.9 Havoc ratings with the exception of Deforest Buckner who has 99.9 rating, but did not meet the minimum game criteria. Zach Allen has a 14.2 percent pressure rate from the interior this season, producing 4 sacks, 11 QB hits and 27 hurries already this season. He has been a difference maker on a Broncos defense that his been the backbone of their team.

First Team All-Threat(1st half)

On the offensive side, we'll go one position, one player just like we did on defense. Our first two Threat Mavens also won awards up top so I'll keep it brief with them. The minimum game rule applies here too. Sorry Nico Collins.

Quarterback- Lamar Jackson, Baltimore: Jackson leads all quarterbacks with a Threat Rating of 94.1. He's been incredibly consistent with a weekly Threat Rating in the top 5 of all QBs 6 times in 9 games. It hasn't all been on the ground either with a 68.2 percent completion percentage and 264.3 yards per game to go with his 22 touchdowns to 2 interceptions.

Running Back- Saquon Barkley, Philadelphia: Barkley leads all running backs with a Threat rating of 96.3. It's well detailed above that he's been the engine of an Eagles offense that is starting to figure it out. He has been in the Top 10 in Weekly Running Back Threat Rating in 6 out of 8 games played this year.

Tight End- George Kittle, San Francisco: Kittle has a Threat Rating of 91.7 and leads all tight ends in Threat Ratings, EPA/game, and Yards per game on the season. For a 49ers team that has been ravaged by injuries at the skill positions, Kittle has been a consistent force. He has 6 touchdowns on the season and a success rate of 73.5 percent. He's 4th among Tight Ends with a 21.3 percent target share as well.

Wide Receiver- Justin Jefferson, Minnesota: Justin Jefferson has been on the All-Threat team 3 times this year, so it's no surprise he takes the top spot here. He trails only Nico Collins, who hasn't played in 4 weeks, in yards per game with 97.9 yards per contest. He's 5th in EPA/ game and 8th in Yards per route run. Jefferson is showing why he's clearly the best receiver in the game today.

As always, we look forward to the conversation, debate and your feedback. Hit us at @fieldvisionmi on X, @fieldvisionsports on Instagram, or on our website www.fieldvisionsports.com.