Field Vision Quarter Poll Awards 2024

Four weeks of the NFL Season are in the books and it's time to evaluate performance. Scott detailed it in his week 4 takeaways article, but the first four weeks of the NFL season increasingly feel like pre-season. Teams are feeling things out and players are getting into the groove of the season and it makes for some interesting outcomes. It's about this time that we can start to see what teams really are and aren't, but nevertheless, 4 games is nearly a quarter of the season and the results count, so let's take a look at some of the top performers of the season so far:

NFL First Quarter Awards:

I realize the phrase "Of the quarter" doesn't quite roll of the tongue like "Of the Year", but given that we know a lot will change in the remaining 14 weeks of the season, we will go with that nomenclature for now.

MVP of the 1st quarter: Sam Darnold, Minnesota: It's not the sexiest pick, but one thing we know for certain is the MVP is ALWAYS a quarterback in today's NFL, and it's usually one on an elite team. Yes, Minnesota is elite right now and they are one of only two undefeated teams in the NFL. Couple all of that with the fact that Darnold leads the league with 11 Touchdown passes, and we'll give him the nod. The Minnesota offense that struggled through a carousel of quarterbacks after the Kirk Cousins injury last year, seems to have found a gear that they never had even with Cousins. Darnold has gotten them out to big leads in all 4 games they've played this season, and only the Green Bay game really got close at the end. They've also beaten 3 legitimate contenders in the 49ers, Texans, and Packers. I don't think Darnold has the chops to win this award for the season, but if it ended today, he'd probably be your guy.

Coach of the 1st quarter: Kevin O'Connell, Minnesota: I hesitated a bit here to double up on Vikings, but Coach of the Year almost always goes to the guy who does the most with the least expectations, and it's hard to argue with O'Connell right now. I could probably make the argument that Andy Reid being 4-0 again is pretty impressive too, but we'll save that for another day. Everything I said about the Vikings big-time wins in the Darnold paragraph probably belongs here with O'Connell (as long as we're assigning credit). The most impressive thing about the Vikings season so far, though, is that it has been both sides of the ball. Brian Flores deserves most of the credit for what's going on with the defense, but as the head coach, you're responsible for everything and the Vikings may have the best staff in the league right now. It will be fun to see how well they keep it up as the season progresses, but the schedule over the next couple of months certainly plays in their favor.

Offensive Player of the 1st quarter: Nico Collins, Houston: In typical NFL award fashion, we'll assign the MVP to a QB and the OPOY to a skill position player. On a team full of weapons, Collins has established himself as the true alpha in Houston. Despite the Texans not looking as sharp as they'd like early this season, they are still 3-1. A year ago, it would have been hard to imagine a world where the Texans were 3-1 and could be somewhat disappointed in how they've played. Collins is a big part of that turnaround and his production has been elite this season. He's on pace for over 2,000 yards and about 128 receptions this season. He's slowing becoming one of the most feared receivers in the league, and so far this season his production stands out above the rest.

Rookie of the 1st quarter: Jayden Daniels, Washington: A real argument could be made here for Daniels to be the MVP. The Commanders have been a dumpster fire for quite some time now and Daniels has them believing in Washington. He's got the best 4-game completion percentage EVER in the NFL. Yes, that's right. Not just for a rookie - his 82.1% sets an all-time standard for completion % to start a season. On top of that, its not just numbers. The Commanders are 3-1 despite what could only be described as a porous defense. I could go on with the hyperbole, but let's just say Washington went 17 possessions in a row that ended with a score or kneel down. The way the NFC East is shaping up so far, the Commanders could be a real factor to win the division and that in and of itself tells you everything you need to know about what Daniels is doing in Washington.

Defensive player of the 1st quarter: Fred Warner, San Francisco: We call him the Alien here at Field Vision and that's about all you need to know about Warner. If you want some stats, you can see a bunch of those below in the All-Havoc list where he's our number 1 linebacker. The reality is, on a team full of stars, Warner may be the biggest one that stirs the pot in San Francisco, right now. He makes big play after big play seemingly when they need it most. He almost even made the game against Minnesota close with his huge interception in a game that they were otherwise hardly competitive in. Warner is the best linebacker in the league and has been for quite some time. This is one we think could hold up all season long and the 3-time first team All-Pro has a real shot to take home his first DPOY award. Somehow, the Alien is still getting better.

First Team All-Havoc (Q1)

Let's face it, most of you have the attention span of a fish. However erroneous that statement may be since you've made it this far, we are going to do an abbreviated version of our "All-Pro" teams. One position, one player. While I took liberties with the awards above, these will go strictly off our proprietary Havoc ratings. Top rated player gets the prize.

Corner - Christian Benford, Buffalo: Christian Benford has been a model of consistency this season posting extremely high scores in coverage in all 4 Bills games this season. In fact, when you compare Benford's raw Havoc rating through 4 games to every previous full season going back to 2019, he has the best Havoc score in our dataset. So far on the season, Benford has 18 tackles, an interception and a pass break up and is only giving up 1 reception every 29.6 snaps on the season, which is the 4th best rate among corners in 2024. Adding to that, Benford is only giving up 5.2 yards per reception.

Safety - Xavier McKinney, Green Bay: McKinney is another member of the 99.9 club meaning he's putting together the best safety season we've seen since 2019. In fact, McKinney put together a rating over 90 in coverage in every game this season. He's recorded an interception in every game this season to go with 17 tackles. He's giving up a reception as the primary defender once every 75 snaps, which is second among safeties in 2024. His ball-hawking and lack of plays given up make him by far the best safety so far in 2024.

Linebacker - Fred Warner, San Francisco: Forgive me if you've heard this before, but Warner is another member of the 99.9 club. No, we did not do that on purpose. I promise the next two players are not, and neither are any of the offensive players. But Warner is putting together a unique season for a Linebacker. He already has 2 interceptions and 3 forced fumbles on the season to go with 27 tackles and 4 passes defended. Warner is proving yet again that no one in the league holds a candle to him as a coverage Linebacker. Warner pops off the screen when you watch him play and he's clearly the best Linebacker in football right now.

Edge - Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit: Six sacks in 4 games is great, but the underlying numbers will tell you that it is no fluke. Hutchinson leads the NFL in hurries with 27 and is second among all edges with a 25.3 percent pressure rate and is first among all players with at least 10 hurries. Hutchinson is wreaking Havoc consistently and gives the Lions what they need on the defensive side. If they can control the game with their rushing attack and pressure the quarterback on the other side, that's a recipe for a lot of wins.

Interior DL - Cameron Heyward, Pittsburgh: Can this be right? Yes, Heyward is in his 14th year, but he's still as productive as ever in his age 35 season. Heyward has 2 sacks and 17 tackles in 4 games, both elite marks for an interior defensive lineman. His 18.1 percent pressure rate is third among defensive tackles and he's accumulated 8 hurries on the season. Heyward seems to be like a fine wine, only getting better with age. And it's a testament to him that he's got 14 years under his belt, all with the same team.

First Team All-Threat (Q1)

Different side of the ball. Same drill. The Most Threat makes first team All-Threat for the first quarter. I realize that we are far past the "fish attention span" group by this point in the article, but we will still go with one player per position. Sorry to the all of the ex-offensive lineman out there. We have not developed Threat for them yet.

Quarterback - Geno Smith, Seattle: It may be a surprise to some to see Smith at the top of our Threat ratings through 4 games, but Seattle has leaned heavily on him this season with Kenneth Walker missing a couple of games and he's led them to a 3-1 record. He's leading the league in passing yards and is second only to Jayden Daniels in completion percentage. He's also done some damage with his legs this year rushing for 74 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries. Smith has capitalized on his downfield opportunities to D.K. Metcalf and rose to the top of our list.

Running Back - Jordan Mason, San Francisco: Mason has been a bit of a revelation in the absence of Christian McCaffrey, but it should come as no surprise to anyone that RB1 in the Shanahan system would have success, whoever it is. He's got 447 yards on 91 carries this season, good for 4.9 per attempt, which is actually down from his previous career numbers, albeit in limited action. Mason will be holding down the fort for a while with McCaffrey seeing specialists across the pond. We're guessing he'll continue to have success for as long as they need him in San Francisco.

Tight End - Dallas Goedert, Philadelphia: Goedert's success has been a little bit a matter of opportunity with AJ Brown and Devonta Smith both having missed time early in this season. Couple that with a historically bad season for Tight Ends as a whole, and Goedert rises to the top of this list. Don't believe it's been historically bad for tight ends? Remember all those 99.9 scores on the defensive side for Havoc? Goedert rose to number one in Tight End Threat with a score of only 85.9 just edging out rookie Brock Bowers and usual stalwart George Kittle. Goedert is hauling in a nearly 23 percent target share so far this season and averaging 75.2 yards per game. We'll see if that continues as the other weapons return.

Wide Receiver - Nico Collins, Houston: Collins is the only player on either side of the ball to make our weekly first or second team 3 times already this year. He's averaging 122 yards per game on 7.5 receptions. The Texans know he's their number 1 as evidenced by his 29.4 percent target share. Collins ranks in the 96th percentile or above in 4 route concepts including the Corner, Screen, Slant and In routes showing his true versatility. He's a nightmare to cover because of his size and elite run-after-the-catch ability and CJ Stroud knows how to put it in the right places to get him open.

The "pre-season" is over and the cream will start rising to the top in the NFL. It is time now to see who that really is. My guess is we'll have a lot better picture by after week 9 when you'll see our mid-season awards. Until then, keep falling along with weekly All-Havoc and All-Threat teams.

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.