Jacksonville entered Thursday’s NFL Honors ceremony with growing national recognition, following their rebound 13-win 2025 AFC South Championship season. But ultimately, the organization left without the respect we all knew would continue to elude them. Head coach Liam Coen was named a finalist for the 2025–26 Associated Press Coach of the Year after guiding one of the NFL’s most impressive turnarounds, turning a four-win 2024 Jaguars team into a four-loss unit just one year later. Franchise quarterback Trevor Lawrence entered the night a finalist for both Most Valuable Player and Comeback Player of the Year following a resurgent season, following offseason AC joint sprain surgery on his non-throwing shoulder. Special teams standout Logan Cooke, Jacksonville’s nominee for Walter Payton Man of the Year, was also recognized for his impact on and off the field.
Yet, despite having four finalists across the NFL’s most prestigious awards, the Jaguars came away empty-handed, finishing 0-for-4 at the ceremony. A frustrating, yet expected outcome for an organization that spent the season proving it belonged on the league’s biggest stages with little recognition. In the end, the honors went elsewhere: Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford was named league MVP, San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey was titled Comeback Player of the Year, New England Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel claimed Coach of the Year, and Washington Commanders linebacker Bobby Wagner was named NFL Walter Payton Man of the Year.
AP NFL Most Valuable Player Votes (MVP)
- Matthew Stafford 366 points (24 first-place votes)
- Drake Maye 361 (233)
- Josh Allen 91 (24)
- Christian McCaffrey 71 (5)
- Trevor Lawrence 49 (0)
- Justin Herbert received the remaining first-place vote
Now it should be clear that Matthew Stafford deserved the MVP award this year. The 2025 first-team All-Pro ended the regular season with 46 passing touchdowns on the year, becoming the fourth quarterback in NFL history to have at least 45 passing touchdowns and under 10 interceptions in a season. He also joined 2007 Tom Brady as the only players to lead the NFL in passing touchdowns, passing yards, and TD-INT ratio over the last 50 seasons. There was truly not much to argue with that selection. The top placements for Drake Maye and Josh Allen also hold merit in my book. Yet, Lawrence receiving zero first-place votes, while Justin Herbert receives one, is simply weird. It’s understandable that Trevor may have been passed over for Herbert for the Pro Bowl vote based on the timing of when that vote takes place, the fan voting aspect with the size of each team’s market, and Lawrence’s uneven play heading into the Jaguars’ week 8 bye week. But with an entire season of tape and data available to us, for someone to grant Herbert a first-place vote while Lawrence receives none is simply odd.
AP Comeback Player of the Year Votes (CPOTY)
- Christian McCaffrey 395 points (31 first-place votes)
- Aidan Hutchinson 221 (9)
- Dak Prescott 167 (6)
- Trevor Lawrence 130 (2)
- Stefon Diggs 40
- Philip Rivers and Chris Olave each received one first-place vote
McCaffrey, a first-team All-Pro, ended the 2025 campaign with 311 rushes for 1,202 yards and 10 touchdowns, while also leading the NFL in receiving yards by a running back with 924 on 102 catches, plus seven receiving touchdowns. 2,126 yards from scrimmage with 17 touchdowns from a running back, while essentially being a 1k receiver and 1k rusher simultaneously, makes total sense as a shoo-in for this award. DT Aidan Hutchinson returned to the field this year after suffering a broken leg in October 2024, recording his career-best 14.5 sacks. He also led all NFL players in pressures (100). Based on performance and name value, those top two placements seem to be justified.
However, Dak Prescott receiving triple the number of first-place votes as Lawrence is a tough evaluation, though understandably a close call to make when only glancing at the stat sheet.
Lawrence’s 4,007 passing yards were 545 fewer than Prescott’s, while Dak had a better completion percentage, passer rating, and fewer interceptions. However, Lawrence ended the season leading a 13-win team, while Dak’s Dallas Cowboys fell to 7 wins, 9 losses, and a tie. Dak’s 32 total touchdowns were also 6 fewer than Lawrence’s 38. Prescott also had the league’s eighth-ranked run offense supporting him, while the Jaguars lived on Lawrence’s shoulders for much of the second half of the year (18th-ranked run game). As an aside, what media member gave first-place votes to Philip Rivers and Chris Olave? I won’t address Rivers’ vote as it’s wholly unserious, but Olave ended the year eighth in the NFL for both receiving touchdowns (9) and receiving yards (1,163) on a pass-happy 6-11 team.
Coach of the Year Votes (COTY)
- Mike Vrabel: 19
- Liam Coen: 16
- Mike Macdonald: 8
- Kyle Shanahan: 6
- Ben Johnson: 1
The Jaguars’ historic turnaround season, unfortunately, came at a time when the New England Patriots, led by Mike Vrabel, also underwent a significant turnaround. Vrabel claimed this award for the second time in his coaching career, taking a 2024 four-win Patriots team to 14 wins in 2025. However, something must be said for the path taken to get to those 14-wins, with New England clearly having one of the league’s easiest schedules, then beating Justin Herbert, Jared Stittamm, and CJ Stroud to reach the Super Bowl. That’s not to say that New England faced no adversity in 2025. Losing DT Milton Williams to injury for a month and a half, LT Will Campbell for a month, LG Jared Wilson for 2 weeks, and LB Robert Spillane being injured for a month are notable. However, all NFL teams go through injuries similar to this while not having the
league’s easiest strength of schedule.
Comparatively, Jacksonville lost their top draft pick, WR/CB Travis Hunter for two-and-a-half months, their next addition S Caleb Ransaw for the entire season, and S Eric Murray, CB Jourdan Lewis, and TE Brenton Strange for a month-plus each. They also lost DE Travon Walker and WR Brian Thomas Jr. for three weeks each and C Robert Hainsey, RT Anton Harrison, OL Walker Little, LB Devin Lloyd, and CB Montaric Brown for two games each while facing the
ninth-hardest schedule in the NFL.
With Coen’s close loss, Jacksonville’s night ended without the top trophies, like the 2025 NFL season. However, it didn’t end without validation. The respect didn’t come in 2025, but the league is finally paying attention.
⁰⁰(Presented by Goodwill North Florida) 
