We recently had our vote at SB Nation for the NFL Studs and Duds of the 2009 regular season. Head on over to check out some blogger quotes, but here are your winners:
STUDS
Regular Season Mega Stud (aka, MVP): Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts
Regular Season NFL Offensive Stud (aka, Best Player on Offense): Chris Johnson, Tennessee Titans
Regular Season NFL Defensive Stud (aka, Best Player on Defense): Charles Woodson, Green Bay Packers
Regular Season NFL Stud Newcomer (aka, NFL’s Best Rookie Player): Brian Cushing, Houston Texans
Regular Season Stud Coach (aka, Best NFL Coach): Tie between Marvin Lewis, Cincinnati Bengals and Norv Turner, San Diego Chargers
DUDS
Regular Season Mega Dud (aka, This guy is really, REALLY awful): JaMarcus Russell, Oakland Raiders
Regular Season Dud Newcomer (aka, Biggest waste of a perfectly good draft pick): Darrius Heyward-Bey, Oakland Raiders
Regular Season Dud Coach (aka, Your team lost to the Lions): Jim Zorn, Washington Redskins
In looking over the awards, I voted for the eventual winner in 5 of the 8 awards (MVP, rookie, best coach (Marv Lewis), worst player, worst rookie). I went with Peyton Manning for Offensive Stud, Patrick Willis for Defensive Stud, and I think I voted for Raheem Morris as worst coach. I think the Morris pick was more that he just seemed in way over his head a lot of the time. I feel that Jim Zorn's Redskins had a fairly awful run of luck this season. Zorn is a tough one to figure out.
Offensively, I remain convinced that Peyton Manning should be the offensive stud, but am not exactly shocked (or angry) that it went to Chris Johnson. 2,000+ yards for a less than stellar Titans team is quite an achievement. I voted for Manning because of how the guy runs that offense and basically acts as a co-offensive coordinator out on the field. Maybe that should go more towards the MVP award, but I think his production with an influx of inexperienced wide receivers deserves some credit.