2020 Awards: Who was the MVP, DPOY and ROY for Washington this year?

Now that we’ve had a full week to recover from the end of Washington’s 2020 season, it feels like a good time to look back and decipher what we really saw. A team that was given approximately a zero percent chance to succeed found a way to sneak into the playoffs, and they made it a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Wild Card round.

It was anything but predictable, and definitely frustrating at times, but all in all, it can definitely be called a success. Dealing with a new coaching staff and the ever-present threat of the coronavirus pandemic, Washington got back on the right track and started to build a strong culture. Here are our season awards for the year.

Most Valuable Player

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Winner: WR Terry McLaurin There are a few different people on the roster who you could argue deserve some shine in this category, but there is no player more valuable to Washington's team as a whole than second-year WR Terry McLaurin. Voted as a team captain before the season began, it has become clear that McLaurin is among the leaders in the locker room, and every person in the clubhouse loves him. Beyond his standing as a teammate, McLaurin is among the best at his position as well, turning in another stellar year on the stat sheet despite any consistency at the quarterback position, which is a near-death sentence for receivers. McLaurin finished the year with 87 catches for 1,118 yards and 4 touchdowns. He may not be up there with the top-tier of WRs in the NFL, but based on what he can do with the talent around him, it's clear that there are few people more skilled. We saw what the offense was like without McLaurin near the end of the season when he was forced to sit with an ankle injury, and it wasn't pretty. Get him a consistent passer to develop a rhythm with and look out. Honorable Mention: DE Chase Young

Offensive Player of the Year

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Winner: RB Antonio Gibson There may be a number of reasons for optimism in Washington, but what I came away from the season most excited about was the fact that they seem to have found their running back of the future in rookie Antonio Gibson. Drafted in the third round after mainly playing WR in college, Gibson transitioned seamlessly into the NFL, and he became one of the most impressive RBs in his draft class, finishing with 795 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns, plus 247 receiving yards as well. It's clear that Gibson is still young and growing, but the sky is the limit for this young RB. Honorable Mention: WR Terry McLaurin

Defensive Player of the Year

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Winner: DE Montez Sweat Not the defender you were expecting? While Chase Young was outstanding this year, I feel that his fame and celebrity are causing us to overshadow the breakout season that second-year DE Montez Sweat had in 2020. He led the team in sacks with 9.0, and he became an absolute monster on the edge, racking up 20 QB hits, 12 tackles for loss, 6 batted passes, 2 forced fumbles, 1 INT, and 1 touchdown. I don't care who your running mates are on the defensive line, that is astounding. Honorable Mentions: DE Chase Young, DT Daron Payne

Rookie of the Year

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Winner: DE Chase Young Easy. You could definitely argue that Chase Young deserved both Rookie of the Year and Defensive Player of the year, considering he is likely to win the NFL's Defensive Rookie of the Year award, but we wanted to try and spread the wealth a little bit. No matter which way you look at it, Young lived up to expectations this year as the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2020. Finishing the season voted as a team captain, Young racked up 7.5 sacks, 12 QB hits, 10 tackles for loss, 4 batted passes, 4 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recovers, and 1 touchdown on the year. He started relatively slow, but came on like a freight train during the middle of the season and quickly established himself as one of the most exciting young players in the game. If we do these season awards for the next 5-10 years, expect Chase Young to be mentioned in every single one of them.

Most Improved Player

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Winner: WR Cam Sims There have been some cautious high hopes for Cam Sims ever since he flashed in training camp a couple of years ago, but nothing ever came of it. Until the second-half of this season, that is. With a massive lack of receiving talent in Washington, Sims stepped up and tried to help fill the void, giving Washington some production on the outside, and attracting some attention away from Terry McLaurin. Sims finished the season with 32 catches for 477 yards and 1 TD, but he arguably earned himself another contract with the team, and there are remaining hopes that he can be a solid WR3 in the future. Honorable Mention: S Deshazor Everett

Assistant Coach of the Year

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Winner: RB Coach Randy Jordan As one of the only coaches to be held over from the previous regime, Running Backs coach Randy Jordan proved that Ron Rivera made the right call in keeping him on the staff. Not only did Jordan help mold rookie Antonio Gibson into a productive young asset, but he also found a way to get the most out of both J.D. McKissic and Peyton Barber, both of whom came to Washington on cheap deals that gave great produciton. Honorable Mention: TE Coach Pete Hoener

'For the Dollar' Award

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Winner: TE Logan Thomas Logan Thomas won this award in a run-away. The QB turned TE came to Washington in free agency on a 2-year, $6,145,000, and quickly became one of the main cogs of the offense, finishing the season with 72 catches, 670 yards and 6 touchdowns. At a position that has lacked production for Washington over the past several years, Thomas was a diamond in the rough, and it took basically nothing to get him. When he does end up becoming a free agent down the road, he will surely earn himself some money.

Biggest Surprise

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Winner: S Kamren Curl The emergence of rookie Kamren Curl was so much fun, wasn't it? After stepping in fully for an injured Landon Collins, Curl proved that he absolutely has what it takes to not only survive in the NFL, but thrive. He finished the year with 88 total tackles, with was second-most on the team despite only starting in 11 games. He also added 2 sacks, three interceptions, 4 passes defended, and 1 touchdown. More significant than all, his year-one performance has us all wondering what we're going to do with Collins in the future, because there is no way that you can take the starting SS job away from Curl at this point. Honorable Mention: RB J.D. McKissic

Comeback Player of the Year

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Winner: QB Alex Smith I mean...come on. Alex Smith is almost undoubtedly going to win the NFL's Comeback Player of the Year award, and there are many believe that the league might name the award after him in the future based on what he did this season. After undergoing a gruesome injury that took 17 surgeries to recover from, Smith not only worked his way back to playing football, but he was the spark that led Washington to the playoffs, going 5-1 as their starting QB down the stretch. There's no player that has ever been more deserving of this award.

Biggest Disapointment

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Winner: WR Steven Sims Jr. The undrafted free agent popped in the 2019 season, becoming a great kick-return man and a solid option on option in some gimmicky plays. However, Steven Sims Jr.'s sophomore season did not have any of that excitement. He was largely absent from the offense, and his presence as a punt returner will likely cause many fans to cringe, as he led the league in missed punts. Sims may be able to turn things around in the future, but at this point it seems more likely that he'll be off the team by next season.

Highlight of the Year

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Winner: QB Taylor Heinicke Consider the situation. Consider the down and distance. Consider the stakes. Then remember what happened next. https://twitter.com/BleacherReport/status/1348111770167119873 Doesn't need much explanation. The Taylor Heinicke story was incredibly fun and pretty inspiring. We'll see what his future is like with the team, but no matter what, we will always this play.