The top guys we chose on offense and defense should run away with these awards, but stranger things have happened.

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Almost led the Rams to a playoff berth, but either way had a great rookie year—3512 yards, 18 TDs, with 15 picks.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—Along with their QB, these two guys are probably the biggest reason the Patriots are 14-2. Check out these combined numbers – 87 catches, 1109 yards, 16 touchdowns. For two rookies!

3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Finished with 11 touchdowns and was a big reason the Bucs became relevant again this season.

4. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Can someone explain to me how this guy fell to the second half of the third round of last April’s draft?

5. Christopher Ivory, New Orleans Saints—In just 12 games, had 716 yards and 5 scores

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—Led all DTs with 10 sacks, but more importantly, earned the respect of everyone and had O-coordinators having to game plan against him.

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—Finished with 7 picks and 82 total tackles.

3. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—With Cassel, Charles and Bowe, the Chiefs now have a game-changer on defense too.

4. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—65 tackles and 6 picks on a team that is going to be really good in a year or two.

5. Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants—Everyone wondered what the Giants would do with another defensive end, but this kid exceeded everyone’s expectations.

It’s best to do this now, because surely our opinions will be skewed watching the playoffs.

1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—The Pats just kept getting better as the season wore on, save for that hiccup against Cleveland. This is actually one of Bill’s best coaching jobs.

2. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—From 3-13 to 10-6. But what might be most impressive is that Morris told everyone this team would win 10 games when he may have been the only one who believed it.

3. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—The AFC West winner has a home game Sunday. Did anyone pick KC to finish above third?

4. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Kudos to Lovie for sending his A-team out there last Sunday, and either way it’s surely been quite a year for his Bears, especially with that defense.

5. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—He hasn’t hung around the city of Philadelphia for 11 years for no reason. The man just knows how to win with the talent he’s given.

6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—So close to grabbing that last playoff spot, but regardless, this is a team that will be reckoned with, maybe as soon as next year.

7. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—The 13-3 Falcons are sharp heading into the big dance.

8. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—Without Big Ben for four games, and still grabbed the 2-seed in the tough AFC. The Ravens, meanwhile, snuck up on everyone by winning 12 games too.

9. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers—His team was in every single game and could just as easily be 16-0 than 10-6. Keep an eye on these guys, they could win it all as a 6-seed.

10. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—You just can’t forget about the defending champs and that win in Atlanta a few weeks ago proved it.

Well, I’m pretty sure the announcement for NFL MVP comes down this weekend, so let me begin by saying that I was not influenced by anything that I read when making these picks…..

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Brady, who is going to run away with this award, played about half a game last Sunday, and still threw for 199 yards with 2 TDs and 0 picks. He hasn’t thrown an interception since like early October.

2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Vick did Brady a favor by not being in the lineup against Dallas in Week 17, but he and his coach know what’s more important, and that is for him and some nagging injuries, resting up for the Packers.

3. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—He wound up third in yards (4620) and tied for second in TDs (33) but uncharacteristically threw for 22 interceptions.

4. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—4700 yards, 33 TDs, 17 picks. But most impressive is the way Peyton led his team to the postseason when things looked bleak.

5. Matt Cassel/Jamaal Charles/Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs—Cassel had a dreadful game in Week 17, but we stand by the fact that this was a trio that helped a young KC team win their division and a 4-seed.

6. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—Not only did he lead the league in rushing (1616 yards), but Foster added a whopping 66 receptions for 604 more yards—giving him 2220 yards from scrimmage and 18 TDs.

7. Matt Ryan/Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Well, at 13-3, someone had to be good for them to get there, especially with all of those come from behind wins.

8. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Finished with 3922/28/11 in 15 games, but what counts is leading his team to the postseason berth they deserve.

9. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—If they could do last year’s draft over again, do you think Matthews would still be picked at #26?

10. Philip Rivers, San Diego Chargers—You know, he led the NFL in passing yards (4710) and had 30 TDs with 13 interceptions. He didn’t have Antonio Gates for a while, and he had Vincent Jackson for maybe two games. That’s why we can’t discount Rivers’ numbers.

11. Josh Freeman, Tampa Bay Bucs—We had to add one more. This kid is going to be a star. Oh wait, he already is. Freeman started every game and wound up with 3451 passing yards with 25 touchdown passes and just 6 interceptions. By comparison, Eli Manning had more than FOUR times as many picks.

It’s definitely been a solid year for rookies in the NFL, and here are the top offensive and defensive ones ranked in order of who we think wins the honors for 2010:

Offensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams—Led the Rams to the team’s biggest victory in years last Sunday, and has to do it again this Sunday.

2. Aaron Hernandez/Rob Gronkowski, New England Patriots—These two guys continue to put up ridiculous numbers if you combine them (81 catches, 1007 yards, 15 TDs).

3. Mike Williams, Tampa Bay Bucs—Two more TDs gave this kid 10 on the season, and he’s on the verge of 1000 yards.

4. Dez Bryant, Dallas Cowboys—He had 8 TDs (receiving and return) through 13 games before getting injured.

5. Colt McCoy, Cleveland Browns—Okay, so this time the young McCoy had a rough go against the Ravens, but we won’t wipe him off the list.

Defensive rookie of the year power rankings

1. Ndamukong Suh, Detroit Lions—60 tackles and 9 sacks through 15 games for a DT is amazing for anyone, much less a rookie.

2. Devin McCourty, New England Patriots—He hasn’t had an INT since Week 13, but the guy is all over the field making plays.

3. Eric Berry, Kansas City Chiefs—I’m sure U of Tennessee fans winced when they saw their former star return a pick for a TD against the Titans.

4. Joe Haden, Cleveland Browns—Had another pick against Baltimore along with five tackles. You think Mike Holmgren knows what he’s doing or what?

5. Jason Pierre-Paul, New York Giants—Even though he’s on a line that already has Justin Tuck and Osi Umenyiora, JPP has 29 tackles, 5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 6 passes deflected. I think Jerry Reese chose well when many doubted this kid.

The way things are looking, you’re on this list if you still have your job or expect to at the end of the season, because lots of heads are rolling already.

1. Bill Belichick, New England Patriots—The model of efficiency, and despite mediocre team stats (11th offense, 27th defense), the number that matters is 13 wins.

2. Todd Haley, Kansas City Chiefs—Who didn’t think the Chargers would trip the Chiefs up from behind?

3. Lovie Smith, Chicago Bears—Nobody picked the Bears to finish higher than third in the NFC North, did they? And yet they have a shot at the #1 seed in the conference.

4. Andy Reid, Philadelphia Eagles—So his team had a bad game against Minnesota. Big Andy stays on this list for his handling of the QB situation alone, but also for winning big games despite injuries.

5. Raheem Morris, Tampa Bay Bucs—When Raheem said he wanted to win 10 games, everyone laughed, and now he is laughing at them. Well, almost.

6. Steve Spagnuolo, St. Louis Rams—Even though they lead the crappy NFC West at 7-8, this is just a remarkable story. You think the Giants had wished they didn’t let this guy go?

7. Sean Payton, New Orleans Saints—Started slowly, but you know nobody wants to face these guys in January.

8. Mike Smith, Atlanta Falcons—Still sitting pretty for the #1 seed in the NFC.

9. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers/John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens—No reason to take either guy off the list.

10. Mike McCarthy, Green Bay Packers—All those injuries and a late-season resurgence have the Pack in prime position.

So Michael Vick slipped a little on Tuesday night, which makes us feel better about keeping Tommy Brady (as Charlie Weis calls him) in the top spot.

1. Tom Brady, New England Patriots—Amazingly, Brady has thrown for an NFL record 319 pass attempts without an interception, going back to Week 6. So let’s review—3701 yards, 34 TDs (NFL high) and just 4 picks, and his team is 13-2 and in the fast lane in the AFC. Damn.

2. Michael Vick, Philadelphia Eagles—Look, we can’t disregard what Vick has done this season, because it’s phenomenal. But he looked mortal against the Vikings, and also for 52 minutes against the Giants before that.

3. Matt Cassel/Jamaal Charles/Dwayne Bowe, Kansas City Chiefs—This trio has led the Chiefs to the AFC West crown. Cassel has 27 TDs to 5 picks/Jamaal has 1835 all-purpose yards and Bowe leads all NFL receivers with 15 TDs. The league won’t view this as one person, but that doesn’t mean we can’t.

4. Drew Brees, New Orleans Saints—What, did you think the Saints were just going to go away? Not with this guy leading the team. But the 21 picks may hurt him in the voting.

5. Arian Foster, Houston Texans—This kid is just a beast week-in and week-out.

6. Matt Ryan/Roddy White, Atlanta Falcons—Sure, the Falcons are impressive, especially some of the late-game heroics, but losing at home to Saints hurt.

7. Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers—Rodgers admitted that sitting out with a concussion allowed him to come back fresh in Week 16—to the tune of 404 yards and 4 TDs.

8. Clay Matthews, Green Bay Packers—Do you get the feeling you have to account for this dude as if he were Lawrence Taylor?

9. Donte Whitner, Buffalo Bills—136 total tackles (92 solo) with a sack, an interception, a forced fumble and 7 passes defensed. I know the Bills suck, but Whitner is a one-man wrecking crew.

10. Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts—Look who’s back, and he even showed he can run—in slow motion, but he can run.

HEROES

Danny Woodhead
Rob Gronkowski
I started both of these players in the aforementioned title game, and they stepped up big. Woody scored on a 29-yard run early in the game and finished with 125 total yards, while Gronkowski went for 4-54-2 with Aaron Hernandez sidelined. Gronk became a very solid TE1 start once Hernandez was ruled out, but Woody was a fringe guy that fantasy owners were running out there and hoping for the best. He delivered.

Matt Forte
Johnny Knox
It took a certain amount of courage to start Forte this week given his matchup with a good Jets rush defense and his spotty production at times. But he gained 169 total yards and scored on a 22-yard run. I was going against Knox in the aforementioned title game, which is why I’m still sweating that win out. Knox caught two TDs and racked up 92 yards through the air while facing Darrelle Revis and a pretty good Jets’ pass defense.

Aaron Rodgers
We expected a good game out of Rodgers, but not 404 yards and four TDs against a Giants’ defense that had been a bad matchup for opposing QBs this season.

Jamaal Charles
Dwayne Bowe
I thought I might be listing Charles here when the week started but I honestly didn’t see Bowe’s huge day coming. He had caught just three passes in the previous three games, but for those who kept the faith (or were forced to start him), he delivered with 6-153-1. Too bad his W14 and W15 production (3-56 total) probably meant that those fantasy owners weren’t playing in the title game. On a side note, Jamaal Charles is a stud. He had 117 total yards and two TDs on just 17 touches.

Mike Thomas
I have a buddy who had to run Thomas out there in semi-desperation and the guy delivered with six catches for 96 yards and a TD.

Carson Palmer
Did anyone start Carson Palmer in a one-QB league in a terrible matchup against the Chargers without his two best WRs? Anyone? Anyone? The guy posted 269 yards and threw four TDs. (By the way, fantasy owners should keep an eye on Jerome Simpson for next season.)

Tim Tebow
I’ll be apologizing a little later for some bad advice I gave out regarding a certain Jacksonville running back, but I will take a bow here. I liked Tebow this week given his matchup and he delivered with 308 passing yards and threw for a TD while running for another.

Josh Freeman
I might be saving the best for last. Freeman tossed two TDs in the first half, and seeing as he hadn’t thrown for more than two TDs all season, fantasy owners probably wouldn’t have been surprised if he were done for the day. Yeah, well…he wasn’t. Freeman tossed three more TDs in the second half as the Bucs uncharacteristically kept throwing even though they were playing with a lead the entire second half. Throw in 237 yards and 23 rushing yards (an overlooked part of Freeman’s fantasy game) and you have the makings of a great fantasy day.

GOATS

Ryan Fitzpatrick and any WR in the NE/BUF game
Steve Johnson posted 5-58, but otherwise this was a very quiet game for wide receivers. Deion Branch (2-25), Wes Welker (3-19) and my super-deep sleeper of the week, David Nelson (0-0), were all very quiet. Ryan Fitzpatrick also deserves mention as a disappointment — he had 251 yards passing, but threw three picks and didn’t throw a TD (in what was shaping up to be a great matchup with the Pats’ secondary).

Anquan Boldin
2-15. Hello? Anquan, are you there? Yeah, the fantasy playoffs are going on and you only managed 6-58 over the last three weeks. Thanks for nothing, man.

Peyton Hillis
I try not to be alarmist about midweek injuries with stud players, but the news surrounding Hillis this week wasn’t great and I should have listened. Still, it’s tough to take a top 5 fantasy RB and rank him in the mid-teens. He’s in the top 5 for a reason. But the Ravens shut him down (40 total yards) on Sunday.

Chris Johnson
I started CJ2K in the aforementioned title game, which is part of the reason I’m sweating this win out. He only gained 58 rushing yards as the Titans pretty much abandoned the run as the Chiefs jumped out early in the game. Still, we CJ owners believe that he should be used in the passing game when Tennessee falls behind, but he had nary a catch on just two targets. Sigh.

Rashad Jennings
Time for me to apologize. I was very high on Jennings. Top 10 high, given the way the Jags were running the ball of late, MJD’s absence, the Redskins’ defense and Jennings’ ability. But sometimes in fantasy football, all the stars can align for a big game and for one reason or another, the player just can’t deliver. In this case, the Redskins’ rush defense really stepped up, holding the Jags to just 3.4 ypc and Jennings to just 2.1 ypc. He did catch four passes for 29 yards, but that’s small consolation for PPR owners.

Vincent Jackson
Sorry, V-Jax, but 4-54 just doesn’t cut it given your matchup and lack of passing options for Philip Rivers. Freaking Legedu Naaneee outgained you (4-59). Sigh.