The Chicago Bears haven’t made it a habit of winning any major NFL honors in quite some time. While individual accomplishments aren’t the primary goal, they usually offer an idea of whether the team is pretty good or not. Case and point? Seven of the last eight league Most Valuable Players ended up in at least the conference championship game.
More than anything, it’d be nice to see a Bears player win one of these awards for the first time in forever. So that leads to an interesting question. Who on this roster should be considered the favorite to win every major honor up for grabs? Here is a rundown of each and why each name mentioned is the choice.
You might be surprised by one or two of them.
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Chicago Bears favorites for every major NFL award
Most Valuable Player: David Montgomery
Let’s be honest. It might as well just be renamed to the Most Valuable Quarterback award these days. As of now, 13 of the last 14 winners of the honor were quarterbacks. Still, under the right circumstances it remains possible for a running back to break through. Of course it would require a pretty ridiculous season in terms of numbers. Adrian Peterson needed to rush for over 2,000 yards in 2012 in order to do it. David Montgomery showed last season he is capable of this. Over the final six games, he racked up 598 yards and seven touchdowns. Average that out to a full 16-game season? That would’ve been 1,594 yards and 18 touchdowns. It’s a long shot but if the Bears feed him, Monty can do it.
Defensive Player of the Year: Eddie Jackson
Khalil Mack would be the easy answer here for obvious reasons. However, people forget it wasn’t him who was a borderline favorite to claim the award back in 2018 but Jackson. The safety had six interceptions and three defensive touchdowns. Two of which decisively won games. He is capable of playing at that high of a level. Yet he hasn’t the past two years. So why such confidence to believe he will now? Namely the elevation of Sean Desai as defensive coordinator. He’s said the team will return to more concepts that Vic Fangio ran from 2015 to 2018. The concepts that made Jackson a star. If this is true, then the 27-year old should play like a man who’s been paroled.
Comeback Player of the Year: Robert Quinn
It takes a certain set of parameters for a player to qualify for Comeback Player of the Year. You had to be good at one point, then fall off significantly for a stretch. Then you have to come roaring back with a great year. In this context, Quinn checks the first two boxes. He had 11.5 sacks in 2019. One of the best pass rushers in the league and a former All-Pro. Then in 2020 he delivered the worst season of his career, notching just two sacks. This led to many calling him the worst free agent signing in Chicago Bears history. That is saying a lot. Even so, if he can find a way to rebound with a double digit sack season? He might avoid that label and take home some personal hardware as justification he can still play.
Offensive Rookie of the Year: Justin Fields
This time the obvious choice is pretty much the only one. Fields is their 1st round pick and by far the one in the best position to win the honor. No Bears player as won Offensive Rookie of the Year in 20 years. This season would be the anniversary of Anthony Thomas doing so in 2001. Fields would be their first quarterback to ever do so. The question is will the team give him that opportunity. Anthony Dalton is slated to start this season. Fields would need to either overtake him in training camp or have him struggle early. The sooner the 11th overall pick can get on the field, the better his odds of competing for the award. Given his immense talent? He’d be one of the favorites for it.
Defensive Rookie of the Year: Thomas Graham Jr.
Being a 6th round pick, the odds aren’t in favor of Graham getting the necessary recognition from voters for this aware. Need an idea of the odds against him? The last player who wasn’t a 1st or 2nd round pick to win the award was Erik McMillan back in 1988. He was a 3rd round pick. Al Richardson is the one outlier. He was an 8th round pick for Falcons in 1980. What kind of year did he need to get noticed? Seven interceptions and three recovered fumbles. As a linebacker. If Graham wants any shot at breaking through that glass ceiling, he’ll first have to win a starting job and then go on an interception frenzy. A pretty tall order.