NFL Honors 2026: MVP headline night, award finalists, and how to watch

The NFL’s biggest individual awards for the 2025 season are set to be revealed tonight at NFL Honors in San Francisco, with MVP at the center of a star-heavy ballot that includes three quarterbacks and two elite skill-position standouts. The primetime ceremony runs Thursday, February 5, 2026 (ET), just three days before Super Bowl LX, giving the league one last spotlight on regular-season excellence before the championship game.

This year’s storylines are unusually layered: a Super Bowl-bound quarterback is also an Offensive Player of the Year finalist, a do-it-all running back is up for multiple major awards, and two rookie races feature crowded fields that mix quarterbacks, receivers, and defenders from playoff teams.

When it starts and where to watch

NFL Honors airs live in the late evening in the Eastern Time Zone, with a red-carpet show leading into the awards.

The eight headline AP awards on the line

The ceremony’s core is the set of eight regular-season honors voted on by a national media panel before the playoffs:

• Most Valuable Player (MVP)

• Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY)

• Defensive Player of the Year (DPOY)

• Offensive Rookie of the Year (OROY)

• Defensive Rookie of the Year (DROY)

• Comeback Player of the Year

• Coach of the Year

• Assistant Coach of the Year

The show also includes the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year announcement, the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 reveal, and a new “Protector of the Year” award recognizing the league’s top offensive lineman.

MVP: five finalists, one defining narrative

The MVP finalists are:

• Josh Allen, Buffalo Bills

• Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Drake Maye, New England Patriots

• Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

• Matthew Stafford, Los Angeles Rams

The dynamic is familiar but still tense: quarterbacks typically dominate MVP voting, while a truly exceptional season from a non-QB can break through if it feels singular and season-defining. This ballot has both ingredients—high-impact quarterback play plus an offensive centerpiece who put up the kind of year that shows up everywhere on film.

Offensive and defensive player races: stars across positions

Offensive Player of the Year finalists:

• Drake Maye, New England Patriots

• Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

• Puka Nacua, Los Angeles Rams

• Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons

• Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seattle Seahawks

With a Super Bowl quarterback in the mix, this one can hinge on how voters separate “most valuable” from “most productive” and how they weigh explosive skill-position output versus quarterback responsibility.

Defensive Player of the Year finalists:

• Will Anderson Jr., Houston Texans

• Nik Bonitto, Denver Broncos

• Myles Garrett, Cleveland Browns

• Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

• Micah Parsons, Green Bay Packers

Edge rushers dominate this field, and the decision often comes down to who consistently changed protection plans, forced offenses into quick throws, and produced in high-leverage moments—sometimes as much about disruption as raw sack totals.

Rookie of the Year: quarterbacks vs. playmakers

Offensive Rookie of the Year finalists:

• Jaxson Dart, New York Giants (QB)

• Emeka Egbuka, Tampa Bay Buccaneers (WR)

• TreVeyon Henderson, New England Patriots (RB)

• Tetairoa McMillan, Carolina Panthers (WR)

• Tyler Shough, New Orleans Saints (QB)

The quarterback factor is real in rookie voting, but this class also includes skill players who carried major weekly volume. One added wrinkle: Shough already won a separate, fan-voted “Rookie of the Year” honor earlier this week, which doesn’t decide the media award but does show where public momentum is landing.

Defensive Rookie of the Year finalists:

• Abdul Carter, New York Giants (LB)

• Nick Emmanwori, Seattle Seahawks (DB)

• James Pearce Jr., Atlanta Falcons (DE)

• Carson Schwesinger, Cleveland Browns (LB)

• Xavier Watts, Atlanta Falcons (S)

Two Atlanta defenders made the list, and the finalists span every level of the defense—line, linebacker, and secondary—setting up a true “impact vs. highlight plays vs. consistency” debate.

Comeback, Coach, and Assistant Coach: the staff matters too

Comeback Player of the Year finalists:

• Stefon Diggs, New England Patriots

• Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit Lions

• Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers

• Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys

Coach of the Year finalists:

• Liam Coen, Jacksonville Jaguars

• Ben Johnson, Chicago Bears

• Mike Macdonald, Seattle Seahawks

• Kyle Shanahan, San Francisco 49ers

• Mike Vrabel, New England Patriots

Assistant Coach of the Year finalists:

• Vic Fangio, Philadelphia Eagles (DC)

• Brian Flores, Minnesota Vikings (DC)

• Vance Joseph, Denver Broncos (DC)

• Klint Kubiak, Seattle Seahawks (OC)

• Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots (OC)

These categories often reward “organizational lift” more than a single statistic: a turnaround, a leap in efficiency, or a unit that became elite fast—especially when the roster didn’t look built for it in August.

Sources consulted: Associated Press, NFL, Pro Football Hall of Fame, Yahoo Sports