AP names Allen NFL's Most Valuable
Vikes' O'Connell lands Coach of the Year.
Roundup from wire sources
Josh Allen edged two-time winner Lamar Jackson for the AP NFL Most Valuable Player award, announced at the 2025 NFL Honors.
Here are the big takeaways from Thursday night’s event, held at the Saenger Theater in New Orleans.
MVP vote: Allen, who led Buffalo to a fifth straight AFC East title, got 27 first-place votes to Jackson’s 23 and finished with 383 points — the closest MVP vote since 2016. Allen beat out Jackson despite the fact that Jackson was selected first-team All-Pro ahead of Allen.
Coach of the Year: Kevin O’Connell beat out Dan Campbell after leading the Minnesota Vikings to 14 wins.
Hall of Fame inductees: Antonio Gates, Jared Allen, Eric Allen and Sterling Sharpe were voted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in the smallest induction class in 20 years. Two-time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning fell short.
Coach of the Year O’Connell credits Belichick
By Brett Martel, AP
Kevin O’Connell gave considerable credit for his honor to the man who made him a third-round NFL draft choice in 2008: former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick.
“As a pretty raw quarterback prospect I was going to play for the greatest coach of all time,” O’Connell said. “So, at times I felt a little bit like being thrown into the deep end of the pool. ... But I remember waking up in the morning and saying to myself, ‘no matter what, I don’t want to miss out on being around any of this.’”
“So many of those things stuck with me and I think my favorite part about the whole journey is he’s now become one of my mentors and somebody I talk to a lot,” O’Connell said.
How Josh Allen beat out Lamar Jackson for AP NFL MVP
By Josh Dubow, AP
For the past 11 seasons, being named the AP first-team All-Pro quarterback was a prelude to winning the NFL’s MVP award.
There was some logic to that with quarterbacks providing the most value to a team and the same panel picking the All-Pro team and all of the awards.
There was a rare flip this year with Buffalo’s Josh Allen narrowly edging Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson in the MVP voting announced Thursday night after finishing second in All-Pro voting revealed last month.
This marked just the third time since the AP started handing out the Most Valuable Player award in 1961 that a player won at least a share of the MVP after not being voted first-team All-Pro. (The AP had a Most Outstanding Player award from 1957-60 and those winners also were first-team All-Pros).
The All-Pro votes
Let’s start with the All-Pro votes where Jackson had the edge. He received 30 of the 50 first-team All-Pro votes from a national panel of media members and 19 second-place votes. Allen got 18 first-place and 24 second-place votes, while Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow got the last two first-place votes, along with nine second-place votes.
What switched for MVP?
Several voters viewed the MVP vote differently. While Jackson and Allen finished 1-2 on 48 of the 50 ballots (Burrow and Saquon Barkley each got one second-place vote), Allen had the edge when it came to the top spot, gaining nine additional first-place votes from the All-Pro team with Jackson losing seven.
Allen also finished third on one ballot, and Jackson was fourth on another, but that had no impact on the winner.
Allen finished with 383 points based on scoring that gives out 10 points for a first-place vote, followed by five, three, two and one for the last four spaces. Jackson had 362 points.
Hall of Fame wanted to make it more difficult to get in
By Josh Dubow, AP
The Hall of Fame class was the smallest in 20 years and follows 12 straight years with at least seven people getting in.
The Hall of Famers wanted to make it more difficult to get in and the new process achieved that goal.
Hall spokesman Rich Desrosiers said no decision was made on whether to keep this system in place for 2026, but said that one year might be too soon to draw any conclusions.
Arik Armstead is Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year
By Ryan Kryska, AP
Jaguars defensive lineman Arik Armstead has won the Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year Award.
The award is given out annually to recognize an NFL player for his excellence on and off the field. The award was established in 1970 and was renamed in 1999 after the late Hall of Fame running back, Walter Payton. Each team nominates one player who has had a significant positive impact on his community.