The LA Chargers could have some award winners after the 2020 season.
Every season, an array of NFL players are rewarded for their efforts during the regular season at the NFL Honors Awards ceremony. Awards such as MVP, Defensive Player of the Year, Coach of the Year and so many others are given out to honor the best of the best.
The LA Chargers did not have any active players win an award last season (although former Charger Donnie Edwards won the Salute to Service Award). That could change in 2020, though, as there are four specific awards that would not be shocking to see end up in a Chargers’ players hand.
We are going to break down the four realistic (sorry, no Keenan Allen for MVP) award candidates heading into next season and ranking them by likelihood, starting with the least likely.
LA Chargers’ potential award winner: Kenneth Murray, Defensive Rookie of the Year
The last Charger player to win the Defensive Rookie of the Year Award was Joey Bosa in 2016 and while Kenneth Murray is not the favorite among his peers to win the award, there is a chance that he wins the award as a part of an electric Chargers defense.
The favorites to win the award right now are absolutely Chase Young and Isaiah Simmons. If things go as planned, Young is going to be near the league-lead in sacks in his rookie season and Simmons is going to showcase a versatility at linebacker that might even one-up Derwin James’ versatility.
However, the Chargers really liked Kenneth Murray and it would not be shocking to see him win the award. The case for Murray is that he will be a tackle machine for the Bolts, serving as the team’s best run-stuffing linebacker that is tasked with plugging running lanes.
If he gets the proper playing time then he absolutely could surpass the 100 combined tackles threshold in his rookie season, which would help his case for the award.
The one thing holding Murray back is he is not going to get many flashy stats. He was not used in pass coverage much and likely won’t haul in more than one interception at most, he probably won’t rush the quarterback often and won’t rack up the sacks with the only real saving grace being if he can force several fumbles.
Even if you are a super impactful player, the flashy stats can win or lose an award and for Murray, I just don’t see him getting many of those in 2020. However, he does still have a realistic shot at winning the award.