# Eric Williams: In the first edition of FOX Sports' Awards Ballot, Williams predicts the top five finishers for each major NFL award: Jahmyr Gibbs for Offensive Player of the Year, Myles Garrett to repeat as Defensive Player of the Year, DeMeco Ryans for Coach of the Year, Jadarian Price for Offensive Rookie of the Year, Rueben Bain Jr. for Defensive Rookie of the Year, and Patrick Mahomes to win his third MVP.

**Claimed:** Sep 7, 2026
**Pundit:** Eric Williams — https://missedtakes.co/pundits/eric-williams
**Outlet:** Fox Sports — https://missedtakes.co/outlets/fox-sports
**How it reached us:** published in writing
**Original:** https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/2026-27-nfl-awards-predictions-will-matthew-stafford-patrick-mahomes-win-mvp

19 checkable claims — 5 award picks, 5 coach award picks, 5 top player lists, 2 depth chart calls and 2 player season numbers — each graded on its own rather than as one all-or-nothing bet.

It names 12 players and teams, each linked to their own record.

None of them have settled yet — they grade once their results are in.

Of the 3 unsettled calls enough other pundits have weighed in on, this one lands below the rest of the room on every one.

> I like him (and the Chiefs) to rebound from a poor performance last season to win his third MVP award.

*(their words, quoted for attribution)*

## The claims

- **Ben Johnson to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jahmyr Gibbs to record 2,000 rushing yards**
  - Kind: Player Season Numbers · About: Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Most Valuable Player: 5. Lamar Jackson ... 4. Justin Herbert ... 3. Matthew Stafford ... 2. Josh Allen ... 1. Patrick Mahomes**
  - Kind: Top Player Lists
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **A.J. Brown to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: A.J. Brown, New England Patriots
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Defensive Rookie Of The Year: 5. Akheem Mesidor ... 4. Caleb Downs ... 3. Sonny Styles ... 2. David Bailey ... 1. Rueben Bain Jr.**
  - Kind: Top Player Lists
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Kevin O'Connell to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **John Harbaugh to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jadarian Price to be 1st on the depth chart**
  - Kind: Depth Chart Calls · About: Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Myles Garrett to win Defensive Player of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Myles Garrett, Los Angeles Rams
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jadarian Price to win Offensive Rookie of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Jadarian Price, Seattle Seahawks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Demeco Ryans to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Patrick Mahomes to win Most Valuable Player**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Defensive Player Of The Year: 5. Trey Hendrickson ... 4. Devon Witherspoon ... 3. Will Anderson Jr. ... 2. Pat Surtain II ... 1. Myles Garrett**
  - Kind: Top Player Lists
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Offensive Rookie of the Year: 5. Fernando Mendoza ... 4. KC Concepcion ... 3. De'Zhaun Stribling ... 2. Jeremiyah Love ... 1. Jadarian Price**
  - Kind: Top Player Lists
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Rueben Bain to record 10 sacks**
  - Kind: Player Season Numbers · About: Rueben Bain, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Jahmyr Gibbs to win Offensive Player of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Jahmyr Gibbs, Detroit Lions
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Rueben Bain to win Defensive Rookie of the Year**
  - Kind: Award Picks · About: Rueben Bain, Tampa Bay Buccaneers
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Brian Schottenheimer to win Coach of the Year**
  - Kind: Coach Award Picks
  - Verdict: not settled yet
- **Offensive Player Of The Year: 5. A.J. Brown ... 4. Christian McCaffrey ... 3. Jaxon Smith-Njigba ... 2. Puka Nacua ... 1. Jahmyr Gibbs**
  - Kind: Top Player Lists
  - Verdict: not settled yet

## Who this take is about

- Jahmyr Gibbs — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jahmyr-gibbs
- Detroit Lions — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/lions
- A.J. Brown — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/a-j-brown
- New England Patriots — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/patriots
- Jadarian Price — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/jadarian-price
- Seattle Seahawks — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/seahawks
- Myles Garrett — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/myles-garrett
- Los Angeles Rams — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/rams
- Patrick Mahomes — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/patrick-mahomes
- Kansas City Chiefs — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/chiefs
- Rueben Bain — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/players/rueben-bain
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers — https://missedtakes.co/nfl/teams/buccaneers

## What others said about the same people

- Chris Simms on Kansas City Chiefs: Simms went through the entire Week 3 slate with straight-up winners and predicted final scores, taking Jacksonville, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle, the Giants, Baltimore, New Orleans, Minnesota, San Francisco, Denver and Philadelphia. He also expected Zay Flowers and Puka Nacua to sit, Kyler Murray to play, and said Marvin Harrison Jr. projects as no better than a good No. 2 or high-end No. 3 receiver. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/662b7ba3-1bf6-4ad0-9f93-9f2ab83143fd (scored 100)
- Connor Rogers on Detroit Lions: Rogers picked Detroit, Houston, Carolina, Kansas City, Seattle and the Giants to win their Week 3 games, saying the Chiefs win by two touchdowns and the Giants by a field goal. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/83d1e88b-95a0-45ba-83d3-f86297170c6c (scored 100)
- Chris Long on Los Angeles Rams: Long liked the Rams over the Broncos on Sunday night even without Puka Nacua, and expected the Bills to beat the winless Chargers in Buffalo. He also backed the Bengals over the Steelers, expected an angry Detroit team to handle the Jets, and still thought both the Lions and Vikings could win the NFC North. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/3df9ea25-e57f-4fd7-b20c-c910a1c3633a (scored 0)
- Nate Tice on Detroit Lions: Tice matched his guest on every Week 3 game, picking the Ravens over the Cowboys, the Jaguars over the Patriots in a close game, the Broncos to upset the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears and the Lions over the Jets. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/b8378e16-ea5c-4107-a883-28aaf0e71134 (scored 100)
- Steven Ruiz on Detroit Lions: Previewing Week 3, Ruiz picked the Ravens to beat the Cowboys in Brazil, Jacksonville over New England in a low-scoring game, an upset by the Broncos over the Rams, the Raiders over the Saints, the Eagles over the Bears, the Lions over the Jets, and his Hail Mary that Houston beats Indianapolis by two touchdowns. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/a30ff469-4972-4c48-855b-ba984e4de9d0 (scored 100)
- Sam Monson on Seattle Seahawks: Monson picked the Chargers to beat the Bills outright (jokingly crediting Buffalo's gray 'Nickel City' jerseys), took the Vikings to win outright in Tampa, and said Seattle would destroy Washington. He also reiterated his Super Bowl pick of Denver over the Rams, called the Dolphins destined for the No. 1 overall pick, and said the Saints are a worst-to-first candidate in the NFC South. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/0b810ffd-fd93-4ea2-a208-b1353dea5fb0 (scored 0)

## More coach award picks

The same kind of call, about other players and teams.

- Matt Hasselbeck: Hasselbeck agreed on the Bills and Ravens as AFC division winners, picked the Colts (with Daniel Jones) to win the AFC South, the Broncos to win the AFC West, the Seahawks to win the NFC West, and tabbed Brian Flores for a Coach of the Year-type honor. He also said the Patriots would make a big jump and potentially reach the playoffs, and named Minnesota, Las Vegas, New England and Chicago as offseason winners. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/757877f8-ca0d-4888-b062-a4a6dd71d0e6 (scored 0)
- Richard Sherman: Sherman picked the Eagles, Vikings, Ravens and Bills in their wild-card games, named Lamar Jackson MVP, Patrick Surtain DPOY, Kevin O'Connell Coach of the Year, put Jared Verse in the top three of Defensive Rookie of the Year voting, and gave a Week 18 power ranking with Kansas City first. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/2d7cf80e-1b0e-4129-92f3-225d97061cbe (scored 100)
- Chris Brockman: Brockman argued that Kyle Shanahan deserves Coach of the Year after the 49ers' road win in Philadelphia, a take Rich Eisen partly called an overreaction since it's a regular-season award. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/4da2fac2-7a9e-4cf2-a606-9dc6c7fd548d (scored 0)
- Pat Gustavson: Gustafson picked the Bears, Eagles, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, the Rams and Bears in the NFC, the Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, and the Patriots to beat the Bears in the Super Bowl. His awards slate included Stafford for MVP, Puka for OPOY and Liam Cohen for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/671b9c4f-1f25-4f11-ad26-16a1126ea3b8 (scored 0)
- Brandon Carney: Carney made a full playoff bracket, picking the Bears, Niners, Rams, Patriots, Jaguars and Texans in the wild card round, then Seahawks and Rams in the NFC divisional, Broncos and Patriots in the AFC, with the Rams beating the Patriots in the Super Bowl. He also gave award picks including Stafford for MVP and Vrabel for Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/88101820-7344-4240-93f1-caa15fe95de9 (scored 100)
- Rich Eisen: Eisen gave his Week 13 power rankings, with the Rams first, Patriots second and the Cowboys entering at No. 10, and also named New England and Philadelphia as the first teams to clinch playoff spots, picked Seattle to beat Minnesota, and tabbed Drake Maye as an MVP finalist and Mike Vrabel as Coach of the Year. — https://missedtakes.co/opinions/960141f1-11b7-4c57-9ef8-0f7b8b41bc99 (scored 100)

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Accuracy is 0-100 against what actually happened. The naive guess is what a strategy requiring no knowledge would have scored on the same call — the difference is the skill, and it is what the MissedTakes Score averages.

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