NFL announces five finalists for Offensive Player of the Year
There was no shortage of offense in the 2023 NFL season, as a multitude of offensive playmakers racked up yards and touchdowns to help lead their teams to victory on a weekly basis. Making this year’s NFL Offensive Player of the Year race extremely competitive across the league’s 32 teams.
On Thursday ahead of conference championship weekend, the NFL announced the five finalists for this year’s Offensive Player of the Year Award. A list comprising of the NFL’s brightest offensive stars who undoubtedly left their mark on the 2023 season.
Check out this year’s five candidates for NFL Offensive Player of the Year below (listed in alphabetical order).
Tyreek Hill
Many crowned Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill as the best wideout in football after The Cheetah put together the best season of his entire career. Hill ended the regular season as the NFL’s leader in receiving yards and touchdowns, putting together one of the most impressive seasons in league history for a wideout.
Hill ended the regular season with 119 receptions, 1,799 yards, and 13 touchdowns, breaking Miami’s single-season receiving yards record, which he set last season with 1,710 yards. He started the season with a bang after catching 11 passes for 215 yards and two scores in Week 1 and never looked back for the remainder of the season (unless he was throwing up a peace sign to defenders on the way to the end zone).
Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson lands on the OPOTY finalist list after also being the odds-on favorite to take home the NFL’s Most Valuable Player Award. Helping lead the Baltimore Ravens to a league’s best 13-4 record and the top seed for the playoffs in the AFC.
Jackson’s growth as a pocket passer was on full display this season, throwing for a career-high 3,678 yards in the regular season along with 24 touchdowns. And per usual, he was also a threat with his legs in the run game, leading all quarterbacks with 821 yards on the ground and five scores.
CeeDee Lamb
Dallas Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb established himself as one of the league’s top wideouts following his breakout season in 2023. Lamb notched career highs in nearly every single stat category this past season, giving defensive coordinators and secondaries headaches in the process.
Lamb led the NFL in receptions this season with 135, racking up 1,749 yards and 12 touchdowns along with 113 yards and the ground and two rushing scores. Lamb broke the Cowboys’ single-season receptions and receiving yards record, passing another icon that wore No. 88, Michael Irvin.
Christian McCaffrey
Nobody ran the football quite like San Francisco 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey this season. He led the league with 1,459 rushing yards and found the end zone 14 times on the ground.
CMC was the engine of the 49ers’ explosive offensive attack not just getting it done in the running game, but in the passing game as well. He ended the regular season with 67 receptions and 564 receiving yards, leading all running backs with seven touchdown grabs.
Dak Prescott
Dak Prescott rounds of the Offensive Player of the Year finalists, marking the second Dallas Cowboy to make the cut. Like his teammate Lamb, Prescott too had the best season of his NFL career, and like Jackson and McCaffrey, he was also selected as a finalist for league MVP.
Prescott threw for a career-high 4,516 yards and a league-leading 36 touchdown passes in 2023. Serving as the maestro of the Cowboys’ offense that ended the regular season as the NFL’s top scoring unit averaging 29.9 points per game.