NFL
By: Greg Rector
Defensive Player of the Year- Daron Bland
My Defensive Player of the Year in the 2023 NFL season is set and his name is the Dallas Cowboys cornerback Daron Bland. I hate to break all those hearts of Myles Garrett Micah Parsons or TJ Watt fans but Daron Bland has the new NFL record for interceptions returned for touchdowns in an NFL season with his fifth that he had on Thanksgiving Day against the Washington Commanders. In just 11 games Bland has six more games to go.
Bland was the fifth-round draft pick out of Fresno State by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2022 NFL Draft and from the time he set foot on the field he has simply been great whether it was last season filling in for Jourdan Lewis as the inside nickel back and this season he was forced to move to the outside corner spot when Trevon Diggs was injured with the ACL tear. All Bland has done since he became a Dallas Cowboys starter last season is pick off quarterbacks passes. He has 12 interceptions in his two-year career and will add to that total in the last six games the Dallas Cowboys will play.
Daron Bland is another example of why Dan Quinn is one of the best defensive coordinators in the NFL. Bland was made to play the outside corner spot by Quinn all off-season long. Why did he do that? Because Jourdan Lewis was expected back to play the inside corner spot and even though Stephon Gilmore was brought into the Cowboys’ corner room Quinn had the feeling that Bland could easily take over on the outside corner spot if Gilmore who is 33 years old struggled at all or got injured to play opposite of Trevon Diggs.
When Trevon Diggs went down I wasn’t as concerned as many were with Daron Bland after seeing him play so well on the inside spot last season. Now NFL quarterbacks also know why my confidence in Bland was so high. This kid is proof yet again why drafting and scouting matter so much in the NFL. I was stunned when he was available that late in the draft in 2022 and it just might be yet another case of NFL teams selecting players from the Power 5 conferences instead of looking at the talent outside of those top schools.
Now there will be no asterisk placed beside Daron Bland doing this in a 17-game season. Sorry to Ken Houston Jim Varney and Eric Allen who did have 4 pick-six TDs in 14 and a 16-game season, Daron Bland accomplished the new NFL record in just 11 games.
Dak Prescott The NFL MVP?
Now this will cause much consternation amongst NFL fans especially those who don’t support the Dallas Cowboys, Rayne Dakota Prescott is a candidate to win the NFL MVP for the 2023 regular season. Despite his two less-than-stellar games against the Arizona Cardinals and the San Francisco 49ers and the slow start the Dallas Cowboys offense had in the red zone early on this season, Dak Prescott is leading the Dallas Cowboys like an MVP candidate should.
Just look at the man’s statistics and take away the fact he plays for the Dallas Cowboys okay? Prescott is finally been allowed to move in the Texas Coast Offense and his numbers have been outstanding, especially since the bye week. I screamed at Kellen Moore who had Dak Prescott locked into staying more as a dropback passer instead of allowing Dak to move the way he did when he was in college and as an NFL rookie in 2016.
Unbeaten at AT&T Stadium and that’s been happening since last season as the Dallas Cowboys won their 13th straight game at home against the Washington Commanders.
Dak Prescott sits second in passing completion percentage ever so slightly behind Brock Purdy, Prescott leads the NFL with 23 TD passes and has thrown just six interceptions. In his next 5 games, Prescott plays against Seattle Philadelphia Buffalo Miami, and Detroit. How he does especially in week 14 against the Philadelphia Eagles will determine whether or not Dak Prescott gets a shot at being named the NFL MVP for the 2023 NFL regular season. If Prescott wins each of these games and the Dallas Cowboys finish off the season as a 14-3 roster who can deny Dak Prescott shouldn’t be mentioned as a regular season MVP candidate?
Outside of being a Dallas Cowboys fan for 54 seasons, I look at the numbers and it doesn’t matter to me what helmet they wear. Last season Jalen Hurts was my favorite quarterback in the game. Patrick Mahomes was simply magnificent and deserved to win the MVP just as he deserved to win the Super Bowl MVP.
So fans of football put aside all the noise you hear about the Dallas Cowboys from Jerry Jones and Stephen A Smith and simply look at Dak Prescott like you all do anyone who deserves mentioning when it comes down to the NFL MVP award.
Shhh MVPs are leaders of their teams and this season Dak Prescott has been far more stern with his teammates and he has been self-critical of himself when called upon. If he can lead the Dallas Cowboys to an unbeaten record the rest of the season and continues to put up the numbers he has played with so far but sorry Stephen A Smith, Dak Prescott deserves to be mentioned in the NFL MVP award commentary.
It doesn’t matter what the record of the teams he has defeated. You only get who the NFL tells you who to play against. So shove that strength of schedule garbage where it belongs which is in the trash can.
I really hope to see football fans set aside the fact that Dak Prescott plays quarterback for the Dallas Cowboys. Set aside your hatred and simply look at what the MVP award is all about. Dak Prescott has led the Dallas Cowboys and that matters to us fans in Cowboys Nation and it always will. However, if Dak Prescott does in fact lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 14-3 season and his numbers are a huge reason why then NFL fans give Dak Prescott his due and support him as the NFL regular season MVP!!!
Then y’all can laugh again at the Dallas Cowboys if and when they lose in the NFL playoffs. That message needs to be changed and I know Dak Prescott wants to lead the charge and see the Dallas Cowboys playing in a Super Bowl game.
I fully believe what Daron Bland has done has him as the leading candidate as the NFL Defensive Player of the Year and as I mentioned if Dak Prescott continues to lead the Dallas Cowboys offense the way he has then he deserves to be mentioned as the NFL MVP award.
As always you can find me on X @GregCowboys
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