AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year
The AP NFL Offensive Player of the Year is an annual award presented by the Associated Press to the offensive player in the National Football League deemed to have had the most outstanding season. The winner is chosen by votes from a nationwide panel of sportswriters who regularly follow the NFL. Marshall Faulk and Earl Campbell are the only players to have won the award three times, in three consecutive seasons. Campbell is the only player to win the award as a rookie, doing so in 1978. Warren Moon and Priest Holmes are the only undrafted players to win the award. Peyton Manning is the only player to win the award with two different teams, doing so in 2004 with the Indianapolis Colts and in 2013 with the Denver Broncos. The most recent winner is running back Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles, who received it for the 2024 NFL season after being just the ninth player in NFL history to rush for 2,000 yards in a season.
Every winner of the award has been either a running back or a quarterback, with the exception of wide receivers Jerry Rice, Michael Thomas, Cooper Kupp, and Justin Jefferson Running backs have been awarded 26 times, followed by quarterbacks, with 20 awards. Of the 53 winners, 28 were also named the AP NFL Most Valuable Player in the same season. Since 2011, both awards have been given out at the annual NFL Honors ceremony along with other AP awards, including the Defensive Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year awards.
Players are often awarded after record-breaking or near-record-breaking offensive seasons. Running back O. J. Simpson won the award for 1973 after rushing for a record 2,003 yards, becoming the first NFL player to rush for 2,000 yards in a season. When his record was broken by Eric Dickerson in 1984, Dickerson placed second in voting behind quarterback Dan Marino, who that year was the first to pass for 5,000 yards in a season. Marino's 5,084 yards stood as the record for 27 years before being broken by Drew Brees in 2011, who won that season's award. In turn, 2013 winner Peyton Manning set league single-season records for passing yards and passing touchdowns.