4 Cowboys named as finalists for prestigious MVP, OPOY, DPOY awards
The team didn’t get very far with their postseason journey, but a handful of Cowboys players could still come home with personal end-of-year honors for their exemplary 2023 seasons.
The NFL has announced the finalists for this year’s Most Valuable Player, as well as the seven other major awards to be handed out at NFL Honors on Feb. 8.
The Cowboys are represented by four players in three different categories, with teammates competing against one another in two of those categories.
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Dak Prescott: MVP finalist, OPOY finalist
Prescott is up for two of the night’s biggest prizes. He’ll vie for Most Valuable Player along with Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson, Buffalo’s Josh Allen, as well as San Francisco’s Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey.
The Cowboys quarterback is also a finalist for Offensive Player of the Year, where he’ll face competition from Jackson, McCaffrey, Miami’s Tyreek Hill, and his own teammate, CeeDee Lamb.
Prescott was the NFL’s passing touchdowns leader in 2023 and completed more throws than anyone. His completion percentage was the second-highest leaguewide, and he finished third in passing yards. Prescott started all 17 games of Dallas’s regular season and led the team to a 12-5 record, a division title, and the No. 2 overall seed in the NFC playoffs.
CeeDee Lamb: OPOY finalist
Lamb’s record-setting campaign has him up for the Offensive Player of the Year award, alongside fellow nominees Prescott, Jackson, McCaffrey, and Hill.
His 135 receptions led the league, a full 16 catches better than second-place Hill. Lamb ended ranked second in receiving yards and receiving touchdowns, was the most-targeted receiver in football in 2023, and recorded the longest pass play of the NFL season with his 92-yard score against Detroit in Week 17.
He also set new Cowboys single-season records for catches and receiving yards, beating out Hall of Famer Michael Irvin in both categories.
Micah Parsons: DPOY finalist
The third-year linebacker/edge rusher was also a finalist to be last year’s Defensive Player of the Year and was named the Defensive Rookie of the Year for the season prior. For 2023, he’ll be up against the Raiders’ Maxx Crosby, the Browns’ Myles Garrett, the Steelers’ T.J. Watt, and Cowboys teammate DaRon Bland.
Parsons set a new personal-best mark of 14 quarterback sacks and registered another 18 tackles for loss. His 33 QB hits place him third among all defenders for the year.
Perhaps more eye-popping than his sheer stats, though, is just how consistently effective Parsons actually is. Despite being double-teamed 35% of the time on his pass rushes, he still scored a pass-rush win rate of 35%, by far the best in the NFL.
DaRon Bland: DPOY finalist
Bland blew the doors off the league in 2023, leading the NFL in interceptions- nine- and setting a new league record for the most pick-sixes in a single season, with five. That’s beyond impressive for a cornerback who wasn’t even labeled a Week 1 starter.
The 24-year-old will face the same talented field of competitors for the Defensive Player of the Year award: Crosby, Garrett, Watt, and Parsons.
