While most of the football world cannot wait for Sunday and Super Bowl LI, there's a reason for fans to tune in a night earlythe NFL Honors.This is the sixth edition of the annual NFL awards show, a night when some of the league's best and brightest will be recognized for their accomplishments during the 2016 season. The event will be hosted by Keegan-Michael Key and will kick off at 8 p.m. ET.We're here to take a look ahead at the celebration and to make our predictions for the award winners. We'll also break down our picks for the top awards. 2017 NFL HonorsWhen:SaturdayWhere: Wortham Theater Center in HoustonTime: 8 p.m. ETNational TV: FoxLive Stream: Fox Sports Go PredictionsMatt Ryanfor MVPThere are a few viable candidates for this year's MVP award. Three of the league's top quarterbacksMatt Ryan, Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgerstop the list.We're going with Ryan here for a couple of reasons. For one, he's a heavy favorite, according to OddsShark. Looking beyond the odds, though, it's difficult not to be impressed with Ryan's resume.Not only has Ryan helped lead the Atlanta Falcons to their second Super Bowl in franchise history, but he has also been at the helm of a good offense. The Falcons averaged an NFL-best 33.8 points per game during the regular season.Statistically, Ryan was impressive, too. He completed 69.9 percent of his passes and tossed 38 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. He passed for more than 4,900 yards and produced a quarterback rating of 117.1.Pro Football Focus rated Ryan secondbehind Brady among quarterbacks for the regular season.It's worth noting that Brady had a strong season for the New England Patriots. However, the fact that he was suspended for the first four games of the seasonand the fact that the Patriots went 3-1 without himhurts his case.Ryan produced in all 16 games this year."Though the Falcons flew under the radar for most of Dan Quinn's second season as head coach, Ryan produced every week and led the league's top scoring offense," former NFL MVP and current NFL Network analyst LaDainian Tomlinson recentlysaid. "He's the reason the Falcons finished atop the NFC South and are playing in the NFL's biggest game."Even Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger believes Ryan should win the award.While we can't discount what guys like Brady and Rodgers have accomplished this year, it's looking like Ryan's award to lose. Jordy Nelson for Comeback Player of the YearOne might argue that Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was more worthy of the MVP award last season because he led his team to the playoffs without the help of star wideout Jordy Nelson.Nelson suffered a torn ACL during the 2015 preseason and missed the entire campaign.Nelson returned this year, though, and did so with a bang. He caught 97 passes for 1,257 yards and an impressive 14 touchdowns. Pro Football Focus rated him sixth overall among all receivers for the 2016 season.As Rob Demovsky of ESPN.com recently pointed out, Nelson's workload this season is an underrated component of his candidacy:At age 31 and coming off a torn anterior cruciate ligament that cost him all of the 2015 season, Nelson did not have to reduce his workload in any way. He played more snaps this season than any receiver on the Packers' roster and the only significant time he missed had nothing to do with his knee but rather because of the broken ribs he sustained in the playoff opener against the New York Giants.According to Pro Football Focus, Nelson played 1,015 offensive snaps this season. Only three wide receivers played more.This combination of availability and production makes Nelson a worthy choice for Comeback Player of the Year.Jason Garrett for Coach of the YearThere are a couple of worthy candidates for Coach of the Year this year. Falcons head coach Dan Quinn deserves consideration for making his team a title contender in just his second season. Patriots head coachBill Belichick also does for navigating Brady's suspension and the loss of tight end Rob Gronkowski.However, our choice for the award is Dallas Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett. Not only did Garrett help the Cowboys achieve a 13-3 record and the top seed in the NFC, but he also did so after losing starting quarterback Tony Romo for the year in the preseason.Actually, the Cowboys lost both Romo and backup Kellen Moore to injuries in the preseason. That forced Garrett to rely on rookie signal-caller Dak Prescott.Fortunately, Prescott turned out to be capable of handling the starting job. He started all 16 games and passed for more than 3,600 yards with 23 scores and just four interceptions. He ended up starting the Pro Bowl for the NFC.It helped that Dallas could lean on rookie running back Ezekiel Elliott, our pick here for Offensive Rookie of the Year. However, Garrett deserves credit for managing the two rookie stars in a way that played to their strengths without overwhelming either.At no point did the game appear too big for Prescott, who has seemingly established himself as the Cowboys' franchise quarterback. He and the Cowboys should be ready to contend for the immediate future.
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