Predicting who receives 49ers player awards for 2022 season
By Peter Panacy
The NFL has its heralded individual awards for any given season, but let’s look at the 49ers for 2022 and predict who would otherwise win such accolades.
According to the oddsmakers over at WynnBET, San Francisco 49ers quarterback Trey Lance has the best odds out of any Niners player to take home the NFL MVP award this upcoming season at +4000.
Yes, even higher than All-Pro wide receiver Deebo Samuel (+7500).
Considering the current favorite for league MVP is Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen at +600, those are long odds for either Lance or Samuel, so it doesn’t seem likely we’ll see a San Francisco player take home that hardware.
But what if we were to solely focus on awards typically dished out to players across the entire league but rather predict who on the 49ers would otherwise receive them?
No one has any clue how the upcoming 2022 season will pan out, but let’s go ahead with some offseason predictions and break down which Niners would be in the running for these end-of-year awards.
49ers Offensive Player of the Year: Deebo Samuel
It’s not too hard to identify who should be viewed as San Francisco’s biggest offensive threat entering 2022, as Samuel will look to either justify a huge contract extension that’s on the table between now and Week 1 or, at the very least, set himself up for a massive payday in 2023, should he not receive that contract extension.
The 49ers are likely to curtail Samuel’s use as a dual-threat runner this season, meaning he probably won’t come close to the 1,770 all-purpose yards he enjoyed a year ago. But considering he’s still coming off a 1,405-yard receiving campaign in 2021, one should still expect him to be quite the difference-maker.
Samuel’s prowess and playmaking abilities shouldn’t change too much with Lance under center, and the wide receiver will still be the focal point of the Niners offense.
Those traits should result in him receiving the top nod for San Francisco’s top Offensive Player of the Year award this upcoming season.