Which Vikings got first-place votes on Mark Craig’s ballot for NFL awards?

NEW ORLEANS - Other than Jayden Daniels as Offensive Rookie of the Year, 2024 was not an easy season to be among the 50 voters who chose the winners of the eight regular-season awards handed out by the Associated Press during Thursday night’s NFL Honors show at Saenger Theater.

Voters were asked to rank our top five in each category. Here is my complete ballot:

1, Josh Allen, QB, Bills

2, Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens

3, Saquon Barkley, RB, Eagles

4, Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders

5, Jared Goff, QB, Lions

Jackson was my first-team All-Pro quarterback, but Allen was more “valuable” by a hair-splitting margin in my mind. The Bills were a descending 11-6 team, but Allen carried them to 13-4 with wins over No. 1 seeds Kansas City and Detroit.

Winner: Allen

1, Kevin O’Connell, Vikings

2, Dan Quinn, Commanders

3, Dan Campbell, Lions

4, Andy Reid, Chiefs

5, Sean Payton, Broncos

My running joke with O’Connell is that I want to vote for Reid before he strolls into the Hall of Fame having not won this award as coach of an NFL dynasty in Kansas City. Well, sorry Andy, but K.O. won 14 games with Sam Darnold playing at an MVP-caliber level through Week 17.

Winner: O’Connell

1, Ben Johnson, offensive coordinator, Lions

2, Jesse Minter, defensive coordinator, Chargers

3, Brian Flores, defensive coordinator, Vikings

4, Joe Brady, offensive coordinator, Bills

5, Vic Fangio, defensive coordinator, Eagles

Flores was my pick until Week 18, when Johnson bested him for the second time in Detroit’s soul-crushing season sweep. Johnson made Detroit’s No. 1-ranked scoring offense (33.9) anything he wanted it to be — explosive, powerful, efficient, unpredictable and highly creative. Da Bears just might have found the right head coach to pair with a promising young QB.

Winner: Johnson

(Guideline provided by the Associated Press: The spirit of the award is to honor a player who has demonstrated resilience in the face of adversity by overcoming illness, physical injury or other circumstances that led him to miss playing time the previous season.)

1, Tim Patrick, WR, Lions

2, J.K. Dobbins, RB, Chargers

3, Tony Jefferson, S, Chargers

4, Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals

5, Cam Akers, RB, Vikings

I was determined for months to stick with my gut and vote for Darnold despite the guideline above that voters received. After much consternation and discussion with AP and fellow voters, I reluctantly relented, went with the so-called “spirit” of the award and picked Patrick. He missed all of 2022 because of a torn ACL and all of 2023 because of a torn Achilles before playing 60% of Detroit’s offensive snaps while catching 33 passes and three touchdowns in 16 games. I do, however, support those who voted for Darnold. In hindsight, I should have joined them. Although Darnold didn’t overcome illness or physical injuries, his “other circumstances” — a grossly impatient league that too often ruins the careers of talented quarterbacks taken high in the first round by teams that are poor to downright incompetent at developing the game’s most important position — were perhaps even harder to overcome than any physical injury.

Winner: Burrow

1, Jonathan Greenard, OLB, Vikings

2, Patrick Surtain II, CB, Broncos

3, Zack Baun, OLB, Eagles

4, T.J. Watt, OLB, Steelers

5, Andrew Van Ginkel, OLB, Vikings

To me, there was no clear-cut winner in this category. So I voted for the most complete defender from a playoff-bound team that I witnessed all season. Greenard’s 80 pressures ranked third and were first among players who helped their teams reach the playoffs. His sacks (12 for a whopping 110 yards in losses) ranked fifth overall, his forced fumbles (four) fourth and his tackles (59) first among the top seven sack leaders. His tackles for loss (18) ranked fourth and were only one short of sack leader Trey Hendrickson’s total. Greenard didn’t have much support nationally, but no defender was more consistent or helped close out more wins than this guy did for a 14-win team.

Winner: Surtain

1, Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens

2, Saquon Barkley, RB, Eagles

3, Ja’Marr Chase, WR, Bengals

4, Joe Burrow, QB, Bengals

5, Derrick Henry, RB, Ravens

There were no wrong answers here. Barkley was a 2,000-yard rusher. Chase was a Triple Crown winner among receivers. I voted for Jackson because A, he was my MVP runner-up and B, the guy led the league in passer rating (119.6), yards per pass (8.8) and yards per rush (6.6) while rushing for 915 yards.

Winner: Barkley

1, Jared Verse, Edge, Rams

2, Quinyon Mitchell, CB, Eagles

3, Braden Fiske, DT, Rams

4, Chop Robinson, LB, Dolphins

5, Cooper DeJean, DB, Eagles

I’m pretty sure all of Vikings Nation would agree that this young fella was an absolute game-wrecker.

Winner: Verse

1, Jayden Daniels, QB, Commanders

2, Bo Nix, QB, Broncos

3, Brock Bowers, TE, Raiders

4, Bucky Irving, RB, Buccaneers

5, Ladd McConkey, WR, Chargers

Sorry, Bo and Brock. You were tremendous rookies, but Daniels was a no-brainer.

Winner: Daniels