Silver and Black Pride’s 2022 season awards

We name our MVP, DPOY, OPOY, ROY and CPOY

With the 2022 season in the books for the Las Vegas Raiders, it’s time to host a little awards ceremony over here at Silver and Black Pride. Follow-ups from our midseason awards are below as our writers weigh in on the Raiders’ MVP, Offensive and Defensive Players of the Year, and Rookie and Comeback Players of the Year.

MVP

Midseason winners: Maxx Crosby and Josh Jacobs

2022 consensus winner: Josh Jacobs

Photo by Jeff Bottari/Getty Images

Bill Williamson (BW): Josh Jacobs

You could go with Davante Adams or Maxx Crosby. But Jacobs is the guy. He was a dynamic weapon and the team’s most vital player.

Marcus Johnson (MJ): Josh Jacobs

Jacobs didn’t have his option picked up, but he put the Raiders in a challenging position with his play. He became the league’s leading rusher and had over 2000 yards from scrimmage and 12 touchdowns. The former Alabama running back displayed he can be a third-down back having a career season catching passes out of the backfield. The organization has a decision to make on his future but he proved he is a top-five running back in the NFL.

Matt Holder (MH): Josh Jacobs

I’m flipping from my previous pick and jumping aboard the Jacobs train. He became just the second player in franchise history to win the rushing title, joining Hall of Famer Marcus Allen, and was without a doubt the best running back in the NFL this year. It’s also no coincidence that the Raiders’ best offensive performances correlated with some of Jacobs’ best games.

Ray Aspuria (RA): Josh Jacobs

What more needs to be said about the Raiders’ workhorse tailback that hasn’t been said already? The rushing king of 2022 became the first Raiders running back to lead the league since Marcus Allen did it back in 1985.

Offensive Player of the Year

Midseason winner: Josh Jacobs

2022 consensus winner: Davante Adams

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

BW: Davante Adams

He was as advertised. He made jaw-dropping plays every week and the Raiders’ best chance of a turnaround is the presence of one of the NFL’s very best players.

MJ: Davante Adams

Davante Adams lived up to the hype with another fantastic season. He led the league in touchdowns with 14 while finishing with 1,516 and a career-high in yards per reception at 15.2. The former Green Bay Packer played a different role in Las Vegas, becoming the team’s primary deep threat outside. He scored ten touchdowns over 25 plus yards leading the NFL. It was a legendary Raiders season or Adams.

MH: Davante Adams

Adams also has a strong case for MVP as he was almost as successful as Jacobs was this year. The wideout finished with the third-most receiving yards (1,516) and the most receiving touchdowns (14) in the entire league, and those figures were also the second-most of his career. He was one of the few players to live up to expectations this year.

RA: Davante Adams

Shattering the franchise single-season receiving yards record held by legend Tim Brown, Adams proved the daring trade to acquire the elite wide receiver was a home run swap. The last two games of the season also showed as long as the Raiders have a capable quarterback, Adams is game and can produce.

Defensive Player of the Year

Midseason winner: Maxx Crosby

2022 consensus winner: Maxx Crosby

Photo by Steve Marcus/Getty Images

BW: Maxx Crosby

Who else? Maxx was everywhere basically every game. He is a game wrecker. Now, the Raiders need to go get him some damn help.

MJ: Maxx Crosby

Maxx Crosby is a fan favorite, but many knocked his sack totals finishing under ten last season. This year he didn’t match the pressures but finished with 12.5 sacks. He matches that in the run game, finishing second in ESPN’s run-stop win rate metric. Crosby has become an elite pass rusher in the NFL and will be with the Raiders for years.

MH: Maxx Crosby

The only reason why Crosby didn’t get my MVP vote is that Jacobs finished the campaign on a tear. However, that doesn’t mean the pass-rusher didn’t do his thing to close out the year as he finished with a career-best 12.5 sacks which were good enough to tie for eighth across the entire league. He also finished tied for fourth among edge defenders with an 82.5 run defense grade from Pro Football Focus.

RA: Maxx Crosby

Mad Maxx can take the opposing quarterback down and stymie the run. He’s become a complete edge rusher and his 12.5 sacks and 22 tackles for loss are a testament to that. He’s doing all this without consistent help, too.

Rookie of the Year

Midseason winner: Dylan Parham

2022 consensus winner: Dylan Parham

Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images

BW: Luke Masterson

The undrafted free agent was a starter by the end of the season. He showed a lot of grit. He may not be a long-term answer, but what he did was pretty impressive.

MJ: Dylan Parham

I struggled with Rookie of the Year with no one really making an impact. I decided Dylan Parham at right guard and center was the best answer since he played well at those spots. No other rookie truly made an impact, and Parham appears to be a quality lineman overall. Parham at left guard isn’t going to work with the struggles when he moved to that position. Hopefully, the Raiders move him back to the other positions.

MH: Dylan Parham

Parham gets my vote essentially by default since Las Vegas got little to nothing from the rest of its rookie class. The Memphis product gets credit for starting every game this season and playing three different positions in year one, but he wasn’t much more than a solid player this season if we’re being honest. I considered abstaining from voting on this one.

RA: Dylan Parham

Shuffling from center to guard, the third-round pick is validating the Raiders’ scouting ability. Now it’s about the team’s developmental abilities. But Parham is game and wasn’t a supreme liability on the offensive line. Outside of three games this year, the Memphis product played in 100 percent of the offensive snaps.

Comeback Player of the Year

Midseason winner: Amik Robertson

2022 consensus winner: Andrew Billings

Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images

BW: Josh Jacobs

This is a little out of the box because he wasn’t awful or hurt in 2021. But this is a guy who wasn’t given the fifth-year option, saw the team draft two running backs and then played in the Hall of Fame game. No one expected a rushing title from this guy.

MJ: Andrew Billings

Andrew Billings was almost out of the NFL before 2022 but became a key piece for the Raiders. Billings was constantly in the backfield making run stops displaying his power and pad level vs. guards. It definitely helped his career, and might get a chance to come back and play for the Raiders, and they should welcome him back.

MH: Jermaine Eluemunor

After getting benched while playing guard four weeks into last season, Eluemunor solidified his status as the team’s starting tackle after the bye week. He was excellent in pass protection, surrendering just 26 pressures and three sacks on the year, while also finishing tied for 20th among offensive tackles with a 97.4 pass-blocking efficiency rating, per PFF.

RA: Andrew Billings

From a meager 72 snaps in six games in 2021 to 481 in 14 games this past year, the nose tackle found his niche in Silver and Black. The squatty and strong interior defensive linemen provided both a space-eater and a run-stopper for the Raiders. His 39 total tackles and one sack effort likely mean another one-year deal from Las Vegas is coming.