How-To
Updated
·
Fact checked by
Editorial Team
How Coach of the Year and Offensive and Defensive Player of the Year bets work: current favorites, the AP vote, past winners, settlement and board hold.
Favorites: at DraftKings on Oct. 13, 2026, John Harbaugh led Coach of the Year at +600, Jahmyr Gibbs led Offensive Player of the Year at +280 and Will Anderson Jr. led Defensive Player of the Year at +125.
The vote: a panel of 50 media members picks the winners and finishes voting before the playoffs begin. For the 2025 awards, each voter ranked five names per award, scored 10-5-3-2-1.
Past winners: the last seven Offensive Player of the Year winners were running backs or wide receivers, and three of the last seven Coach of the Year winners were in their first season with the team.
Cost: DraftKings’ Offensive Player of the Year board added up to 170.6% on Oct. 13, 2026, its Defensive board to 175.0% and its Coach of the Year board to 141.2%. A -110 point spread adds up to 104.8%.
Settlement: award bets aren’t settled until the AP announces the winners at NFL Honors in Super Bowl week. On Novig’s certified award contract, tied winners each pay out in full unless the listing says otherwise.
As of Oct. 13, 2026, John Harbaugh of the Giants is the DraftKings favorite for Coach of the Year at +600, a step ahead of Kevin O’Connell and Kyle Shanahan at +650. Jahmyr Gibbs is the Offensive Player of the Year favorite at +280, with Kenneth Walker III and Bijan Robinson at +400. Will Anderson Jr. is a clear Defensive Player of the Year favorite at +125, and T.J. Watt and Dallas Turner are next at +850.
Award | Top of the DraftKings board, Oct. 13, 2026 |
|---|---|
Coach of the Year | John Harbaugh +600, Kevin O’Connell +650, Kyle Shanahan +650, Ben Johnson +850, Klint Kubiak +900 |
Offensive Player of the Year | Jahmyr Gibbs +280, Kenneth Walker III +400, Bijan Robinson +400, Jaxon Smith-Njigba +1100, Derrick Henry +1700 |
Defensive Player of the Year | Will Anderson Jr. +125, T.J. Watt +850, Dallas Turner +850, Greg Rousseau +1000, Fred Warner +1000 |
Award prices move week to week, so treat any board as a snapshot. MVP and the rookie awards have their own markets.
The Associated Press gives eight NFL awards, and a nationwide panel of 50 media members who cover the league votes on all of them. For the 2025 awards, each voter ranked a top five for every award, worth 10, 5, 3, 2 and 1 points, and the accounting firm Lutz and Carr counted the ballots. Voting closed before the playoffs began, so postseason games don’t count.
Because of that timing, a coach whose team falls apart in January keeps every vote he earned in the regular season, and a player who catches fire in the playoffs gets nothing for it. The winners are announced at NFL Honors during Super Bowl week; the 2025 awards were handed out on Feb. 5, 2026, in San Francisco.
Mike Vrabel won the 2025 Coach of the Year award with 302 points and 19 first-place votes, while Liam Coen of the Jaguars finished second with 239 points and 16 first-place votes. Myles Garrett took Defensive Player of the Year with all 50 first-place votes, after setting the single-season sack record with 23.
Season | Coach of the Year | Offensive Player of the Year | Defensive Player of the Year |
|---|---|---|---|
2025 | Mike Vrabel, Patriots | Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Seahawks | Myles Garrett, Browns |
2024 | Kevin O’Connell, Vikings | Saquon Barkley, Eagles | Patrick Surtain II, Broncos |
2023 | Kevin Stefanski, Browns | Christian McCaffrey, 49ers | Myles Garrett, Browns |
2022 | Brian Daboll, Giants | Justin Jefferson, Vikings | Nick Bosa, 49ers |
2021 | Mike Vrabel, Titans | Cooper Kupp, Rams | T.J. Watt, Steelers |
2020 | Kevin Stefanski, Browns | Derrick Henry, Titans | Aaron Donald, Rams |
2019 | John Harbaugh, Ravens | Michael Thomas, Saints | Stephon Gilmore, Patriots |
Coach of the Year often goes to a turnaround. Vrabel’s Patriots went 14-3 in 2025 after a 4-13 season, in his first year in New England. Daboll won in his first year with the Giants, who went 9-7-1 and reached the playoffs a year after going 4-13, and Stefanski won his first award in his first season in Cleveland.
Every Offensive Player of the Year since 2019 has been a running back or wide receiver. On defense, five of the last seven Defensive Player of the Year winners were edge rushers or defensive linemen, and the two exceptions, Gilmore and Surtain, were cornerbacks. Garrett’s 23 sacks in 2025 made his race a formality.
A sportsbook award bet pays if the player or coach is named the AP winner. Read the house rules before betting, because they decide what happens if a player gets hurt or a coach is fired. Sportsbooks often mark award futures “All Bets Action”, meaning every bet stands and none are refunded.
On a prediction market, an award contract pays $1 if the named player or coach wins and $0 if not. Ludlow Exchange, the CFTC-designated contract market that does business as Novig, has self-certified an NFL award contract that settles on the official recipient named by the awarding body, using Saquon Barkley for Offensive Player of the Year as its example. Under that contract, if co-winners are ever named, each one’s “yes” side pays the full $1 unless the market title or description says dead-heat rules apply.
Award boards carried the largest margins of DraftKings’ main NFL futures boards on Oct. 13, 2026. Convert every price to an implied probability, add them up and anything over 100% is the book’s margin. The three award boards came out like this:
DraftKings board | Names listed | Sum of implied probabilities |
|---|---|---|
Coach of the Year | 32 | 141.2% |
Offensive Player of the Year | 93 | 170.6% |
Defensive Player of the Year | 96 | 175.0% |
On the Defensive board, the 69 players listed at +10000 or longer contribute 42.1 points between them, and on the Offensive board 65 players at those prices contribute 34.2. The Coach of the Year board lists 32 names, and its total is lower. The favorite’s price still carries part of the margin: Anderson’s +125 implies 44.4%, and if the margin is spread evenly across the board his fair chance is closer to 25%.
Sportsbooks such as DraftKings post all three boards, each with dozens of names. Kalshi lists AP Offensive Player, Defensive Player and Coach of the Year markets, and its taker fee on most markets runs from $0.07 to $1.75 per 100 contracts.
On a prediction market the price comes from users, so there’s no built-in margin. Novig charges takers 0.06 x price x (1 - price) per contract on futures under its published fee schedule. On 100 contracts of a 10-cent long shot, that’s $0.54. Makers pay nothing, so a bettor who posts a price on a candidate and waits pays only that price. It requires users to be 21 and isn’t available in Arizona, Michigan or Nevada. Its status in Ohio is unsettled after the state’s casino regulator sent it a cease-and-desist letter in October 2026. Depth on a lightly traded award candidate depends on who’s posting orders, and the NFL prediction market comparison covers fees and markets on each platform. For how futures fit with game bets, the beginner’s guide to football betting covers the basics.
John Harbaugh of the Giants was the DraftKings favorite at +600 on Oct. 13, 2026. Kevin O’Connell and Kyle Shanahan were next at +650, then Ben Johnson at +850.
At DraftKings on Oct. 13, 2026, Jahmyr Gibbs led Offensive Player of the Year at +280, and Will Anderson Jr. led Defensive Player of the Year at +125.
A panel of 50 media members votes for the AP award before the playoffs begin. For the 2025 awards, each voter ranked five coaches, scored 10-5-3-2-1, and the highest point total won.
No. AP voting closes before the playoffs begin, so the postseason doesn’t count.
After the AP announces the winners at NFL Honors in Super Bowl week. The 2025 awards were announced on Feb. 5, 2026.
Bettors must be 21 or older in most states. Gamble responsibly: if betting stops being fun, the National Problem Gambling Helpline is 1-800-MY-RESET (1-800-697-3738), and ncpgambling.org has more resources.
