The NFL is so back. After week one of the NFL season, everyone can get an idea of how their favorite team might look for the rest of the season. In my case, I hope it’s the exact opposite after the New York Jets had an absolute stinker on Monday Night Football against the San Francisco 49ers.

After watching all the games last week, many players I wasn’t expecting had showout performances. A few of those players, I think, can keep it up all throughout the season and potentially win an award at the NFL Honors. This won’t be the favorite to win the award by any means, but I think if the breaks fall their way, they have an outside chance of winning the award.

To be transparent, I did have to rewrite most of this column after the Jets’ aforementioned stinker because any faith I had in that team is just about gone for the moment. But here are some players who invigorated me with hope this past weekend.

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Most Valuable Player: Joe Burrow

It’s hard to pick a “dark horse” most valuable player candidate as every player in the running has probably been so for the past few years. However, if there were ever a time for Joe Burrow to win the award, it could very well be this year. Currently, Burrow has the eighth-best odds to win the award, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. However, he has a great chance to bring the MVP home.

For starters, he already has the narrative on his side. He’s coming off an injury-plagued season, and he has the chance to beat the current MVP, Lamar Jackson, two separate times. The league clearly already loves Burrow — I can’t go a few scrolls without seeing another post about his new haircut. He’ll be able to get the votes if he just goes out and performs well on the field, which we know he can.

In the last two full seasons Burrow has played, he’s put up 4,475 and 4,611 passing yards, along with 35 and 34 passing touchdowns. Looking at the last 10 MVPs, he’d be right in the middle of the pack for his passing yards, and he’s within three touchdowns of being near the upper half of the list. If he can improve on those numbers even a little bit while winning the AFC North once again as one of the top two seeds in the AFC, I give Burrow as good a shot as anyone to take home the MVP.

Offensive Player of the Year: Breece Hall

While I did have to rewrite most of this column after the Jets’ loss, Breece Hall is who I’m sticking with. Offensive Player of the Year is tricky because you have to be the best non-quarterback in the league that year, which isn’t easy for a running back. But Christian McCaffrey laid the blueprint last year of how to do it: put up insane rushing statistics while simultaneously being a dominant force in the receiving game.

Hall has that capability and has shown it throughout his short career. While he only mustered 54 yards on the ground, he had the second-most catches out of both teams Monday night. He’ll get going on the ground, too, as the Jets’ offensive line starts to mesh together. He’s one of the most dynamic players I’ve ever seen, and this year will be his breakout year.

Defensive Player of the Year: Khalil Mack

After four straight seasons of finishing with under 10 sacks, Khalil Mack tied the Chargers single-season record with 17 sacks last season. It’s safe to say that Mack is back. He hasn’t won Defensive Player of the Year since 2016, but this might be his best chance to do it again, considering his amazing circumstances.

His new head coach, Jim Harbaugh, is a defensive mastermind, so Mack should be able to shine under this new system. There’s also the bonus that Joey Bosa is lining up opposite of Mack, so defenses can’t double- team both every play. In his first game this season, Mack already tallied 1.5 sacks. He’s started on the right foot, and we know he has the capability to win the award; it’s all just a matter of whether he can improve upon his sack total from last year. Based on all these signs, I’m thinking Mack might be able to do just that.

Offensive Rookie of the Year: Brian Thomas Jr.

Before the season started, just about everyone would have guessed that former Trojan Caleb Williams would have been the NFL’s Offensive Rookie of the Year, but Williams had a rather poor showing in his first game for the Bears last weekend. While it is just one game, the OROY race might be more open than first thought. If anyone can leapfrog up, it could very well be wide receiver Brian Thomas Jr. of the Jacksonville Jaguars.

With the eigth-best odds to win the award, Thomas had a team-high in receptions, targets and touchdowns in his first career game. He arguably had one of the more impressive showings of any rookie in week one, except for the Chiefs’ Xavier Worthy. Thomas, though, has already found his connection with quarterback Trevor Lawrence and has a good chance to carve out the number one receiver role for the Jaguars. As the season goes on, Thomas should only see his production go up and make a great case to take the award back home to Jacksonville.

Stefano Fendrich is a senior writing about his opinions on some of sports’ biggest debates in his column, “The Great Debate,” which runs every other Thursday. He is also the managing editor at the Daily Trojan.