The 49ers have one game left and it doesn’t really matter to them — they already locked up the No. 1 seed. So their regular season essentially is done. Let’s hand out awards.
BEST ACQUISITION OF THE YEAR
It’s Javon Hargrave. He has given the 49ers everything they hoped he would when they signed him on the first day of the free-agent tampering period. In 15 games this season, he has 7 sacks and 14 quarterback hits.
COMEBACK PLAYER OF THE YEAR
I’m going with Brock Purdy. He tore the UCL in his throwing arm less than a year ago, had surgery, missed OTAs and minicamp, was on a pitch count during training camp, struggled during the joint practices with the Raiders, then when the season started, casually picked up where he left off and led the NFL in quarterback rating. Granted, Purdy didn’t pass very often, but when he did pass, he was extremely effective. He isn’t quite a top-5 quarterback in the NFL yet, but he is a top-10 quarterback, and that’s a big deal.
MOST IMPROVED PLAYER OF THE YEAR
It’s got to be Ambry Thomas. Last year, the 49ers wouldn’t put him on the field — they didn’t trust him to tackle or cover or do anything. This year, he established himself as a quality No. 3 cornerback who probably could start for plenty of teams.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
You could go with Nick Bosa, but he didn’t do much the first half of the year. You also could go with Fred Warner, but he has been missing some tackles the past few games. So I’m going with Charvarius Ward, who leads the NFL in pass break ups with 23 and also has five interceptions. He’s playing like a top-5 cornerback in the NFL.
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