The 2015 NFL season is finally here.
With opening kickoff just hours away, the NFL expert panel at Sportsnet provided their Super Bowl predictions along with all of their picks for the major awards.
The panel includes NFL editor Craig Battle, football writer Justin Dunk, Sportsnet magazine deputy editor Jordan Heath-Rawlings, associate editor Geoff Lowe, and staff writers Mike Johnston and Jeff Simmons.
MOST VALUABLE PLAYER
BATTLE: Aaron Rodgers, Green Bay Packers 
A repeat! I’m expecting big things for the Packers this year, even without Jordy Nelson. In fact, the lack of Nelson will work in Rodgers’s awards-time favour.
DUNK: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts 
Luck led the NFL with 40 touchdown passes in 2014 and he has new weapons in Andre Johnson, burner first-round pick Phillip Dorsett and Frank Gore to go with T.Y. Hilton and a versatile tight end duo.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks 
With a weakened offensive line in front of him, Wilson will be forced to take off running more than he would like, and that will result in a vintage-Mike-Vick-esque rushing total. And as the same weak line makes Marshawn Lynch less effective, Wilson will turn to a revamped set of pass catchers, including Jimmy Graham, to post career highs in the air.
LOWE: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts This is the year Luck takes his game to a whole new level. With more dangerous weapons than he’s ever had, the Colts’ offence will flirt with some records and Luck will be the chief reason why.
JOHNSTON: Tony Romo, Dallas Cowboys 
Behind the best offensive line in football, Romo leads the Cowboys to a division title despite not having a 1,000-yard rusher and their defence taking a step back.
SIMMONS: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts With an embarrassment of riches at his disposal, including Hilton, Johnson, Gore, Luck lights the league on fire to capture his first-ever MVP award.
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BATTLE: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts He’s got a ton of pieces—both new and old—to work with, and he’s going to pile up both yardage and touchdowns.
DUNK: Andrew Luck, Indianapolis Colts See above.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Russell Wilson, Seattle Seahawks When a QB with great rushing totals also hits 30 TD passes and leads his team to the playoffs, you hand him this award.
LOWE: Odell Beckham Jr., New York Giants 
Last season’s second-half performance was just a taste of what this dynamic young receiver can do.
JOHNSTON: Julio Jones, Atlanta Falcons 
Jones stays healthy, leads the league in receiving yards and sets a career high in touchdown receptions with 15.
SIMMONS: Adrian Peterson, Minnesota Vikings 
The last time Peterson had a giant chip on his shoulder, he ran for 2,097 yards. And this time, he’ll have an actual QB (sorry, Christian Ponder) to take some pressure away.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR
BATTLE: J.J. Watt, Houston Texans 
Yup, a boring pick, but injury is the only thing that can keep him from this award.
DUNK: Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks In an age where analytics are all the rage, it’s time to give credit to cover men who don’t put up eye-popping defensive statistics, but lock down No. 1 receivers in man coverage and allow their coordinators to use extra defenders in creative ways because of it.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Von Miller, Denver Broncos 
Watt will probably win again—but where’s the fun in that? Wade Phillips, Denver’s new defensive coordinator, is one of the more blitz-happy coaches in the game. Miller, entering the season healthy, is one of the NFL’s best pass rushers. A run at the single-season sack record is coming.
LOWE: J.J. Watt, Houston Texans How do I not go with Watt here? No one even comes close in consideration, especially if Jadeveon Clowney is effective on the opposite end of the defensive line.
JOHNSTON: Lavonte David, Tampa Bay Buccaneers 
David registers 100-plus tackles for a fourth consecutive season, improves his pass coverage and establishes himself as one of the best linebackers in the league.
SIMMONS: Khalil Mack, Oakland Raiders 
Mark my words. Mack is going to be a dominant force off the edge for the quietly improving Raiders. He has the strength, explosiveness and speed to put up monster numbers in his second NFL season.
OFFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
BATTLE: Ameer Abdullah, Detroit Lions 
It’ll be nice seeing a lightning-quick running back in the Lions’ backfield again. The days since Barry Sanders have featured a lot of decent runners, but no breakout stars.
DUNK: Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders Oakland’s rookie is as polished as receivers come out of college.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Todd Gurley, St. Louis Rams 
He might miss a few games early as he builds his strength back from injury, but he’s a special talent who will hit the NFL ground, well, running.
LOWE: Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders The former Alabama wide receiver has it all—speed, size, great route running, and an up-and-coming quarterback to get him the ball. Expect big things: 1,000-plus yards receiving and double-digit TDs.
JOHNSTON: Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders Cooper shows why he was the fourth-overall pick as he becomes Derek Carr’s top target and hits the 1,000-yard mark.
SIMMONS: Amari Cooper, Oakland Raiders I can’t believe I’m taking two Raiders to win major awards. But Cooper is the real deal. He’s the smoothest rookie wideout to enter the league in quite some time.
DEFENSIVE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
BATTLE: Leonard Williams, New York Jets 
He’s in a great position to pick up stats, thanks in part to the star-studded cast he’s joining. Double-team anyone on this squad to your own detriment.
DUNK: Vic Beasley, Atlanta Falcons Atlanta badly needed pass-rush help (tied for second last with 22 sacks in 2014) and the freakish Beasley fits Dan Quinn’s “Leo” position well.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Landon Collins, New York Giants There’s nobody screaming for a nomination here so we’ll settle on young Giants safety Landon Collins, who will start from day one (partly due to his second-round pedigree, partly due to injuries that have ravaged the New York secondary) for a team that won’t exactly be a defensive juggernaut.
LOWE: Vic Beasley, Atlanta Falcons The Falcons have lacked a presence along the defensive line for a long time, and Beasley could ease the pain right away. While it’s fair to question his ability to stop the run, he could reach 10-plus sacks in his rookie year.
JOHNSTON: Shane Ray, Denver Broncos Ray will be giving opposing quarterbacks nightmares all season as he hones his craft beside DeMarcus Ware and Von Miller. It’ll be scary.
SIMMONS: Kwon Alexander, Tampa Bay Buccaneers Like Rod Tidwell, the Bucs love them some Kwon. The high-motor linebacker should rack up major numbers—on a defence that will be on the field a lot!—playing alongside Lavonte David.
COACH OF THE YEAR
BATTLE: Jeff Fisher, St. Louis Rams The Rams will make the playoffs, and Fisher will get the credit. Just having a healthy quarterback from Week 1 will be a boon for his team.
DUNK: Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings Zimmer guided the Vikes to a 7-9 record in 2014 with a rookie QB and without Adrian Peterson.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Joe Philbin, Miami Dolphins 
One more out-on-a-limb selection. Philbin will lead the Dolphins to an AFC Wild Card spot and despite the fact it’ll have taken him four seasons to do it, that will be enough to earn him this honour.
LOWE: Mike Zimmer, Minnesota Vikings Zimmer has done a great job of retooling the Vikings since taking over for Leslie Frazier. I expect him to win at least 10 games on the way to a post-season berth.
JOHNSTON: Dan Quinn, Atlanta Falcons The former Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator will give the Falcons an identity on defence and turn things around in Atlanta.
SIMMONS: Chip Kelly, Philadelphia Eagles 
Sam Bradford has a career year and makes Kelly look like a genius after a very unique off-season overhaul.
SURPRISE TEAM
BATTLE: New York Jets Were they in a softer division, this would be a no-brainer. As is, they still have an outside chance of making the playoffs behind a great defence and potential prove-it years from Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall.
DUNK: Minnesota Vikings Minny gets the best running back in football back and Mike Zimmer continues to construct a sneaky-good defence.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Minnesota Vikings I’m a Teddy Bridgewater believer, and I also happen to think both Mike Wallace and Kyle Rudolph are underrated, and that Charles Johnson is ready to become a primary X receiver. Plus with Adrian Peterson back, they can keep the defence honest.
LOWE: Minnesota Vikings Teddy Bridgewater took big strides as last season wound down, Adrian Peterson will return with a vengeance, and the defence is chock-full with young talent.
JOHNSTON: Detroit Lions No one is talking about them, but they’ve got a healthy Calvin Johnson, Golden Tate, and still have a strong defence despite losing Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley.
SIMMONS: Miami Dolphins Ryan Tannehill takes a huge step forward in his fourth season and the presence of Ndamukong Suh helps stabilize the defence. Miami pushes for the division title and returns to the post-season for the first time since 2008.
FIRST PICK IN 2016 DRAFT
BATTLE: Jacksonville Jaguars 
Dante Fowler could’ve helped bump them out of the cellar, but he’s out for the season. And Blake Bortles isn’t the answer at quarterback.
DUNK: Washington Redskins 
The whole Robert Griffin III mess in Washington is just the start of what appears is going to be a tumultuous season.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Washington Redskins The Redskins suffer through another season and it’s not going to be pretty.
LOWE: Tampa Bay Buccaneers Jameis Winston will not be a bust, but the first season of his career is going to be rough. It could be a couple of seasons before the team starts to show real progress.
JOHNSTON: Tennessee Titans 
Ken Whisenhunt simply doesn’t have much to work with on either side of the ball outside of rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota.
SIMMONS: Washington Redskins This is a disaster waiting to happen. Robert Griffin III is already demoted to third string and the team is relying on Kirk Cousins—and/or Colt McCoy—to hold down the quarterback spot. Yikes.
AFC CHAMPION
BATTLE: Denver Broncos Peyton Manning isn’t going out that easy. The defence and the renewed focus on the ground attack will extend his career into one more Super Bowl showdown.
DUNK: Luck—neck-beard and all—is a real-life super hero playing quarterback for the Colts.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Denver Broncos They do it with the NFL’s best defence, not offence.
LOWE: Indianapolis Colts Behind Luck, the Colts are able to take advantage of a weak AFC and push to their first Super Bowl berth of the new era.
JOHNSTON: Indianapolis Colts They’ve got the easiest regular-season schedule in the league plus Luck is emerging as the best QB in all of football.
SIMMONS: Baltimore Ravens 
JOE FLACCO IS ELITE.
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NFC CHAMPION
BATTLE: Green Bay Packers They’ve got the best quarterback in the league, and they’re out for blood after last year’s epic NFC Championship Game collapse.
DUNK: Dallas Cowboys Trusting Tony Romo in the playoffs makes me queasy, but Dallas has a dominating offensive line and the Cowboys are stocked with pass rushers, plus Dez Bryant might be the best receiver in football.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Seattle Seahawks The Seahawks are still probably the most complete team in the NFL. Despite a questionable offensive line, they managed to upgrade in other areas and, assuming they can get Kam Chancellor signed, still have easily the most intimidating defence.
LOWE: Philadelphia Eagles Chip Kelly’s vision comes together in 2015. An improved defence couples with an offensive juggernaut to win the NFC title.
JOHNSTON: Arizona Cardinals 
Because picking the Packers or Seahawks is boring!
SIMMONS: Green Bay Packers The Seahawks and Packers have the two best rosters in the NFL, but Green Bay has the better quarterback. Even without star receiver Jordy Nelson, Rodgers gets revenge after last year’s epic meltdown. Would love to see Fred Jackson win a Super Bowl, though.
SUPER BOWL CHAMPION
BATTLE: Green Bay Packers Rodgers gets his second trophy, and the Packers stop Peyton from getting his.
DUNK: Indianapolis Colts San Francisco should provide a beautiful backdrop for Super Bowl 50 where Luck gets to put his hands on the Lombardi Trophy.
HEATH-RAWLINGS: Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos get revenge for their memorable butt-kicking at the hands of the Seahawks, using their incredible pass rush to overwhelm the Seahawks offensive line and chalk up a 20–10 victory.
LOWE: Indianapolis Colts “Defence wins championships.” Throw that mantra out the window, as the Colts and Eagles combine for a high-scoring affair in which Luck proves to be too much for Philadelphia to handle.
JOHNSTON: Arizona Cardinals Keeping Carson Palmer and Andre Ellington healthy is paramount, but Bruce Arians being the genius that he is has enough pieces to make this work.
SIMMONS: Green Bay Packers Rodgers beats Flacco in an epic QB battle at the stadium of his childhood favourite team. Somewhere, 49ers fans are left wondering how their team drafted Alex Smith instead.
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