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Revis is good a candidate as any, really. The Pro Football Writers of America gave Philip Rivers that honor, which is a fair choice too. He didn't come back from injury, but he did come back from being really, really mediocre for a few years. There's no Adrian Peterson this year. No Peyton Manning. No record-setting performance after a devastating award.
But there is Darrelle Revis. The best cornerback in the game who was misused and limited by a knee injury all season, and still played very well. Two interceptions, two forced fumbles, 50 total tackles, 11 passes defensed and his second career sack. Not overwhelming numbers, but still pretty good.
The real challenge will be next season, though. How will Lovie Smith and Leslie Frazier use him? They won't go Rex Ryan on him -- they're not going to design their entire defense around his skills. That's not who they are, sadly. And that means Revis will almost certainly be paid more than he's worth to the team, but that doesn't mean they can't use him. Frazier and Smith have both gone out of their way to praise Revis, to say that they love having him, that they want him around and that he will play very well in their defense.
And he will. Revis is good enough to play well in any defense, that was never the issue. But the days of Revis being the focal point of a defense, the reason an entire scheme worked? Unless Rex Ryan somehow gets his hands on Revis again, those days are probably over, sadly.
