Cougars in the NFL: Who is the season MVP?

With Super Bowl LIX marking the end of the 2024-25 season, we look back on another standout season from many of the BYU Cougars in the NFL.

Currently, 21 players from BYU are on NFL rosters, carrying on the legacy of Cougar greats before them.

Let’s examine which players had standout seasons and who we will crown as our 2024-25 season MVP.

Honorable Mentions:

Tyler Allgeier, RB – Atlanta Falcons

In his third season in the NFL, Tyler Allgeier found success in his role of working in tandem with one of the best running backs in the league, Bijan Robinson.

Despite the lowest numbers of his young career, Allgeier made the most of his time on the field averaging 4.7 yards per carry, good for 11th among all running backs this year. He finished the year with 644 rushing yards and three touchdowns backing up Robinson who ran for a career-high 1,456 yards and 14 touchdowns.

Allgeier became the premier power back for the Falcons in short-yardage situations this season and excelled in his role. Atlanta finished second in the NFC South after losing six of its last eight games to narrowly miss the playoffs.

The Falcons will look to regroup this offseason after benching quarterback Kirk Cousins towards the end of the year and giving experience to rookie Michael Penix Jr. Allgeier and Robinson will look to maintain being one of the best backfields in the NFL this next season.

Ryan Rehkow, P – Cincinnati Bengals

In just his first season, Ryan Rehkow put on a show with his leg and showed why he was arguably the best “field-flipper” in BYU history.

Rehkow broke not one, not two, but three of the Cincinnati Bengals' punting records.

In his first career game against the New England Patriots, Rehkow uncorked an 80-yard punt, the longest in Bengals history and the second-longest punt in the NFL this year.

After putting the league on notice, Rehkow continued his excellence by ending the year with a 49.1-yard punt average and a net average of 42.9 yards per punt, both being Bengals single-season records. Rehkow’s net average was good for sixth-best in the NFL among punters.

Despite Cincinnati not having the season that it was projected to have, missing the playoffs, it found a star at punter and will look to continue to use him to flip the field in their favor next season.

3. Puka Nacua, WR – Los Angeles Rams

After a record-breaking rookie campaign last year, Puka Nacua quickly became a star in the NFL. He continued that trend with another solid year catching passes from Super Bowl champion Matthew Stafford.

The beginning of the season did not start how any Rams or Puka fans desired. A knee injury in week one against the Lions put Nacua out for six weeks on injured reserve. He returned in Week 8 against the Vikings.

Puka ended the year with 79 receptions and 990 yards in the 11 games he played. Nacua also added a vertical element to the team with 11 catches of 20-plus yards with catches that blew fans' and commentators' minds alike.

Nacua was also PFF’s highest-graded wide receiver this season with a 92.6 PFF grade out of 122 wide receivers.

After a loss to the Eagles in the divisional round of the playoffs, mentor and teammate of Puka’s, Kooper Kupp, announced on social media that the Rams were going to trade him this offseason. The message is now clear that heading into next season, Nacua will be LA’s number-one option at wide receiver for the foreseeable future.

2. Kyle Van Noy, OLB – Baltimore Ravens

Generally speaking, the older a player gets in the NFL, the less relevant he becomes, except for Kyle Van Noy. At 33 years old and in his 12th season, Van Noy was an anchor for the Baltimore defense that was hurting from losing linebacker Patrick Queen to the rival Pittsburgh Steelers.

Despite playing through an orbital fracture he received in week one against the Chiefs, Van Noy had the most productive season of his career.

Van Noy earned himself the first Pro Bowl selection of his career after a career-high 12.5 sacks and added two forced fumbles.

He was also named the AFC Defensive Player of the Month in September this season due to his fast start to the year, recording three straight games with two sacks.

The Ravens, after winning the AFC North, lost in the division round of the playoffs to the Buffalo Bills. Van Noy will be a key returning piece for Baltimore’s defense with one year remaining on his contract.

1. Fred Warner, LB – San Fransisco 49ers

There’s no surprise that the now four-time All-Pro linebacker Fred Warner is our MVP.

Despite the San Fransisco 49ers having a disappointing season, their defensive captain held the group together and dodged injury on a defensive unity that was plagued by the injury bug this year.

He led the 49ers this season in solo tackles (76), total tackles (131), forced fumbles (4), and defensive touchdowns (a pick-six in week four vs New England), this led Warner to his fourth first-team All-Pro selection and his fourth Pro Bowl selection.

PFF graded Warner as the second-best linebacker in the NFL with an 89.2 PFF grade this season, just behind the Eagles Zach Baun.

The 49ers will look to recover this offseason from the amount of injuries after missing the playoffs and finishing last in the NFC West this season.

Warner’s defensive dominance has been a shining light to the success of BYU in creating an NFL pipeline for linebackers.

Because of this, the unofficial BYU NFL MVP trophy is given to him after another standout season.