It's a tight race between Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puka Nacua at the top for the 2025 OPOY award!
The stage is all set for the 2025-26 NFL playoffs to begin as the Pittsburgh Steelers won a thriller at home and captured the final available spot. With all 16 games taking place this past week, it provided the top stars one last chance of making a mark on the regular season.
Despite the fact that the most coveted prize comes at the end of the postseason, with the winning team hoisting the Lombardi Trophy, the season-long hard work, dedication, and exceptional play are rewarded with one player staking a claim as the Offensive Player of the Year (OPOY).
Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Puca Nacua have both been consistent and exceeded expectations for their respective teams. The race for the OROY award basically comes down to these two, while there were several others in the mix throughout the season.
Here are the latest OPOY odds for the 2025-26 NFL season at the end of the regular season, sourced via FanDuel and BetMGM.
| Player | FanDuel Odds | BetMGM Odds |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | -7000 | -2500 |
| Puka Nacua | +1900 | +1500 |
| Christian McCaffrey | +10000 | +8000 |
| Drake Maye | +40000 | +25000 |
| Matthew Stafford | +40000 | +30000 |
The frontrunners for the NFL Offensive Player of the Year award for the 2025-26 season are Seahawks’ wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Rams’ receiver Puka Nacua, 49ers’ running back Christian McCaffrey, and quarterbacks Drake Maye and Matthew Stafford, as per FanDuel.
Let us now take a look at the top 3 favorites to land the NFL OPOY award this season.
Wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba had a career year. Following the departures of DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett, Smith-Njigba was the focus of the Seahawks’ air game. Despite having veteran Cooper Kupp by his side, it was the third-year receiver who went on a tear, especially with his formidable chemistry with quarterback Sam Darnold.
Smith-Njigba’s overall performance through the 18 weeks of the regular season places him as the favorite to bag the 2025-26 NFL OPOY award. The third-year receiver finished the season as the league leader in receiving yards with 1,793 to his name. He also finished joint second with 119 receptions and joint third with 10 receiving touchdowns.
Of the 17 games he played in, Smith-Njigba crossed 100 receiving yards in 9 games and 80 yards in another 5 games, showing his consistency over the year. Without a doubt, he was one of the biggest factors in the Seahawks’ landing the number one seed in the NFC.
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Puka Nacua comes in second in odds for the OPOY award. Towards the end of the season, Nacua had three massive games in terms of production. He had 167, 181, and 225 receiving yards in Weeks 14, 15, and 16, respectively.
Those massive games enabled Nacua to close the gap to Smith-Njigba, eventually finishing second in the league with 1,715 receiving yards. He finished first in the league with 129 receptions and joint third with 10 receiving touchdowns.
Running back Christian McCaffrey shouldered much of the offensive responsibility for the 49ers this season with all the injury problems San Francisco faced. With Deebo Samuel joining the Commanders, Ricky Pearsall and George Kittle missing multiple games each, and Brandon Aiyuk not playing any part this season, the 49ers were thin on offense.
Nevertheless, McCaffrey was back to his best, and he provided a massive boost as a dual-threat back. The veteran back finished with over 2,000 scrimmage yards, including 1,202 rushing yards and 924 receiving yards. He was also an important factor in the endzone with 10 rushing and 7 receiving touchdowns on the season.
The above odds are sourced from FanDuel. Use FanDuel to ace your betting game in all sports!
Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
nfl I am a content writer for the NFL team, and joined The Playoffs after working with Sportskeeda and NFL Analysis as an NFL writer. After starting my professional career as a French-to-English translator, working as a content writer is a new adventure for me. I started out in the sports media field for two main reasons: my love for sports in general, especially the NFL, NBA, and Tennis, as well as my passion for writing. The best part of this job is that I get to write a variety of pieces with the freedom to explore content from various angles. It also enables me to stay up to date with the sporting world, which otherwise can be difficult to do in the day-to-day grind. In a world full of chaos, sports unite and entertain like nothing else!
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