McClain: Rodgers at head of NFL's midseason class

It's time for my NFL midseason awards. I gave you my Texans midseason awards on Wednesday, and there's one Texans award winner I've carried over. More on him later.

Let's start with the most valuable player. I imagine the consensus would be Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He's playing better than any quarterback in the league, and the Packers (7-0) are the only unbeaten team. Since the start of last season's playoffs, he's been the best in the NFL at his position.

Beginning Sunday at San Diego, the Packers have four road games left, all against teams with winning records. I doubt seriously Rodgers can lead them to an undefeated record, but he's definitely the MVP to this point.

Rodgers has been magnificent. He leads the league with 20 touchdown passes, a 71.5 percent completion percentage and 9.9 yards per attempt. His passer rating of 125.7 dwarfs second-place Tom Brady's 104.4.
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My midseason offensive player is Philadelphia running back LeShon McCoy. He's leading the Eagles' resurgence. They lead the NFL in rushing, and he has 754 yards, a 5.6-yard average per carry and eight touchdowns.

I took McCoy over Brady, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton, Bears running back Matt Forte, Minnesota running back Adrian Peterson and Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson.

Another Packer in mix

My midseason defensive player is Green Bay cornerback Charles Woodson, who's tied for the league lead with five interceptions.

Even though the Packers are 31st in pass defense, opponents have to throw a lot because they're so far behind. And Woodson has taken advantage of it to tie San Diego safety Eric Weddle for the most picks.

I chose Woodson over Weddle, Minnesota defensive end Jared Allen, Dallas outside linebacker DeMarcus Ware, Pittsburgh outside linebacker LaMarr Woodley and Baltimore nose tackle Haloti Ngata.

My midseason offenfl jerseys wholesalensive rookie is Newton, the Panthers' incredible quarterback. He's putting up numbers that are unfathomable and is on a pace to throw for more yards as a rookie than his mentor, Warren Moon, did in any season during his Hall of Fame career.

Newton has completed 60 percent of his passes and thrown for 2,393 yards. He has 11 passing touchdowns and seven more on the ground.

I selected Newton over Cincinnati's Andy Dalton, who's led the Bengals to a 5-2 record and has posted a rating of at least 100 in four games.

My midseason defensive rookie is San Francisco outside linebacker Aldon Smith. When the 49ers made the redshirt sophomore from Missouri the seventh overall pick, they got blasted by a lot of fans and members of the media. But he has 6½ sacks and has helped the 49ers compile a 6-1 record.

I took Smith over Denver outside linebacker Von Miller and Buffalo nose tackle Marcel Darius.

Surprises aplenty

The midseason coach is San Francisco rookie Jim Harbaugh, but it wasn't easy. Harbaugh has the 49ers with a 6-1 record for the first time since 1998. ThCheap NFL Jerseysey're unbeaten on the road with victories at Cincinnati, Philadelphia and Detroit.

Selecting Harbaugh over Buffalo's Chan Gailey wasn't easy, but Harbaugh does have one more victory, and he's going to run away with the NFC West and probably get a playoff game at Candlestick Park.

Cincinnati's Marvin Lewis, Detroit's Jim Schwartz and Green Bay's Mike McCarthy are also doing outstanding jobs.

My Texans holdover is defensive coordinator Wade Phillips as my midseason assistant coach. I can't imagine another assistant doing a better job.