NFL Insider Paul Gutierrez was one of 50 voters nationwide to help select the Associated Press annual NFL awards and All-Pro team. Keep in mind, votes were due immediately following the conclusion of the regular season and no playoff games were considered, so these awards are for the regular season. The All-Pro team has already been announced, but with the "NFL Honors" show Saturday at 6 p.m. PT on CBS. The following slideshow displays who made Paul's ballot.

Truly, I would have no issue whatsoever if Peterson shared the honor with Peyton Manning. It was that tough of a decision, especially since Manning plays the most important position in the game -- quarterback -- and Peterson plays the most physically demanding -- running back. Both carried their respective teams to the playoffs. What separated Peterson, though, was just how valuable he was to the Vikings. He WAS the Vikings. Consider, Minnesota had the 31st-ranked passing attack in the NFL under Christian Ponder, so opponents absolutely knew the Vikings were going to run the ball and could flood the box. That didn't matter, not when Peterson still ran for 2,097 yards, nine shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's 28-year-old single-season rushing record, averaged a career-high 6.0 yards per catch and rushed for 12 touchdowns. To compare, Peterson ran for 1,019 yards after contact, or more yards than the Raiders' backs Darren McFadden and Marcel Reece ran for combined in 2012. Without Peterson, the Vikings would be getting ready for a top five draft pick. The Broncos sans-Manning? Well, they were a defending division champ with Tim Tebow under center. Peterson's the pick.

How can an interim coach get the coach of the year accolade? When it's Bruce Arians and the Colts, because a year after finishing a league-worst 2-14 with Peyton Manning sitting out the year recovering from neck surgery, the Colts were 11-5 in 2012. They did it mostly under Bruce Arians, who was called into service after three games when rookie coach Chuck Pagano left to undergo treatment for leukemia. Wading through emotional waters, Arians did not let the Colts waver, and thanks in part to his understanding and relationship with rookie quarterback Andrew Luck, survived and thrived. Pagano returned for the regular season finale, but Arians had already shown his credibility in clinching a playoff spot for the Colts. Arians earned so much respect for the job he did in tough circumstances, leading the Colts to a 9-3 record under his direction, that the Arizona Cardinals hired him to be their head coach.

Again, another award that could have gone to either Manning or Peterson. Their regular season accomplishments are similar, if different, in that they play different positions. But while Peterson was coming back from a torn ACL and MCL in his left knee, it only cost him the final game of the 2011 season. Manning, meanwhile, sat out the entire 2011 season after undergoing his third neck surgery, and at the most vulnerable position in the game, we shudder to think what could have happened had Manning taken a vicious, whiplash-inducing blind-side hit, but he simply thrived. His 4,659 passing yards were the second most of his more-than-likely Hall of Fame career, trailing only the 4,700 he threw for in 2010, and his 37 touchdown passes were also second-most to the 49 he had in 2004. Same goes for his 105.8 passer rating, eclipsed only by his 121.1 rating in '04. Again, we're talking about a neck injury here. 'Nuff said.

Yes, Robert Griffin III may have been more electrifying. And Russell Wilson may have shown more leadership and playmaking ability. And Andrew Luck did throw 18 interceptions. But when you factor in the immense pressure that came with replacing a living legend in Peyton Manning in Indianapolis and lifting a two-win team to an 11-victory playoff squad, Luck was the man. His stats back it up: 4,374 yards passing, third-most in the AFC behind Tom Brady and Manning, 273.4 passing yards per game, 23 TDs. His passer rating was a pedestrian 76.5 but his intangibles are what separated him from the rest of a very deserving group of rookie passers that harken the 1983 draft that begat John Elway, Jim Kelly and Dan Marino.

No doubt the middle linebacker is the quarterback of a defense, and Luke Kuechly, the No. 9 overall draft pick out of Boston College, left little doubt as to who the top defensive rookie was in the NFL in 2012. Besides being said QB on D for Carolina, he led the NFL in tackles with 164, 15 more than runner-up NaVorro Bowman of the 49ers. Kuechly also added two interceptions, one sack and was seemingly involved in every defensive play for the Panthers, from sideline to sideline. He was the epitome of what a middle linebacker should be, and to compare, what the Raiders thought they were getting in Rolando McClain two years earlier.

Now for the third award that realistically could go to either Peterson or Peyton Manning. We're going with Peterson, though, for his pure numbers. Think about it: Peterson was a mere nine yards, 27 feet, away from setting a new single-season rushing record, and it's not as if the Vikings had the 1984 Los Angeles Rams' offensive line, or the early 90's O-line of the Dallas Cowboys. What Peterson did was remarkable in that he also had 2,314 yards of total offense and 13 touchdowns. He also became just the fourth player in league history to average at last six yards per carry with at least 290 rushing attempts, joining Jim Brown, O.J. Simpson and Barry Sanders. Peterson also rushed for at least 150 yards in a game seven times, tying Earl Campbell's record set in 1980. Peterson only seemed to be getting better as the season wore on: he averaged 172.2 yards rushing per game in December. His next goal? To rush for 2,500 yards. Check back on that one.

Sure, his league-leading 20 1/2 sacks jump off the screen. And they should. But J.J. Watt was much more than a sack machine for the Texans this season. He was making an impact in just about every manner imaginable. He dominated as a pass rusher, obviously, and also as a run defender. he had 81 tackles, 69 solo, and also forced four fumbles, recovering two. Then there was the other manner in which the 6-foot-5, 295-pound second-year defensive lineman harassed quarterbacks -- he had 16 passes defensed, a number usually reserved for defensive backs. Leave it to Jon Gruden to christen him as J.J. "Swatt" on Monday Night Football. And let us, then, refer to him as the 2013 NFL defensive player of the year.

WR (2) -- Calvin Johnson, Brandon Marshall TE (1) -- Tony Gonzalez T (2) -- Ryan Clady, Phil Loadholt G (2) -- Mike Iupati, Jahri Evans C (1) -- Max Unger QB (1) - Peyton Manning RBs (2) - Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch FBs (1) -- Vonta Leach Place Kicker (1) -- Sebastian Janikowski Kick Returner (1) -- Jacoby Jones

DE (2) -- J.J. Watt, Cameron Wake DT (2) -- Geno Atkins, Justin Smith OLB (2) -- Aldon Smith, Von Miller ILB (2) -- Luke Kuechly, NaVorro Bowman CB (2) -- Tim Jennings, Richard Sherman S (2) -- Stevie Brown, Ronde Barber Punter (1) -- Brandon Fields