Pro Football : At This Point, NFL’s Most Valuable Player Is Herschel Walker

Monday night’s victory by the New York Giants over the Washington Redskins marked the end of the first half season of play in the National Football League.

So who stood out in that first half?

Some nominations:

--Most valuable player: Herschel Walker, Dallas Cowboys. He accomplished the most for his team, contributing both athletically and as a morale booster. He lifted the formerly troubled Cowboys by gaining 483 yards rushing, 405 receiving.

As a running back, Walker showed the speed and strength to help the Cowboys beat the teams they should have beaten, which, in football, isn’t always that easy. Poor tacklers who hit Walker high--like the St. Louis Cardinals--got long rides on his strong back.

Against good defenses--for example, the Denver Broncos--Walker contributed little as a runner but a great deal catching the ball. He remains most effective as a receiver. Though he came into the NFL as the most gifted receiver in any pro backfield, the Cowboys still aren’t getting the most out of him.

--Most valuable quarterbacks: John Elway, Denver Broncos, in the AFC. His passes and scrambles complemented a team with a well-rounded defense. Jim McMahon, Chicago Bears, in the NFC.

--Most effective quarterback: Dan Marino, Miami Dolphins. He’s the NFL’s only one-man team. For most of the first half, the Dolphins were 27th or 28th on defense, 26th running, first passing and first on offense.

--Most improved player: Darrin Nelson, Minnesota Vikings.

--Most impressive comeback: Curt Warner, Seattle Seahawks. Adequate last year after knee surgery, he’s a tiger this year.

--Surprise of the half season: The collapse of the Dolphins.

--Rookie of the half season: Wide receiver Ernie Givins, Houston Oilers.

--Coach of the half season: Tom Flores, Raiders. After starting a tough schedule 0-3, Flores has led the Raiders to five straight wins.

--Runners-up: The Bears’ Mike Ditka, who broke recent precedent by keeping a defending champion upright--despite a lot of public criticism from his players--and John Robinson, who persuaded the Rams that passing is passe.

--Coaches messing up: Buffalo’s Hank Bullough, 2-6; Houston’s Jerry Glanville, Green Bay’s Forrest Gregg and St. Louis’ Gene Stallings, who are 1-7. Year after year, astonishingly, the owners of these teams keep hiring losers instead of a proven winner, say, George Allen.

--Biggest worry: That a players’ strike or owners’ lockout will end the 1987 season before it starts. The two groups seem irreconcilable on free agency and urinalyses.

--Best bet: In the rest of the 1980s, the networks, whose contracts all end this year, will pay more to televise NFL games.

--Most changed winner: The champion Bears, who aren’t getting the big defensive plays that won the title for them last year.

--Most unchanged winners: The Rams in the NFC, and the defending champion New England Patriots in the AFC. The Patriots, despite last year’s drug scandal, are still winning--they are 5-3--with talent that again should win more often, and doing it again with two quarterbacks, Tony Eason and Steve Grogan.

--Goat of the half season: Ray Wersching, San Francisco 49ers. He missed the winning kicks in big games against Minnesota and Atlanta. He also missed a field goal when the Rams won, 16-13, on a day when they returned a blocked kick by Wersching for a touchdown.

--Most disappointing team: The San Diego Chargers (1-7). Their problem under a new owner is that they’re being coached by a board of directors. Winning NFL teams are typically coached by single-minded dictators.

--Biggest controversy: Instant replay officiating. This is an unnecessary controversy that will die only if the replay officials start limiting their reversals to big, obvious mistakes and quit trying to make close, tough calls. The NFL will be in trouble if it can’t persuade its replay people that nothing matters but indisputable evidence.

--Top conference: The NFC leads the AFC, 16-10.

--Most competitive division: The AFC West is the only division with four winners: the Broncos (7-1) and the Raiders, Chiefs and Seahawks, each 5-3.

--Most competitive NFC race: The Cowboys, Giants and Redskins are each 6-2 in the NFC East. But the Cowboys’ remaining schedule is toughest. They get the Giants and Raiders next and the Bears at the end.

--Likely Super Bowl matchup: Chicago, NFC, vs. Denver, AFC, is forecast by the second-half schedules.

Two other AFC teams, the Raiders and New York Jets, could also get there. After the Raider-Bronco game here Sunday, Denver will play only two impressive winners, the Giants and Redskins. The Raiders will also play two, the Cowboys and Seahawks. The Jets will play three, Broncos, Rams and 49ers.

In the NFC, the Giants have the kind of schedule--and defense--that could put them in the Super Bowl.

Midseason All-Pro team, offense:

--Quarterback: Dan Marino, Dolphins.

--Running backs: Eric Dickerson, Rams, and Curt Warner, Seahawks.

--Receivers: Wide receivers Al Toon, Jets, and Jerry Rice, 49ers, and tight end Todd Christensen, Raiders.

--Blockers: Jackie Slater and Dennis Harrah, Rams; Dwight Stephenson, Dolphins; Anthony Munoz, Bengals, and Gary Zimmerman, Vikings.

Midseason All-Pro team, defense:

--Linemen: Howie Long, Raiders; Dan Hampton, Bears; Joe Klecko, Jets, and Rulon Jones, Broncos.

--Linebackers: Lawrence Taylor, Giants; Karl Mecklenburg, Broncos, and Wilber Marshall, Bears.

--Backs: Raymond Clayborn, Patriots; Lester Hayes, Raiders; Ronnie Lott, 49ers, and Joey Browner, Vikings.