To put it bluntly, we might be wasting our time searching for a dark-horse MVP candidate for the 2023 NFL season.
Superstar quarterbacks tend to win MVP, with Patrick Mahomes (twice), Aaron Rodgers (twice), Lamar Jackson and Tom Brady being named winners the past six seasons. The last time a nonquarterback took home the trophy was running back Adrian Peterson in 2012, and he needed to rush for more than 2,000 yards to enter the conversation.
The days of running backs LaDainian Tomlinson, Shaun Alexander and Marshall Faulk being in the mix yearly for MVP are long gone. (Running backs can’t even get a second contract nowadays, but that’s a different debate.)