Matthew Stafford just barely edged out Drake Maye to claim the 2025 NFL MVP at Thursday night’s NFL Honors. Stafford received 24 of 50 first-place votes to Maye’s 23, marking the closest MVP race since 2003—when Peyton Manning and Steve McNair shared the award.
The AP’s Rob Maaddi has since reported that the remaining three first-place votes went to Bills quarterback Josh Allen (2) and Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert (1). Following the announcement, Sam Monson, an analyst at The 33rd Team and before that Pro Football Focus, immediately owned up to being the sole voter for the L.A. signal-caller, and explained his reasoning behind what many are calling a controversial choice.
“I was the Justin Herbert vote,” he posted on X (formerly Twitter). “The guy had the worst offensive line in the NFL all season and despite that he was working miracles in almost every single game.”
“Stafford's OL became 2/5ths as bad as Herbert's for 5 minutes and he became a turnover howitzer,” Monson continued. “He embodied 'value'.”
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Respect to Monson for standing behind his decision.
Herbert ended the 2025 season completing 66.4% of his passes for 3,727 yards, 26 touchdowns, and 13 interceptions while posting a passer rating of 94.1 and a QBR of 60.7. The Chargers finished 11–6—second in the AFC West behind the Broncos—falling to the Patriots in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lone Justin Herbert MVP Voter Explains Why He Voted for Chargers QB.
