The NFL MVP award is typically given to a standout quarterback in the league that year, with Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford taking home the honor this year. A non-quarterback hasn’t won MVP since the 2012 season, and there’s only been 15 awards since the 1966 merger in which a non-quarterback won the award.
Out of every MVP winner in history, only two have been defensive players—Alan Page in 1971 and Lawrence Taylor in ’86. So why is it that the MVP award seems to go to a quarterback, with other stars, specifically who play defense, hardly considered in the running?
This is a question two-time Defensive Player of the Year (including in 2025) Myles Garrett and Micah Parsons discussed on the latter’s podcast this week.
“I feel like QBs have MVP on lock because they have the ball in their hand pretty much every play,” Garrett said. “... It’s too easily handed to them.”
Garrett went on to explain his opinion, expressing that a quarterback’s performance is more visibly seen on the field, while a defensive player’s performance, for example, is more reliant on advanced stats and not as noticeable when watching a game.
“I feel like we’re not taking into account with the things that we do. A lot of the numbers that we have, you have to go to like advanced metrics to see how good you [Parsons] are at what you do or I am or what I do. So, to the casual guy who’s just looking at the scoreboard, he’s like ‘Well, you know Sam Darnold threw for four touchdowns. He’s got to be MVP.’ It’s like, Micah had 10 pressures. He also lost three rushes all day. That’s incredible, but that’s not as easily seen as touchdowns, yards, catches, rushes and all that.”
Myles Garrett says NFL MVP is "too easily handed" to QBs
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) February 10, 2026
Full interview: https://t.co/oJC6wXjzzX pic.twitter.com/9VKQoESY73
It sounds like one of Garrett’s goals is to win an MVP award in his career. He already broke the single-season record for the most sacks (23) in 2025, and capped the year off with his second DPOY award. If any defensive player could break through, it’d definitely be Garrett.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons Explain Why They Think QBs Always Win NFL MVP.
