The NFL MVP award goes to the most valuable player in the NFL during the regular season.
The NFL MVP award should just be renamed the best quarterback during the season. The last time any position besides a quarterback won the NFL MVP was in 2012. Since 2001, only three non-QBs have won the award, all three being running backs.
Lamar Jackson won the award for the second time last year and is once again among the top five favorites to win NFL MVP.
Below, we look at the top five favorites to win the NFL MVP award and predict which player will win the NFL MVP award.
Top Five Favorites To Win NFL MVP
The NFL MVP award is mostly a QB award nowadays. All of the top five favorites are quarterbacks.
Below are the top five favorites for the NFL MVP award.
- 1. Josh Allen (+150)
- 2. Lamar Jackson (+200)
- 3. Jared Goff (+600)
- 4. Jalen Hurts (+1200)
- 5. Patrick Mahomes (+1300)
Josh Allen (+150)
After defeating the Kansas City Chiefs and the Baltimore Ravens losing to the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 11, Josh Allen has become the favorite to win the NFL MVP award.
Allen is having an excellent season. He has 2,543 passing yards, 18 passing TDs, and five interceptions. He also gets it done on the ground. Allen has 316 rushing yards and five rushing TDs. He has 23 total TDs through 11 games.
Buffalo is second in the AFC with a 9-2 record. They are one game back from the Chiefs for first place in the AFC. The Bills are coming off a major week 11 victory against KC.
After a good performance and leading his team to a huge victory in week 11, Josh Allen is now the favorite to win the NFL MVP award.
Lamar Jackson (+200)
Entering week 11, Lamar Jackson was the favorite to win the NFL MVP award. However, after putting up a dud and losing against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week 11, and Allen leading the Bills to defeat the Kansas City Chiefs in week 11, Jackson is now the second favorite to win the NFL MVP award.
Lamar Jackson is still having an MVP-caliber season. He has 2,876 passing yards, 25 passing TDs, and just three interceptions. Jackson also has 584 rushing yards and two rushing TDs.
Numbers-wise, Jackson is having a better season than Josh Allen. However, Allen has Buffalo second in the AFC. Baltimore is sixth in the AFC after a huge loss in week 11 against the Steelers.
The schedule is fairly tough for the Ravens in the final stretch of the season. Jackson can make a strong case to win NFL MVP with a strong performance in the final six games.
If Baltimore can leap the Steelers in the AFC North, Jackson’s MVP case becomes even stronger.
Jared Goff (+600)
Before week 10, Goff was neck and neck with Jackson and Allen as a favorite to win the NFL MVP. However, after throwing five interceptions in week 10 on Sunday Night Football, in a win, Goff dropped in the NFL MVP discussion.
Five of Goff’s nine interceptions this season came in one game. He has 2,492 passing yards and 20 passing TDs.
Despite Detroit being first in the NFC with a 9-1 record, Goff does not get as much credit for his team’s success the way Allen and Jackson do.
Detroit runs the ball better than almost any team in the NFL. Jahmyr Gibbs has 796 rushing yards and eight rushing TDs. David Montgomery has 595 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs. The offense for the Lions is very well-balanced, which hurts Goff’s chances of winning NFL MVP.
Jalen Hurts (+1200)
Jalen Hurts is the fourth favorite to win the NFL MVP award.
The Eagles are flying high, winning six straight games. Their offense has been excellent. They scored 26 or more points in five straight games.
Hurts has 2,197 passing yards, 12 passing TDs, and five interceptions. While that does not sound like a great season, Hurts adds 417 rushing yards and a whopping 11 rushing TDs to his stats, showcasing why he is the fourth favorite to win the NFL MVP award.
Philly is second in the NFC and they have taken control of the NFC East.
The reason Hurts is not higher on the odds list and closer to Allen and Jackson is that Saquon Barkley is having an incredible season.
Still, Jalen Hurts is among the favorites to win the NFL MVP award.
Patrick Mahomes (+1300)
This feels like the oddsmakers are just showing Mahomes respect. He has not played like a top-five NFL MVP favorite.
The Chiefs are first in the AFC with a 9-1 record but it is because of their defense, not Mahomes. He has thrown just 15 passing TDs and 11 interceptions.
Kansas City lost in week 11 and should have lost in week 10 if not for them blocking a game-winning field goal attempt by the Denver Broncos.
Mahomes is the fifth favorite to win the NFL MVP award but has not played at an MVP-caliber level this season.
Who Will Win The NFL MVP Award?
This feels like it is now a two-horse race between Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson.
Numbers-wise, Jackson may end up with the edge over Allen.
However, the Bills have an easy final three games of the season while the Ravens have a challenging schedule.
Buffalo could easily wind up first in the AFC and it will all be because of Josh Allen.
The Bills defeated the Chiefs while the Ravens did not.
As long as Buffalo maintains a top-two seed in the AFC, Josh Allen will win the NFL MVP award.
