Most NFL MVP races have pretty clear favorites, but this season the MVP race is wide open with plenty of players who have a good chance of winning it.
Kyler Murray has led the Arizona Cardinals to an undefeated record so far. He has thrown 144 completions on 195 attempts for 1,741 passing yards, 14 touchdowns and only two interceptions. He has also added 544 rushing yards on 94 attempts for three touchdowns.
Matthew Stafford has seemingly had a career revival after being traded from Detroit this offseason. In his first season with the Los Angeles Rams, he has led the Rams to a 5-1 record while throwing 139 completions on 200 passes for 1,838 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions.
Coming off of a compound fracture and dislocation to his right ankle, nobody knew what to expect from Dak Prescott coming into this season but he has not been slowed down by his injury at all. So far this season, he has thrown for 1,813 passing yards, 16 touchdowns and four interceptions while leading Dallas to a 6-1 record, with their only loss coming to the defending Superbowl Champion Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
It seems the legend of Derrick Henry grows every week. This season, he has carried the ball 162 times for 783 passing yards and 10 touchdowns, while also contributing 16 catches and 138 receiving yards. As it stands right now, he’s on pace to break Eric Dickerson’s rushing yard record of 2,105 yards in a single season. He has led the Titans to a 4-2 record.
No matter how old Tom Brady is, he always seems to get better with age, and at age 44 he has still shown no sign of slowing down. So far this season, he has completed 183 passes on 267 attempts for 2,067 passing yards, 17 touchdowns and three interceptions. He has led the Buccaneers to a current 5-1 record.
Every MVP race has a dark horse, and this year the dark horse that could possibly win is Justin Herbert, the quarterback of the Los Angeles Chargers. This year he has completed 161 completions on 246 attempts for 1,771 passing yards for 14 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He has led the Chargers to a 4-2 record and has continued his very successful young career.
Looking back at other MVPs, the players who usually win the MVP are ones in the top teams, with the exception of Adrian Peterson back in 2012. Outside of that, almost everyone else is in the top three of their conference.
If Derrick Henry is able to keep up this pace, he might be a lock for the MVP. However, if he falters at all, since the Titans don’t project as a top NFL team, the chances of him winning MVP are slimmer than the rest.
If Kyler Murray keeps up this pace there is a good chance he could win MVP, but considering that he fell off last year after a fantastic start, we’ll have to see if he can continue with this production.
The same can be said for Matthew Stafford and Dak Prescott as well, with the injury concerns that they’ve both had in the last couple years and Prescott’s head coach possibly holding the team back from reaching their full potential.
Brady could win his fourth MVP title and cement his legacy even more as one of the best ever. Hopefully he can stay healthy, which is not easy at an older age, as we saw with Brett Favre in 2010.
