Who Leads the NFL Race for MVP?

Now-former Giants QB Daniel Jones met with team owner John Mara on Friday morning, and the Most Valuable Player award is the most prestigious honor that a player can receive outside of the Walter Payton Man of the Year award. The winner signifies what it means to truly be the best of the best in their field, while uplifting their team as the most valuable player on the gridiron, week in and week out. Recently, the award has shifted to being a quarterback-only award, with the position largely recognized as the most important in the sport. Many may have qualms with this ideology, but that’s how votes are cast, and it will be the basis of my list here today. So, without further ado, here are my top three candidates for this year's NFL Most Valuable Player.

1. Buffalo Bills - QB Josh Allen

It’s not unreasonable to say that Josh Allen is the most physically gifted quarterback in the entire NFL. His rocket of an arm, paired with his size and speed, has created nightmares for teams this season, as the young quarterback is having what I believe to be his most impressive season. While Allen likely won’t post career highs in passing touchdowns or yards, what he will likely achieve is a career low in interceptions. One of, if not the, biggest critiques of Allen’s game is that he could be careless with the football throughout his career. This season, Allen has an 18-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio, which is largely the reason why the Bills are currently 9-2. With Allen playing a more conservative style of football, it could be expected that his numbers would be down compared to the rest of the top quarterbacks. While this is partially true, Allen’s statistics are still at the top of the league in multiple categories, ranking sixth in passing touchdowns and eighth in passing yards. It must also be noted that Allen had perhaps the most impressive individual performance of the year against the Chiefs last week, who entered the game undefeated. His rushing touchdown on fourth down to secure the Buffalo victory was signature Josh Allen, as he broke multiple tackles en route to the end zone. Allen and the Bills are rolling, which is why I feel it’s safe to put him at number one, but not too far ahead of number two.

2. Baltimore Ravens - QB Lamar Jackson

Jackson is already a two-time MVP (one last year) in the NFL and is one of eleven players in league history to do so. This year, Jackson has been elite yet again; his 2,876 passing yards and 25 touchdowns are both second only to Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow. Jackson has continued to excel on the ground as well, with 584 rushing yards and two additional touchdowns. Jackson has played efficient football, with only three interceptions thus far, which gives him by far the best touchdown-to-interception ratio among quarterbacks with similar passing numbers. The only thing keeping Jackson from being number one is that he has come up short in some key divisional matchups against the Steelers and Browns. Jackson and the Ravens struggled in their most recent game against the Steelers, in which they lost by two in a game where Jackson completed under 50% of his passes.

3. Los Angeles Chargers - QB Justin Herbert

I know, I know; no Patrick Mahomes sounds kind of crazy, doesn’t it? That said, I think it could be argued that Herbert, at this point in time, is playing the best out of any quarterback in the NFL. In his first year with Head Coach Jim Harbaugh, Herbert has thrived, posting a 13-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. In recent weeks, Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman has utilized Herbert’s legs, which is something that has gone under the radar throughout his career. The combination of both aerial attacks and ground game has made Herbert into a potential dual-threat monster waiting to be fully utilized. The Chargers have won five of their last six games and are two games back of Kansas City in the AFC West. My two gripes with Herbert that prevent him from being higher on the list are the competition level of the teams he’s beaten and the lack of counting stats compared to the first two. Out of those five recent wins, the only team that currently holds an above-.500 record is Denver. LA has lost to both Pittsburgh and Kansas City earlier in the year, thus preventing me from putting him any higher on the list.