The Cincinnati Bengals are AFC North champs and Joe Burrow is a big reason as to why that is. The former No. 1 overall pick has thrown for 971 yards and eight touchdowns in the past two games and those performances have helped Burrow get into the MVP conversation.
After only playing in 10 games a season ago due to injury, Burrow has shown exactly why he deserved to be the No. 1 overall pick a year ago. The LSU product has thrown for 4,611 yards, 34 touchdowns, and 14 interceptions while dashing for 118 yards and two scores with his legs.
Burrow has put up these numbers despite getting sacked 51 times and always having to run for his life. Just imagine what kind of stats he could have if he had an above-average — or even an AVERAGE — offensive line.
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With Joe Burrow’s recent surge, he now has the fourth-best odds to win MVP.
WynnBET has given Burrow +1750 odds to win MVP, trailing just Aaron Rodgers (-400), Tom Brady (+600), and Jonathan Taylor (+900). The chances of Joey Franchise actually winning MVP aren’t very high due to the 14 picks he’s thrown and the fact that he plays for the Bengals (sorry fans, but you know it’s true) but he’s never been in the race much until now.
When comparing the numbers, Rodgers has thrown for 3,977 yards, 35 touchdowns, and four interceptions. He’s led the Packers to the No. 1 seed in the NFC and they look unstoppable as of now. Rodgers won MVP last year too, so he could be the first back-to-back MVP winner since Peyton Manning did it in 2008 and 2009.
Brady was the favorite to win MVP at one time but Rodgers’ late run has pushed him into the second slot. Brady has 4,990 yards, 40 touchdowns, and 12 interceptions at the ripe age of 44. The Buccaneers won the division for the first time since 2007 and Brady always gives the team a chance to win.
Taylor won’t win it because he’s a running back but he’s made a really good case to be MVP. The former Wisconsin Badger has 1,734 yards and 18 touchdowns on the ground while grabbing another 342 yards and another two scores through the air.
Running backs need to have an absolutely insane season in order to have any kind of shot at MVP and that’s why one hasn’t won the title since Adrian Peterson did in 2012 with over 2,000 rushing yards. If Derrick Henry didn’t win MVP last year for his 2,000+ yard effort, Taylor probably isn’t winning it with under 2,000 yards.
It’d be a lot of fun to see Burrow win MVP but he probably isn’t winning the award this year. It’s not unfathomable, however, for him to win a future award but being in an organization like the Bengals, he has to be the clear frontrunner, which is hard now with so many good quarterbacks in the league.