Can Joe Burrow win NFL MVP in the 2022 season? Here are three reasons why Joey Franchise can win the most coveted player award.
Cincinnati Bengals franchise quarterback Joe Burrow is heading into year three and has MVP aspirations. Burrow is coming off a season where he led a team to the Super Bowl with some of the lowest preseason odds.
It was one of the quickest single-season turnarounds we have seen in the modern era. From 4-11-1, fourth in the AFC North and a season-ending torn ACL to a division title and an AFC Championship.
Burrow falls into the same category as Josh Allen, Justin Herbert, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady regarding potential MVP candidacy. Here are the three main reasons Joe Burrow will take the award back to Queen City.
3. Ability to generate points and fill up the stat sheet
Wins and losses are essential when breaking down a QB; however, stats also play an enormous role. With all of the weapons at Joe Burrow’s disposal, there is no reason he won’t be able to generate some stat-stuffing games throughout the NFL season. Last season Burrow had multiple games where he threw for over 400 yards. He had one game where he surpassed 500.
I’m not saying this will be a regular thing that happens weekly, but Burrow has the talent and the offense to have more than one of these monster games in a season, and that can add up very quickly when it comes down to comparing numbers against another QB. One thing Burrow will have to cut back is the turnovers if he wants to win MVP.
Aaron Rodgers brought it home last year, and he rarely turns the ball over, which is the stat that jumps off the screen at you when going through his resume. Burrow had a 34 TD/14 INT ratio last year, which is really good, but it isn’t winning him the Most Valuable Player Award.
He will need to be upwards up 40 touchdowns and ten or under on the interceptions, and mix that in with 4,500-5,000+ passing yards, a similar completion percentage, and QB rating, and you could be looking at the 2022/23 NFL MVP.
2. Fully healthy with no limitations
You can say what you want, but Joe Burrow, even in the last weeks, was not at his absolute peak play. He was terrific but never had a real off-season of putting in football-type work. He was focused on rehabbing the knee.
He was forced to wear a very big brace without any past experience, and you could tell, especially early on in the season, that it bothered him at times and limited his mobility and pocket presence.
Burrow now finally had a real off-season to focus on football and only football. He got stronger in every aspect and did not have to worry about the knee being ready or not. Expect a colossal leap in Burrow’s game in year three. Don’t be shocked if we see a more mobile Burrow.
At times last season, especially in the AFC Championship, we saw what he could do in the pocket and with his legs. Now think about that without any constant knee pain or knee swelling. Joe isn’t some speedy QB like Lamar Jackson, but he is very savvy with how he moves and his awareness.
He knows his spots and when he can beat the person in front of him to the marker, which makes him such a force to be reckoned with outside of ball placement and making game-changing throws. His being able to create plays with his feet opens up so many more doors for his overall game and the offense as a whole.
1. Motivated after Super Bowl loss
From his days at Athens High School and Ohio State, Joe Burrow has been a very resilient player. The guy has been faced with just about everything in his young career. He went from losing a State Championship to breaking his hand at Ohio State and not being able to work himself into a starting job, transferring to LSU, having a mediocre first year and losing a bowl game, then to the next season where he went undefeated, won the Heisman and won the National Championship.
In his rookie season, he tore his ACL and had other damage in his knee, which he went on to rehab without missing any games the following season, winning Comeback Player of the Year and making the Super Bowl. He also led the Cincinnati Bengals to their first playoff win in over 30 years.
The guy is built for bounce-back moments. It’s just who he is as a player, and it shows how he holds himself and his demeanor on how he approaches each day, each practice, and each game—a proven winner. Shouldn’t be any doubt in anyone’s mind that he is hungry coming off that loss.
Yeah, was making the Super Bowl a significant accomplishment? Sure it was. However, Joe Burrow won’t be satisfied with it, and neither will the players around him.
Many often talk about the “Super Bowl slump” after the team that loses the Super Bowl and struggles the following year. With the chips stacked against the Bengals and Burrow is precisely what Burrow would want. He thrives in moments like this.
This is a crucial piece to a potential Joe Burrow MVP season and shouldn’t surprise anybody once he gets it done.