As the NFL season is nearing its penultimate ending of both conference championship games, the league released the five finalists for the MVP award this morning. The top two candidates in Matt Stafford and Drake Maye should not come as a surprise as both of these quarterbacks have been leading the race nearly all season but the other three players included in what will be for participation are; Bills quarterback Josh Allen, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, and Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
All five of these players have had great seasons with three out of the four quarterbacks throwing for over 4,000 yards in a season while Josh Allen led all candidates in rushing touchdowns with 14. While it would be fun to see Allen win his second-straight MVP award, Stafford has nearly locked up his first MVP award in his 17th season in the league. It could be argued that no player deserves this award more than Stafford after leading the league in passing yards and touchdowns to end the regular season.
Regular season stats
Matt Stafford: 4,707 passing yards (1st) / 46 passing TDs (1st) / 8 INTs (T17th) / 71.1 QBR (4th)
Drake Maye: 4,394 passing yards (4th) / 31 passing TDs (3rd) / 8 INTs (17th) 77.1 QBR (1st)
Josh Allen: 3,686 passing yards (11th) / 25 passing TDs (T9th) / 10 INTs (T23) / 14 rushing TDs (1st) / 65.3 QBR (7th)
Christian McCaffrey: 311 carries (2nd) / 1,202 rushing yards (8th) / 10 rushing TDs (T9) / 102 receptions / 7 receiving TDs / 3.9 yards per rush
Trevor Lawrence: 4,007 yards (6th) / 29 passing TDs (5th) / 12 INTs (T31) / 58.4 QBR (14th)
While Stafford has led the league in passing yards and touchdowns, many fans throughout the regular season were pushing for Drake Maye to win the award after propelling his Patriots squad their first AFC East title since 2019. Maye and Stafford went back and forth for the favorite in the betting market all year but after looking at the odds today it is crystal clear that Stafford will be the recipient of the Most Valuable Player Award.
Betting odds per FanDuel Sportsbook
Matt Stafford (-750)
Drake Maye (+600)
Josh Allen (+50000)
Christian McCaffrey (+50000)
Trevor Lawrence (+50000)
