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This past weekend shook up the MVP race. There were a ton of huge performances from guys like Joe Burrow, Jahmyr Gibbs, and Caleb Williams, while some of the top guys like Brock Purdy and Jared Goff were either on a bye or didn’t put up huge numbers.
This MVP race is not going to end any time soon. Just like last year, this one is going to come down to the wire, and for the first time in a long time, I think there’s a real chance a non-QB could win it, or at least be in the running.
If the season ended today, these are the 10 guys that I think would be in contention for the MVP.
Make fun of it all you want, but Kirk Cousins absolutely deserves to be on this list after eight weeks. He has been absolute nails for the Las Vegas Raiders this year, and if you put your preconceived notions about Cousins aside, it’s easy to see why he deserves to be here. Cousins ranks third in passing yards, second in passing touchdowns, and only has five interceptions, three of which came in the first two weeks.
He’s thrown multiple touchdowns in seven of his eight games and has scored 3+ touchdowns four times. And he’s doing all of this without a consistent run game and a very lackluster receiving corps. The craziest part is that he’ll probably be benched for Fernando Mendoza at some point, no matter how well he’s playing, so I wanted to give him his flowers now.
Jordan Love has been asked to do everything for Green Bay this year. Their run game has been terrible, even with the return of Josh Jacobs, averaging just 2.9 yards per carry, which is last in the league. Defenses know he’s going to drop back and throw it 40 times a game, and they still haven’t been able to stop him.
He leads the league in passing yards and fourth in touchdowns with 16 passing TDs through eight games of the 2026 season, but his lack of rushing production and the fact that the Packers aren’t one of the truly elite teams in the NFL have him down at No. 9. The sad truth is, since 2013, zero MVPs have come from a team lower than the 2-seed, and it doesn’t seem like Green Bay will reach that mark this year.
It was hard to rank Caleb Williams because he’s only played five games, and one of those was in awful weather against the best defense in football, but I settled on eighth for now. He’s averaging 279 total yards per game and has eight touchdowns to one interception, and while those touchdown numbers might not knock your socks off, it’s not really his fault.
Every time the Bears get in the red zone, they pound the rock, scoring 17 touchdowns in eight games, which is ranks second in the league. But when you turn on the tape and watch Williams lead this offense, you know he deserves to be in MVP conversations.
Brock Purdy sat on his couch and watched football this weekend, but still dropped four spots due to some others below him having great performances this week. There’s nothing he could’ve done to stop this slide; it’s just that some other players deserved to jump him with their performances this weekend.
Jared Goff has easily been one of the best quarterbacks in football this year; he’s just a bit unlucky he ran into the buzzsaw that is the Minnesota Vikings’ defense. He was only able to manage 176 yards and a touchdown while throwing his first pick of the year, but he was also the first quarterback to knock off the undefeated Vikings. He drops a couple spots, but should pretty quickly start rising again as he faces easier defenses.
You know what Lion played extremely well against Minnesota? Jahmyr Gibbs, who ran for 153 yards and a touchdown behind a 6.7 average. He has now eclipsed the 1,000-scrimmage yards mark on the season and has scored 10 total touchdowns in eight games. He has clearly been the best and most consistent running back in football this season.
Trevor Lawrence wasn’t asked to do much this weekend, but when his number was called, he made plays. He only threw it 14 times, but completed 10 passes for 210 yards and three touchdowns, bringing him up to 1,770 total yards and 17 total touchdowns on the season. But you have to remember he’s also already had his bye week. If he’d already played eight games like Goff, he’d be closer to 2,000 total yards and 19 total touchdowns.
There are two quarterbacks above Lawrence at the moment, and both of them have also had their bye weeks, so it’s an easy comparison.
After a bit of a rocky start to the game, Josh Allen and Buffalo’s offense turned it on in the second half. The Bills would blow out the Lamar Jackson-less Ravens while Allen added 319 yards and three touchdowns to his season total, but it still wasn’t enough to retain the No. 2 spot in our rankings. Allen is still the most likely player to win the MVP in my eyes, but if the season ended today, I’d give it to two others before him.
Say what you want about Joe Burrow throwing three picks on Sunday, but when MVP voters look back on his season, they’re going to remember five passing touchdowns, 462 passing yards, and a game-tying and game-winning drive in the final minutes.
Burrow has a seven percent better completion rate, 122 more yards, and two more touchdowns, with one more pick, and he’s doing it with a far worse run game, and he isn’t stealing touchdowns from his RBs at the one-yard line. He’s been the best QB in football this year.
Maybe it’s because I’m tired of quarterbacks winning the MVP, but I have Jaxon Smith-Njigba as my No. 1 MVP candidate right now. Is there any one player that is more valuable to their offense than JSN?
With no run game, defenses know Seattle is going to throw it a bunch, and they still can’t stop JSN, who has 259 more yards than anyone else in the league. He has also accounted for 985 of the Seahawks’ 1,914 receiving yards (51.5%). He is the most valuable player in football at this point in time.
The post NFL Week 9 MVP Ladder: 3 New QBs Enter the List appeared first on EssentiallySports. Add EssentiallySports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
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