At this level within the NFL season, it’s troublesome to think about anybody catching Josh Allen within the race for MVP. Now the runaway favourite for the award, Allen has remained as efficient as ever whereas former frontrunner Lamar Jackson has fallen by the wayside through the Ravens final three video games, two of which have been losses.
Allen has been improbable despite a down passing 12 months across the league, of that there’s no debate. On tempo for 3,812 passing yards, 28 touchdowns and simply 7 interceptions, Allen has additionally been a drive on the bottom — the place he’s on tempo to complete with 473 speeding yards and one other 9 touchdowns. It’s unattainable to think about the Payments being identical workforce with out Allen below heart, which has been the longstanding argument for conflating “Most Worthwhile Participant” with “Greatest Quarterback.”
Whereas Allen has been improbable, it’s additionally wild to contemplate that he’s such a robust favourite to take residence honors when this hasn’t been his greatest particular person season within the NFL, and he’s removed from the highest quarterback within the league this season. The truth is, when in comparison with his friends on the place Allen doesn’t actually have a resume that leaps off the web page and screams “MVP.”
- 14th in passing yards
- twentieth in completion proportion
- sixth in passing touchdowns
- fifth in fewest interceptions thrown
- 14th in yards-per-attempt
- tenth in passer ranking
What Allen does have going for him is complete consistency in all areas. This has been a season the place up-and-down quarterback play has been the norm, however Allen’s recreation has neither benefited from excessive excessive factors this 12 months, or been hindered by lows. As an alternative he’s simply taking part in stable soccer in opposition to each single opponent within the league, and it’s helped that he’s on top-of-the-line groups within the NFL.
It’s undoubtedly troublesome to make a robust argument for any quarterback within the NFL to win the award different than Josh Allen this season. Lamar Jackson has been wonderful, however largely padded his stats in opposition to horrible opponents. Jared Goff is the king of effectivity, however he’s thrown 9 interceptions, which hurts his resume. Joe Burrow is having a profession 12 months, however the Bengals are so abysmal it’s unattainable to place him in consideration.
If this award was for “Greatest Quarterback” there’s little doubt Allen would win and deserve the award. The issue is that in a simply world MVP ought to be going to Saquon Barkley of the Philadelphia Eagles, simply because it ought to have gone to Christian McCaffrey a 12 months in the past.
A core problem with the idea of MVP proper now’s that by nature “helpful” is at all times going to use to a quarterback greater than every other place. You’d be onerous pressed to search out any playoff workforce that would merely lose its sign caller, whereas sustaining the identical stage of manufacturing and success. That mentioned, it’s additionally locked in outdated considering the place quarterback is a very powerful place on the sphere by an enormous margin — and that hurts somebody like Barkley, who has surely been a very powerful participant not simply on the Eagles, however within the NFL this season.
Saquon Barkley received’t win NFL MVP, however he deserves the award
Whereas Allen will win the award with pretty middling numbers, Barkley is having top-of-the-line working again seasons in historical past. Sitting at 1,499 yards, the Eagles’ again is on monitor to complete 2024 with 2,123 speeding yards — which might be probably the most by a again since Derrick Henry in 2020, and break Eric Dickerson’s document of two,105 yards, set again in 1984. Contemplating that Barkley has a remaining five-game stretch in opposition to groups who’ve been horrific in opposition to the run this season.
- Panthers: thirty second
- Steelers: 4th
- Commanders: twenty seventh
- Cowboys: thirty first
- Giants: twenty ninth
Contemplating Barkley is averaging 6.1 yards-per-carry it’s simple to see him surpassing Dickerson’s mark, and there’s even an out of doors probability he may break the two,200 yard mark for the primary time in NFL historical past.
On the subject of establishing “worth” it’s troublesome to think about any participant within the league being extra vital, or transformative to their group that Saquon Barkley. He’s single-handedly taken the Eagles from a misplaced workforce that seemed to be destined to fireplace Nick Sirianni, to now being 10-2 and a authentic Tremendous Bowl theat. In the meantime the argument for Josh Allen is stable, but it surely’s largely primarily based off “extra of the identical” from the Payments’ quarterback.
This isn’t a singular argument to Allen vs. Barkley. It’s the precise identical argument as to why Christian McCaffrey ought to have been the MVP final 12 months. In 2024 we’ve seen what occurred to the San Francisco 49ers with out their do-everything working again, and it remodeled them from top-of-the-line groups within the NFC, so final place within the NFC West.
What makes this so tough is that MVP isn’t, nor ought to it’s a “physique of labor” award — however Allen has come so near profitable up to now that this feels a bit like will probably be making good on a stellar profession to date. Allen has had his greatest seasons get overshadowed by a breakout, career-defining 12 months from one other participant. In 2020 his 4,500 yard, 37 TD season was washed out by Aaron Rodgers throwing 48 TDs and solely 5 INTs. In 2022 he misplaced out to Patrick Mahomes on a profession 12 months. A part of this can be a testomony to Allen’s consistency, however that additionally his downfall in relation to particular person awards like this — as a result of he’s only a 12 months in, 12 months out top-5 QB, which makes him much less susceptible to have these eye-opening seasons that garner all the eye.
Finally, we want a brand new award. We have to discover a approach to separate out MVP and Offensive Participant of the Yr so it’s not merely quarterbacks at all times profitable MVP, with the perfect non-quarterback profitable OPOY. In a simply world we’d have Barkley win the MVP in 2024, Allen be named Quarterback of the Yr, after which OPOY being opened up so somebody like Joe Burrow can get acknowledged exterior of his workforce’s defensive struggles.
That received’t occur in 2024 although. Josh Allen will win the MVP, but it surely’s merely mistaken to have a legendary working again season get overshadowed by a stable, however unremarkable QB 12 months.