The NFL season is nearing a close. Only six weeks remain in the regular season and several teams have emerged as contenders. Among them are the Rams, Vikings, Eagles, Patriots, Steelers, and Saints. You can make an argument for several other teams, but the ones that I have listed are widely agreed upon to be the cream of the crop. However, today I do not want to discuss those teams. Instead, I want to discuss several players on those teams who are competing for the MVP race by counting down my top 5 players in the race. Let us dive in!
5. Le'Veon Bell | Rushing: 232 carries, 886 yards, 5 TDs Receiving: 49 catches, 308 yards, 0 TDs
Summary: One could argue Le'Veon has no place on this list. After all he does not lead the league in yards rushing, he has not scored that much, he is on a great team (the Steelers are 8-2, currently 1st in the AFC), and the team has Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown. So why put him in the MVP Race? Simply put, the Steelers will go as far as Bell goes. Last year's AFC Championship game saw Bell get hurt and the Steelers were blown out 36-17. Would Bell have made the difference? Who knows, but I suspect he would have. The value of Bell as a receiver makes him even more explosive and key to the Steelers offensive engine. If this really is an award determining value of a player, one could easily make the case that Le'Veon should be way higher.
4. Drew Brees | 2,783 yards, 15 TDs, 5 INTs, 71.6% completion percentage, 104.3 passer rating
Summary: Much like Bell, Brees's season has been far from his best. In addition, this year he has had the benefit of a running game spearheaded by Mark Ingram and rookie running back Alvin Kamara. (On a side note, how smart were the Saints to jettison Adrian Peterson? 8 wins in a row since then!) Brees enters this conversation for the reasons that cannot be measured. The intangibles. Leadership, intelligence, the clutch-gene, all that jazz. Never was it more on display than this past week against the Redskins when Brees led the Saints to back-to-back scoring drives late in the fourth, scoring 15 points, to tie the game 31-31. The Saints of course won in overtime. Brees was not great all day, but he was great when it mattered. And again, if we are discussing value of a player, without Brees, this Saints team would be a bottom of the barrel laughing stock.
3. Todd Gurley | Rushing: 187 carries, 791 yards, 8 TDs Receiving: 38 catches, 425 yards, 3 TDs
Summary: Despite touching the ball less than Bell, Gurley has better statistics in most categories than Bell does. Everything that Bell means to the (8-2) Steelers, Gurley means to the (7-3) L.A. Rams. Make no mistake, Goff and the defense may soak up the limelight, but Gurley is the driving force of this team. After a "Sophomore Slump" season, Gurley has returned with a vengeance and had no trouble establishing himself as one of the NFL's best running backs. He is coming off his worst performance this season running for a measly 37 yards on 15 carries in a humbling loss to the (8-2) Vikings. Gurley will have to pick up the pace next week versus the Brees' led Saints. If he does and goes on a run in the remaining games, it is feasible he could win the award.
2. Carson Wentz | 2,430 yards, 25TDs, 5 INTs, 59.8% completion percentage, 103.4 passer rating
Summary: Wentz's 2nd year has been nothing short of stunning. He leads the league in touchdowns, leads the team with the best record (the (9-1) Eagles), and leads most lists as the clear MVP front runner. Why is he number 2 on this list then? Let me make this clear, this ranking is no disrespect to Wentz. He has had an amazing season, and without him, we likely would not even know the Eagles exist. His throws have been incredible, but he still misses some gimme passes that he should complete. He's still young, still raw, and is benefiting from an amazing running game and reformed defense. If Wentz wins the award, it will not surprise me and he will be most definitely deserving as the leader of the Eagles. However, one QB, one player stands above the rest.
1. Tom Brady | 3,146 yards, 22 TDs, 2 INTs, 68.7% completion percentage, 110.9 passer rating
Summary: Pick a statistical category, any statistical category... aside from touchdowns that is. Whichever passing category you picked, Brady leads it. He is not just having a good season, the G.O.A.T. is having a transcendent season leading the (8-2) Patriots to win after win, six in a row to be exact. Brady's season may be the best of his career, and that is saying something! Best of all; the dude is doing all of this at age 40. I could go on and on about how great Brady is, how incredible his season has been, what he means, not only to his team, but to the NFL, and how we all should enjoy watching a player play at this level for so long. But you do not want to hear that. Nobody does. People are tired of the Patriots being good, of Brady being so dominant. However, it is important to put those biases aside and do the right thing objectively. Brady is the best player in the NFL by far, and if the season ended today, I would hope the voters would see that, and award him his 3rd MVP trophy. Did I mention he was 40?
Source(s): All statistics came courtesy of nfl.com and any and all credit goes to them for the calculating and forming of these statistics.
