(Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report)
The People’s MVP:
The NFL Honor Award Show will be held on February 8th at 9 pm ET. Many awards will be given out, including Coach of Year, and Rookie of Year, but none as prestigious as NFL MVP.
Lamar Jackson seems set to win his second-ever NFL MVP award. The Baltimore Raven Quarterback previously won the coveted award in 2019. A legendary college player during his three years at Louisville before he entered the league, Jackson never missed a beat when stepping into the league. Since being drafted 32nd overall in 2018 by the Baltimore Ravens, Jackson has not only become the face of the franchise but also a superstar around the NFL. He is understandably the favorite to win MVP after leading the Ravens to the top seed in the AFC, not to mention a spectacular playoff run. However, it’s worth noting that many fans believe Lamar is winning the MVP award due to the fact that it almost always goes to a quarterback. After all, QBs are the darlings of the NFL. Since 2000 in fact, there have only been three players who were not quarterbacks to take home the honor. Marshall Faulk in 2000, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006, and Adrian Peterson in 2012, all of whom were running backs by trade.
Now, many pundits and fans alike have called for 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (CMC) to be named League MVP. McCaffrey has been named one of the five finalists for the MVP award, yet it looks to be all but set in stone that Jackson will win the award. According to an article written by Data Skrive on foxsports.com Jackson has -1000 odds to walk away with the award while McCaffrey sits at +4000. For any non-sports betters out there, this means it would take a miracle for McCaffrey to snag the MVP over Jackson.
McCaffrey has had an excellent season. It is similar to Lamar and the Ravens, with the way he helped San Francisco lock up the NFC 1 seed, complemented by a successful playoff run. Yet CMC and the 49ers are in the Super Bowl while Lamar and the Ravens will be watching from home. McCaffrey shouldered a heavy load in the regular season and has been crucial to the Kyle Shanahan run offense.
The 27-year-old rusher out of Stanford, originally drafted by the Carolina Panthers in 2017 has made a strong case for MVP. CMC tallied 272 rushes in the regular season totaling a league-high 1,459 yards rushing yards according to ESPN. Not to mention his 21 regular season touchdowns, 14 of which were earned on the ground. He is the most dominant running back in the league by well over a country mile. He is building a hall-of-fame-worthy career. “C-M-C” chants have been heard all year in Levi’s Stadium but have recently turned into MVP chants. It seems not just 49er fans, but the league’s fan base has crowned Christian McCaffery the People’s MVP.
Have an opposing viewpoint to this opinion? Let us know. All views are welcome. Send your thoughts to our Editorial Staff – Editor Dylan Hicks dhicks@student.dean.edu or Dean Daily Faculty Advisor, Professor John Rooke jrooke@dean.edu