Like it or not, the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award has become the Most Valuable Quarterback award.
For 17 of the past 18 seasons, including the most recent 12, a quarterback has won the honor, with the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen being the latest to bring it home.
It’s easy to understand why. Quarterback is, by far, the most important position on the field. There is a reason 16 quarterbacks make at least $40 million in average annual value heading into the upcoming season.
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Bills quarterback Josh Allen will look to repeat as NFL MVP in the 2025 season. Associated Press
Last year, Allen somewhat surprisingly won the MVP over Lamar Jackson in the closest vote since 2016, when the Falcons’ Matt Ryan edged the Patriots’ Tom Brady. Allen received 27 first-place votes and 383 points last year, topping Jackson’s 23 first-place votes and 362 points. Jackson was named first-team All-Pro over Allen, making the Bills’ quarterback the first outright MVP winner not to be named a first-team All-Pro since the Broncos’ John Elway in 1987.
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When formulating a list of the top five MVP candidates for 2025, it has to start under center. Here is the case for the top five candidates, listed in alphabetical order:
Josh Allen: Why not double down? Allen did more with less last year after the team traded away No. 1 receiver Stefon Diggs. Allen finished with 41 total touchdowns – 28 passing, 12 rushing, one receiving – and became the only player in league history with 25-plus passing TDs, 10-plus rushing TDs and a receiving score.
Allen led an offense that scored 30-plus points in 12 games in 2024, tied for the second-most such games by a team in NFL history. Only the 2013 Denver Broncos, with 13, had more.
Allen now has five seasons of at least 40-plus total touchdowns. Only Aaron Rodgers, with six, has more. Rodgers won MVP in four of his six 40-TD seasons, while Allen’s MVP in 2024 was the first of his career.
The Bills return their entire starting offensive line, running back James Cook, and top receiver Khalil Shakir, meaning the chances of Allen repeating are good.
Joe Burrow: If the MVP was purely a statistical award, Burrow would have won it last year. He led the league in passing yards (4,918) and passing touchdowns (43). In so doing, he became the third quarterback in league history to have at least 4,500 passing yards, 40 passing touchdowns and fewer than 10 interceptions. He joined Brady in 2007 and Rodgers in 2011 on that list – both of them won MVP in those respective seasons.
Burrow set an NFL record with eight straight games of at least 250 passing yards and at least three touchdown passes in 2024 and became the second quarterback in league history to have multiple seasons completing at least 70% of his passes, joining Drew Brees. Burrow has two dynamic receivers to throw to – Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins – but the Bengals missed the playoffs. If Cincinnati does that again, Burrow’s chances of winning the MVP again will be diminished and head coach Zac Taylor’s job will be in jeopardy.
Jayden Daniels: He led Washington to the NFC championship game in 2024 as a rookie, so including Daniels here is fair. The Commanders added wide receiver Deebo Samuel and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil in the offseason, then drafted offensive tackle Josh Conerly Jr. in the first round, so they have shown a clear commitment to building around the promise Daniels showed. Washington will be in a dog fight with Philadelphia – led by their own MVP candidate in quarterback Jalen Hurts – for the NFC East crown.
Lamar Jackson: A two-time winner of the award, Jackson was thought to be the favorite last year after being named first-team All-Pro until Allen pulled the upset. Jackson won the award after the 2023 season, but had an even better 2024, throwing for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns against just four interceptions. That gave him a passer rating of 119.6, which was the fourth best in a single season in league history. Additionally, he became the first quarterback to throw for at least 4,000 yards and rush for at least 900, finishing with 916 on the ground. No other quarterback has ever even rushed for 800 in a single season while throwing for at least 4,000 yards.
“The dude is a competitor. He’s a fighter,” Ravens coach John Harbaugh said last year. “He’s just one of a kind. There’s nobody like Lamar Jackson. ... That’s why these numbers are the way they are, because of who he is.”
The Ravens, who were eliminated by the Bills in the divisional round of the AFC playoffs, once again are expected to be Super Bowl contenders, meaning Jackson will very much be in the MVP mix.
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Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes has name recognition, which is important when it comes to MVP voting. Ashley Landis, Associated Press file photo
Patrick Mahomes: Name recognition matters in the MVP race, and nobody in the league has more than Mahomes. Even in a “down” statistical season, he carried the Chiefs to the Super Bowl for a third straight season. Mahomes still has his favorite target in tight end Travis Kelce, and will get wide receiver Rashee Rice back from injury. Rice will be joined by Xavier Worthy and Hollywood Brown to make up a group of top-three receivers who all can fly. Running back Isiah Pacheco also will be back to full health. The concern is up front. The Eagles exposed the Chiefs’ offensive line in the Super Bowl, leading to some significant changes in Kansas City. All-Pro Joe Thuney was traded. Rookie Josh Simmons was chosen in the first round and is expected to get the first chance at starting at left tackle, while Jaylon Moore also might get a look. That is a fair amount of uncertainty at an important position – protecting Mahomes’ blind side.
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