2021-22 NFL MVP: Latest Odds and Predictions Following Week 18
The playoff picture is set after a wild Week 18 in the NFL, and 14 teams are now jockeying for a Super Bowl title. However, there is other hardware to be collected before the biggest game of the year, including the league's Most Valuable Player award.
Individual honors can ring hollow in a team sport, but they go a long way in establishing a player's legacy. This year, two of the greatest quarterbacks to play the game have put themselves in contention for the award.
Aaron Rodgers and Tom Brady are battling for recognition as the league's best, but wide receiver Cooper Kupp has crashed the signal-caller party by putting himself in contention following a historic run.
Where does the Los Angeles Rams' wideout find himself in the MVP odds and is anyone else a threat to Rodgers or Brady walking away with the trophy? And who will ultimately pad their resume with award?
Odds
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Aaron Rodgers (-500)
Tom Brady (+400)
Cooper Kupp (+2000)
Joe Burrow (+2500)
Jonathan Taylor (+3500)
Josh Allen (+6500)
Patrick Mahomes (+6500)
Matthew Stafford (+10000)
Dak Prescott (+10000)
Kuler Murray (+10000)
Justin Herbert (+10000)
Jimmy Garoppolo (+20000)
Deebo Samuel (+20000)
Mac Jones (+20000)
Ja'Marr Chase (+20000)
Derek Carr (+25000)
Ryan Tannehill (+25000)
Ben Roethlisberger (+50000)
Jalen Hurts (+50000)
Lines via DraftKings Sportsbook
Favorites
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Aaron Rodgers is such an efficient quarterback that, statistically, he could (and usually is) in the hunt for the MVP award every year.
This year, despite the offseason drama involving himself and the Green Bay Packers organization, he led his team to another 13-win campaign in which he threw 37 touchdowns and just four interceptions. He completed 68 percent of his passes and established a quarterback rating of 111.9. He was nearly flawless in pursuit of his second championship.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady had another phenomenal year, leading the league in both touchdown passes (43) and yards (5,316). All while leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers through a year that saw them win 12 games and secure the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
What is typically a quarterback-centric award has a player from a different position in contention this year, thanks to one of the best statistical seasons in NFL history.
Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp entered the conversation based on his 145 receptions, 1,947 yards and 16 touchdowns. In the season finale against San Francisco, he put his team in a position to win with two big-time catches reserved for the most electric game-changers in the sport.
The 28-year-old has done that all season, coming up biggest when the moment called for it. He won the rare triple crown, leading the league in receptions, yards and touchdowns and was just shy of breaking Calvin Johnson's record for most yards in a season.
If the MVP award was not so synonymous with quarterback play, Kupp would easily be the favorite to walk away with it this year.
Prediction
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Rodgers will join Peyton Manning as the only players in NFL history to win four league MVP awards.
Despite playing with a broken toe, the Packers quarterback has been so good this year that his play often looks effortless. He finds open receivers with ease, gets them the ball with the flick of a wrist and shows supreme confidence in doing so.
The 38-year-old joins Brady as one of the few quarterbacks in the NFL who can instill fear in the opposition by simply having the ball in their hand late in a game.
That Rodgers throws the ball with the accuracy and conciseness he does is what makes him so special. He threw the ball 531 times this season and turned it over just four times. That is unheard of in the NFL.
The veteran simply does not make mistakes. When he does, he shrugs them off and usually makes the opposition pay for them.
Rodgers is the coolest and most calculating quarterback in the league, and he's going to win the hardware that backs it up.
Whether he can finally collect that elusive second Super Bowl ring is another story, though.
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