NFL Power Rankings Week 5: Ranking the Top Five MVP Candidates

Already there is a month of football in the books, with another 13 weeks to go.

Coming into Week 5 we have seen some pretty impressive performances by players that have done it before, and we have seen some by players we would have never expected it from.

As the season goes along, we will start to see some of those with impressive performances fall back down to earth, while others will separate themselves from the pack.

Here are the five players that have so far cemented themselves as potential MVP candidates for the rest of the season.

5. Philip Rivers

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SAN DIEGO - OCTOBER 03: Quarterback Philip Rivers #17 of the San Diego Chargers drops back to pass in the third quarter against the Arizona Cardinals at Qualcomm Stadium on October 3, 2010 in San Diego, California. The Chargers defeated the Cardinals 41-

Philip Rivers is the product of a team that is struggling to find its rushing identity and has played questionable passing defenses so far this year.

Nonetheless, Rivers finds himself in prime position to have a monster year. With 1,328 yards, Rivers is third in the league and is sitting pretty at a 102.8 QB rating.

Rivers has also racked up nine touchdown passes and thrown only four interceptions while compiling a 62.4 percent completion rate.

He has good targets all around to throw to in Antonio Gates and deep threats Malcom Floyd and Legedu Naanee.

He also has the benefit of playing in the AFC West, one of the weaker divisions, as it boasts the likes of the Raiders, Broncos, and Chiefs.

4. Drew Brees

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NEW ORLEANS - OCTOBER 03: Quarterback Drew Brees #9 of the New Orleans Saints celebrates a touchdown in the first quarter against the Carolina Panthers at the Louisiana Superdome on October 3, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Ge

At first glance, Brees is not a better candidate than Philip Rivers to win the award.

His stat line is slightly worse than Rivers' with 1,131 passing yards, a 102.4 QB rating, and two fewer touchdowns at seven.

He has, however, completed 73.8 percent percent of his passes, a staggering rate, and only thrown two interceptions. Considering Brees put up an NFL-record 70.6 completion percentage last year, it is safe to say that he will be able to keep up the production and maybe even surpass his own record.

The thing holding Brees back from being a top three candidate is his average yards per completion, which sits at 7.1, a far cry from the 8.5 yards per completion he had last season.

3. Reggie Wayne

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INDIANAPOLIS - SEPTEMBER 19: Reggie Wayne #87 of the Indianapolis Colts runs with the ball during the NFL game against the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 19, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)

No wide receiver has ever won an MVP award in the NFL, and the only way it seems that one could win one would be to put up numbers better than Jerry Rice ever did in a single season.

Reggie Wayne has that ability.

With Peyton Manning forced to chuck the ball 45 times a game and a slew of good wide receivers to keep the opposing secondary busy, Wayne will get a good amount of one-on-one coverage and numerous open looks this season.

Wayne is sitting on 456 receiving yards, a pace that would put him at 1,824 yards at the end of the season. Jerry Rice's record is 1,848.

Even at the torrid pace that Wayne is on right now, he would still have to work a little extra to break Rice's record, but if he does, he could be hoisting that MVP trophy at the end of this season.

2. Peyton Manning

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INDIANAPOLIS - SEPTEMBER 19: Peyton Manning #18 of the Indianapolis Colts gives instructions to his team during the NFL game against the New York Giants at Lucas Oil Stadium on September 19, 2010 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Im

The usual MVP suspect in each season of the past decade is once again a top candidate to win the award this year.

With the Indianapolis Colts' ineptitude on defense, giving up 367 yards and 23 points per game, Peyton is probably the most valuable player on the Colts, and if he were to go down, who knows what could happen?

Peyton is having another one of his ho-hum 112.2 QB rating, 341 passing yards per game, 70 percent completion rate, 11 touchdowns to one interception seasons.

Manning's one interception in 172 passing attempts means that a little over 0.5 percent of his passes get picked off. The record for a 16-game season is 0.9 percent by Steve DeBerg in 1990. If he were to keep up his pace, he would end up with only about four interceptions in 688 attempts.

Also, if the Colts struggle to find a running game and teams continue to be unable to stop Peyton from putting up 300-plus yards, we could be looking at a 5,000-yard season unfolding.

The guy is so consistently amazing that it's jaw-dropping.

Manning is the one most likely to keep up the pace that he is going at out of all the candidates, so he could move up if the guys around him falter.

1. Arian Foster

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HOUSTON - SEPTEMBER 26: Running back Arian Foster #23 of the Houston Texans rushes against the Dallas Cowboys in the second quarter at Reliant Stadium on September 26, 2010 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Bob Levey/Getty Images)

The fantasy darling out of Tennessee is quickly turning into a candidate for an MVP award.

Foster has put up staggering numbers so far this year. In four games he has 537 yards rushing, 152 receiving, four rushing touchdowns, and a receiving TD.

If teams continue to be bruised by the Texans' strong offensive line and baffled by his runs, then there is nothing to slow him down but injury.

With the balanced attack that Houston puts up, with Matt Schaub being as good as he's been and receivers Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter making teams constantly watch them, teams are forced to spread their defense thin and hope they can cover everything.

They usually can't.

Foster is on pace for a 2,000-yard season. Heck, he's on pace to surpass Eric Dickerson's 2,105-yard single-season record. That's just ridiculous for a guy that played only six games and amassed a whopping 257 rush yards a year ago.