Week 14 MVP Watch for the NFL's 25 Best Players

With only four games remaining in the 2011 NFL season, time is running out for anyone with MVP aspirations to make a lasting impression on the voters.

While it appears that one person is head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league, if an injury occurs, or he gets another concussion, the race could still end up with a different outcome.

We are going to take a look at the entire NFL (offense and defense) and pay homage to the top 25 MVP candidates from the 2011 season. If you feel there is a player we omitted, please include him in the comments section. On to the presentation.

Defensive Linemen

We all know that it is very rare for somebody other than a quarterback or a running back to win the NFL MVP award. In fact, since 1957, either a quarterback or running back has won the award every time, with just four exceptions.

The only other four players who have won the award are: LB Lawrence Taylor (1986), kicker Mark Moseley (1982), DE Alan Page (1971) and DE Gino Marchetti (1958). No wide receiver has ever won the NFL MVP award.

So, although there is a remote possibility that a defensive player can win the award, the overwhelming likelihood is that it would go to either a running back or quarterback. We will pay our respects to the defensive players in the first three slides.

There is only one defensive lineman who is the leading sack artist in the league, and that distinction goes to Jared Allen of the Minnesota Vikings. Allen is comfortably in the lead with 14.5 sacks, ahead of both Jason Babin of the Philadelphia Eagles and Chris Long of the St. Louis Rams with 12 sacks each. 

Linebackers

In regards to linebackers, DeMarcus Ware of the Dallas Cowboys has amassed 15 sacks already this year, so he is within shot of reaching the 20 plateau. He only has a half-sack lead on Jared Allen, so the two of them will battle it out for leading sacker in the league. The next LB on the sack chart is Denver Broncos rookie Von Miller with 10.5 sacks.

But, sacks aren't everything. We also appreciate guys who fill up the stat line with lots of big plays. Take Terrell Suggs of the Baltimore Ravens for instance. Suggs has 53 tackles on the season. He leads the Ravens defense with 10 sacks, and he also leads them with seven tackles for a loss. He has defended five passes, and has intercepted two passes. He has also forced three fumbles. That is what I am referring to when I talk about filling up a stat line. Suggs has been huge for the Ravens this year.

As far as making tackles from the linebacker role, nobody is doing that better than London Fletcher of the Washington Redskins, who leads the NFL with 124 tackles. Despite getting up there in age, Fletcher just keeps rolling along. Trailing Fletcher are D'Qwell Jackson of the Cleveland Browns and Pat Angerer of the Indianapolis Colts, who are tied for No. 2 with 112 tackles each.

Secondary

Regarding the members of the secondaries throughout the league, we will highlight a few players who have done some noteworthy things.

Kyle Arrington of the New England Patriots leads the NFL with seven interceptions. Since so many teams appear to be set on proving that they can torch the Patriots' pass defense, it is good to see that Arrington at least has been able to turn seven of those pass plays into something positive for New England. Trailing Arrington with six interceptions are Charles Woodson of the Green Bay Packers and Eric Weddle of the San Diego Chargers.

There is only one secondary member who is in the list of top-40 sack artists in the NFL, and that is New Orleans safety Roman Harper, who has 6.5 sacks, good for No. 21 in the league.

Another key defensive statistic for secondaries is the passes-defended category. There is a three-way tie for first place there, between Tramon Williams (Green Bay), Brandon Flowers (Kansas City) and Joe Haden (Cleveland).

OK, so we have paid our respects to the defensive players. Time to address all of the offensive candidates for MVP.

Rob Gronkowski

We mentioned earlier in the presentation that a wide receiver has never won the MVP award since 1957. The tight end position has never had a winner either.

Rob Gronkowski is not your normal tight end. Currently sitting there at No. 9 among all pass receivers with 928 reception yards is Gronkowski. He has made 65 catches which places him tied for No. 7 in the league, and he has scored 13 touchdowns, which makes him No. 1 in that category in the league.

Between the trio of Gronkowski, Jimmy Graham of the New Orleans Saints and Fred Davis of the Washington Redskins, all of them can be found in the top 12 of all NFL receivers for having at least 15 or 16 receptions of 20-plus yards in length. These guys are proving that the tight end does much more than a seven-yard curl pattern on third down and six yards to go.

Jimmy Graham

We can't talk about Rob Gronkowski without also bringing up Jimmy Graham. The New Orleans Saints tight end is No. 2 in the NFL with 75 catches and trails only Wes Welker for the league lead.

Graham has already topped the 1,000-yard barrier in receptions this year (1,046) and has become the favorite target of Saints quarterback Drew Brees. The 104 targets for Graham have him ranked No. 8 for the league. 

With 16 catches of at least 20-plus yards, Graham is tied for No. 6 in that category, proving that he is a major weapon in the Saints offense. Not only that, but Graham is just a kid at 25 years of age, so he will be around for a long time. One can only imagine the career numbers that he can put up.

Darren McFadden

Darren McFadden, Matt Forte and Fred Jackson all burst out of the gates with a strong start to the 2011 season. Too bad that all three running backs would be linked in another way later on in the year.

McFadden only played in six full games, before he left the Week 7 contest against Kansas City early on with a foot injury that has been very slow to heal.

During that six-game span, McFadden put up some very strong numbers. He ran the ball 113 times for 614 yards, an average of 5.4 yards per rush. He scored four touchdowns and had eight runs of at least 20-plus yards. 

McFadden also caught 19 passes for 154 yards and another touchdown.

Had McFadden stayed healthy, I have no doubt that he would be in the top 5-10 players gaining MVP votes this season.

Return Specialists

This slide is devoted to the kickoff-return and punt-return specialists from around the league. There are three players I want to make special mention of. None of them will probably be anywhere close to getting enough votes for MVP true consideration, but all three are extremely valuable to their own teams.

1. Devin Hester: Hester is a multi-threat player. He is No. 4 in punt returns with 407 yards on 22 returns. He is also No. 17 in kick returns with 542 yards on just 24 kick returns. Finally, he is third on the Bears in pass receptions with 355 yards on 25 catches. This year he has scored as a wide receiver, kick returner and as a punt returner. That triple threat kind of player is very hard to find, but makes him very valuable.

2. Darren Sproles: Sproles is second on the New Orleans Saints in rushing yards, as he has 63 carries for 430 yards, which is a great average of 6.8 yards per rush. He is also second on the Saints in receptions, as he has 67 catches for 522 yards, an average of 7.8 yards per reception. He has also returned 20 punts for 186 yards and returned 29 kick offs for 771 yards. Did I mention that he has already scored seven touchdowns this year? I don't think that the Saints are missing Reggie Bush at all. 

3. Patrick Peterson: Too bad that Peterson has been shakier in pass coverage than most experts thought he would be, because scoring on four punt returns and winning some games with punt returns is something special. Peterson leads all NFL punt returners with 559 yards on 32 returns for a great average of 17.5 yards per return.

Larry Fitzgerald

The jury is still out on Kevin Kolb as to if he is truly ready to be a solid NFL starting-quarterback or not. The weeks of John Skelton led to some wins, but not necessarily huge outputs on offense.

But through all of the issues that the Arizona Cardinals have had with their quarterbacks, there is one constant, and that is wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.

For the 2011 season, Fitzgerald is ranked as the No. 7 receiver in pass reception yardage with 943 yards on 55 catches, which is good for an average of 17.1 yards per catch. Fitzgerald has scored six touchdowns and he has also made 16 catches of at least 20 yards or more.

We expect that Fitzgerald will have a top quarterback to throw to him in the years ahead, but for him to be able to put up this kind of production with what he is currently working with in Arizona shows how gifted and special a player he is.

DeMarco Murray

I could have just as easily gone with Tony Romo here, but decided instead to put up DeMarco Murray for MVP consideration. I am sure that the Cowboys wouldn't be where they are right now atop the NFC East division if it weren't for what Murray has done for the Cowboys offense.

For the year, Murray has 159 rushes for 872 yards, which comes out to a huge 5.5 yards gained per rush. Murray is rushing for 72.7 yards per game. He has scored two touchdowns via the rush. In addition, Murray has caught 25 passes for 177 yards.

For those Cowboys fans who want to champion Romo's cause, I am going to address the argument as follows: Since the Cowboys made Murray the starting running back, the Cowboys have gone 5-2 as a team. Without Murray starting, they have gone 2-3.

In the five games before Murray took over, Romo threw for at least 300 yards in four of the five games. In all three of those early losses, Romo passes for over 300 yards and the Cowboys lose. In the recent 5-2 run, with less emphasis placed on Romo and the passing game, Romo has not had a single game that he has passed for over 300 yards.

So, who is the most valuable Cowboys player?

Tim Tebow

Our presentation wouldn't be complete unless we had an entry for each team that could still possibly win the Super Bowl. One team that we have to include is the Denver Broncos, who are currently sitting in a tie with the Oakland Raiders for the lead in the AFC West division.

As a starter, Tim Tebow has a 6-1 record. Tebow and the Broncos have swept the AFC West in his starts and are also 2-0 against the AFC East. They have the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots coming up in the next two weeks, and if Tebow can somehow lead the Broncos to winning both of those games, you have to start giving him serious consideration for the MVP.

For Tebow, you have to throw all conventional wisdom out the window. Forget the passer ratings, forget the touchdown-to-interception ratio and forget the footwork and the passing motion. All the kid does is win, and if the Broncos somehow are able to keep winning and take the Super Bowl, who else on the team is MVP-worthy other than Tebow?

Steve Smith

Our next four slides are devoted to players who were playing at an MVP-caliber level, but the teams they were playing on were not playoff- or Super Bowl-worthy teams. We acknowledge that it is rare for a player to win the MVP award on a losing team, but our list would not be complete if we didn't at least acknowledge players who had monster years in spite of the team that they were playing for.

First case in point is Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith. Sure the Panthers record is not that great at 4-8, but the main thing is that Smith gave rookie Cam Newton a strong reliable target to lean on early in the season, to help him get through that rough patch of early games when he didn't have a lot of other options to turn to. The Panthers actually have a two-game win streak going now and things are starting to look up.

Smith is currently tied with Calvin Johnson as the No. 2 wide receiver in the NFL with 1,092 receiving yards on the year. Smith has caught 61 passes for an impressive average of 17.9 yards per catch, to go along with five touchdown catches. Smith leads the NFL with 23 catches this year of 20-plus yards or more. As long as Smith stays in Carolina, Newton will have a security blanket he can turn to.

Maurice Jones-Drew

The next very good player on a bad team, is Jacksonville Jaguars running back Maurice Jones-Drew. Drew currently leads the NFL with 1,137 yards, which is a four-yard lead over LeSean McCoy of the Philadelphia Eagles.

Jones-Drew has carried the ball 250 times, and is averaging 4.5 yards per carry. Drew is producing just a touch under 95 rushing yards every game for Jacksonville, which they desperately need, since their passing attack is so inept.

Another category that Jones-Drew has excelled in is picking up first downs via the rush. He is at No. 2 in the entire league in that, with 54 on the season. He is trailing only LeSean McCoy.

The last two Jaguars games, Jones-Drew has also been the Jaguars' leading receiver in the game. For the year, he has 29 catches for 297 yards—hard to imagine where the Jaguars offense would be without Maurice Jones-Drew.

LeSean McCoy

As we just discussed in the prior slide, LeSean McCoy and Maurice Jones-Drew are currently in a heated battle for the NFL rushing crown.

Out of all of the talented players on the Philadelphia Eagles offense, the only true consistent performer week in and week out has been LeSean McCoy. With just 215 attempts (35 less than Jones-Drew), they basically have the same amount of rushing yards with 1,134. Jackson has a great average of 5.3 yards per rush and he is averaging 95 rushing yards every game for the Eagles.

Not only does McCoy have the most rushes of 20 yards or longer in the NFL (13), but he also has the most rushing touchdowns of every running back in the league (12) and is just one rushing touchdown behind Cam Newton.

McCoy leads the NFL in first downs picked up via the rush with 71. McCoy also has 42 catches for 277 yards along with another 17 first downs from his receptions. Basically, McCoy is a first-down machine.

Too bad that players like Michael Vick and DeSean Jackson didn't perform to the level that McCoy did every week, otherwise the Eagles would have been very difficult to contain.

Fred Jackson

Fred Jackson suffered his fractured leg in Week 11 in Miami. The Bills placed him on injured reserve, and although he has been watching from the sidelines for the past two weeks, you will still see his name predominately placed in some key categories.

Jackson is No. 6 in the NFL in rushing, with 934 yards on 170 carries. Jackson was averaging 5.5 yards per rush this year. He also had 10 rushes of at least 20-plus yards on the season.

The area of Jackson's game that is under-appreciated is his abilities as a pass receiver. Jackson had 39 catches for 442 yards, an average of 11.3 yards per catch. I also wanted to talk about Jackson's ability to pick up yards after he catches the ball, as he is one of the most elusive players in the NFL. Interestingly enough, the category called YAC (yards after catch) at Stats. LLC, and for the same category at ESPN, both show Jackson with 500 or 501 YAC, but for the season he only gained 442 yards in receptions.

Still have to figure that one out.

Regardless, Jackson is a complete back, but the league finally started to understand how valuable he was this year. Had he not suffered the broken leg, I suspect we would be talking about him for either Pro Bowl, All-Pro or both.

Calvin Johnson

If I only had one slide available for the Detroit Lions, which is all I do, who should I promote for MVP consideration? The choices boil down to Charles Johnson or Matthew Stafford.

While I am happy for Stafford, the Lions team and their fans, that he is healthy and looks like he will be able to finally complete a full year of health in the league, I just don't see Stafford playing anywhere close to the same level of a Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees or Tom Brady for MVP votes.

The best Lions player would have to be Calvin Johnson. Johnson is once again overwhelming NFL secondaries, as his 69 catches are good for No. 3 in the NFL. Those catches are good for 1,092 yards and an average of 15.8 yards per catch. Johnson has scored 12 touchdowns and also has connected on 17 catches of at least 20 yards.

Frank Gore

While San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith has enjoyed a very strong year, the best player on the offense is running back Frank Gore. Gore is the player who made the 49ers offense roll, and without him the 49ers would have been in trouble.

Gore is closing in on a 1,000-yard season, as he already has amassed 982 yards on 224 carries. Gore has an average of 4.4 yards per rush and has scored five touchdowns on the ground. He also has reeled off nine rushes of at least 20 yards this year.

Gore has also caught 16 passes for 101 yards, but his skills as a receiver out of the backfield aren't being utilized as much this year as they have been in the past.

Either way, Gore is the guy who makes the 49ers offense go.

Michael Turner

In my opinion, Michael Turner has been more valuable or important to the Falcons offense than Matt Ryan has been. Ryan had his moments during the 2011 season, but if you look at his year-to-date production, he is just not close enough to the big three of Rodgers, Brady or Brees to feel like he is a worthy MVP candidate.

Like Gore, Michael Turner is also closing in on a 1,000-yard season, as he has 992 yards, good for No. 4 in the league. Turner has carried the ball 233 times, for an average of 4.3 yards per carry. Turner has scored eight touchdowns on the ground and has nine rushes of at least 20 yards or more.

The Falcons don't use Turner very often as a receiver out of the backfield. He has only caught 11 passes for 128 yards, but the average of 11.6 yards per catch means that you can fall asleep when he comes out of the backfield.

Eli Manning

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning came out before the year began and claimed that he was an elite quarterback in the league. More often than not this year, Manning has played at an elite level.

Currently, Manning is the No. 6-ranked quarterback in the league, with a QB passer rating of 96.0. Manning has thrown 23 touchdowns to only 11 interceptions, so he has a solid 2:1 ratio.

For the year, Manning has passed for 3,705 yards and has completed 62.4 percent of his passes. Another reason to consider that Manning is taking a step up is that he is averaging over 300 yards in passing every week (309), despite having the worst run offense in the NFL.

These aren't the same Giants that your father and grandfather knew. They throw first, they throw often and they run the ball once in awhile.

Matt Forte

Chicago Bears running back Matt Forte was having a banner year, and the Bears were rolling on towards another run at the playoffs, when misfortune hit the Bears.

First the Bears lost Jay Cutler to injury, and then Forte went down himself with a knee injury. While Forte may still come back this year, the Bears may no longer be in a position to vie for the playoffs. The Bears have lost two straight games with Caleb Hanie running the offense, so thinks are looking a little bleak.

For his part though, Forte was having a banner year. He has gained 997 yards rushing this year, which places him at No. 3 in the league. Forte has attempted 203 carries, for a strong average of 4.9 yards per rush.

The other huge component that Forte brings to the table is that of a pass receiver. For the year, Forte has 52 catches for 490 yards, for an average of 9.4 yards per catch. Forte reminds me of Fred Jackson in that both of them do everything well and are such a key cog to their team's offense.

Arian Foster

The Houston Texans running back Arian Foster looks like he might get his first taste of the playoffs this year.

Foster is yet another running back who is starting to near the 1,000-yard mark, as he has gained 916 yards this year on 224 carries for an average of 4.1 yards per carry. Foster has scored eight touchdowns and is averaging 91.6 yards per game on the ground.

Foster is helped out by the emergence this year of Ben Tate, to help keep Foster fresh. With the injury to Matt Schaub and to Matt Leinart, the Texans offense will be leaning even more on the ground game to carry the load, as the Texans are now led by rookie quarterback T.J. Yates.

We can't leave Foster without talking about his skills as a receiver. Foster has caught 41 passes for 510 yards for an average of 12.4 yards. Overall, Foster has scored 10 touchdowns this year, and has picked up 61 first downs for the Texans offense.

Wes Welker

We all know that Tom Brady is a great quarterback, but we also know that when Brady was hurt for a year, Matt Cassel was able to step in and lead the team to a division title. However, if you took Wes Welker out of the Patriots offense for a year, how effective would Brady and company still be?

Some people will want to say that Welker is only valuable to the Patriots because of Tom Brady, but I disagree with that assumption. Welker is so precise with his pass routes, and is so quick, that I often see corners struggling to keep up with him. With all of the offensive sets with four wide receivers, I can see Welker being effective for a wide number of teams.

In terms of production, Welker just doesn't slow down. Welker leads the NFL this year in the following categories: receiving yards (1,253), receptions (93) and passing yards average per game (104.4). In addition, Welker is second in targets (126) and is third in 20-plus-yard receptions with 18.

Ray Rice

Ray Rice of the Baltimore Ravens is the final running back we will discuss for MVP consideration.

Rice has gained 926 yards on the ground this year on 208 carries. He is averaging 4.5 yards per rush and has scored nine touchdowns on the ground.

Rice has also caught 56 passes this year, which has resulted in 547 yards. The average reception of 9.8 yards per reception is key to the Ravens offense. Rice has scored two touchdowns on receptions.

Overall, Rice has gained 59 first downs during the 2011 season for the Ravens on runs and receptions. Without Rice in the lineup, I think the Ravens would be in tough shape.

Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints quarterback Drew Brees is playing so well in 2011 that in most other years he would probably win the NFL MVP award. But in 2011, there are two other quarterbacks playing just as well as, if not better than, Brees, in Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers.

Rather than spew out all of the individual stats for each of the top three key quarterbacks on separate slides, I am opting to line up all three in a side-by-side arrangement so you can easily compare what each of them has done. We will divide it up by listing three categories for each of the final three slides.

Pass Attempts: Drew Brees (496), Tom Brady (459), Aaron Rodgers (408)

Completions: Brees (349), Brady (306), Rodgers (288)

Completion Percentage: Rodgers 70.6 percent, Brees 70.4, Brady 66.7

Tom Brady

The year started off great, then there was a barrage of interceptions, and then Tom Brady, New England Patriots quarterback, settled back down again. Brady has led the Patriots to what looks like another AFC East division title. While the Patriots have a rather strange team due to the porous secondary, the offense is doing their job and then some.

Continuing on with our three-quarterbacks comparison:

Passing Yards: Brees (4,031), Brady (3,916), Rodgers (3,844).

Passing Yards Average per Attempt: Rodgers (9.42), Brady (8.53) Brees (8.13)

Touchdowns: Rodgers (37), Brady (30) Brees (30)

Interceptions: Rodgers (5), Brady (10) Brees (11)

Aaron Rodgers

It doesn't appear that any defense or any team is capable of slowing down the Green Bay Packers. Aaron Rodgers, the Packers' talented quarterback, is on such a roll, that it seems like an automatic thing that he will win the MVP award and that he will guide his Packers team to another Super Bowl win. Sure, they could get upset along the way, but it just seems that he is making every right call, right decision with the ball and making every correct read this year.

Finishing up our quarterback comparison, here are the final categories to look at:

Number of times sacked:  Brady (21), Brees (21) Rodgers (29)

QB Passer Rating: Rodgers (125.3), Brady (105.9) Brees (105.5)

Passing Yards per Game average: Brees (336), Brady (326), Rodgers (320)

Final analysis: The completion percentage and the passing yards are basically the same. What tips the scales in the favor of Rodgers is the insane TD:INT ratio and the QB passer-rating scores which reflect how dominant he has been. For my money, the NFL MVP would have to go to Aaron Rodgers.