Welcome in to the 2020 NFL MVP Watch, where I will be taking a look around the landscape of the MVP race in the NFL this season. This is pretty much the same thing as my Heisman Watch, sooooo…like, do I want to spend a lot of time on an intro?
Shit, I guess I will for the uninitiated – each week, I will count down the five most MVP-worthy performances of the week and offer up my reasoning for each ranking. You finish first, you get five points. Second is four, so on and so forth. I will keep the season point totals going at the bottom of the article and at the end of the season, whoever has the most points gets the 2020 SoBros Network NFL MVP “honors.”
2020 NFL MVP WATCH: WEEK 7
5. Baker Mayfield, Browns QB – Not an ideal start, but holy smokes did he get the poor play corrected. His 135.6 passer rating was the highest in the league this weekend. In the 37-34 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Mayfield was 22/28 for 297 yards and FIVE touchdowns (with one interception).
4. Davante Adams, Packers WR – The poor Houston Texans didn’t know what hit ’em. For all the criticism we heaped on the Packers this offseason for not getting any weapons for Aaron Rodgers, that offense seems to be doing just fine. Rodgers is a candidate for MVP, and Adams is going to get a little love this week for posting 13 receptions for a whopping 196 receiving yards, and two touchdowns.
3. T.J. Watt, Steelers OLB – Gotta give the dude some MVP love at some point, right?! I mean, he has been playing at a ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ level all season, but in the big win over the Tennessee Titans, he was an outright force of nature. Watt was all over the field on Sunday, tallying five tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss, a pass deflected, and two quarterback hits. Dude was all over the place.
2. Kyler Murray, Cardinals QB – There’s no greater definition of value than increasing your team’s likelihood of winning ball games. That’s exactly what they have in Arizona since drafting Murray – a guy who is going to help them win more, including taking down the big bad Seattle Seahawks, who have been atop my NFL Power Rankings for WEEKS.
He’s just such a dynamic and explosive play-maker at the quarterback position – that seems to be the new gold standard at the position. In the shootout win over the Seahawks, Murray was fantastic, going 34/48 for 360 yards, three touchdowns, and one pick. He also had 67 rushing yards and a score on the ground. Just out there slingin’ it.
1. Tom Brady, Buccaneers QB – Is…..is Tom Brady a legit MVP contender in the year 2020?!?! 33/45 for 369 yards, four touchdowns, and a 127 passer rating in the 45-20 win over the Raiders. He also had a one-yard touchdown run to bring that number to five total touchdowns in that game. Don’t look now, but Brady has a TD:INT ratio of 15:1 over the course of the last five games. Coincidentally, the Bucs are 4-1 during that span.
UPDATED NFL MVP WATCH POINTS STANDINGS
15. Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jared Goff, Julio Jones, Baker Mayfield – 1
12. Davante Adams, Aaron Donald, Aaron Jones – 2
10. Derek Carr, T.J. Watt – 3
9. Patrick Mahomes – 4
8. Derrick Henry – 5
6. Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers – 6
4. Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson – 7
3. Kyler Murray – 8
2. Ryan Tannehill – 11
1. Russell Wilson – 19
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD and #BeBetter. “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley
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