Examining the 2023 NFL MVP Race
Let’s talk about this 2023 NFL MVP race and the betting odds that come with that. This race feels like a 3-horse race between Lamar Jackson, Dak Prescott, and Christian McCaffrey. Others will differ with their 3 and some will include Brock Purdy and Josh Allen.
Brock Purdy has an insane amount of weapons for that offense, has an incredible offensive coordinator, and has another MVP candidate on that offense with him. For that, he’s not included in this discussion. Josh Allen was simply awesome this year, again. To a lot of people in the NFL business, the Buffalo Bills did underachieve at 11-6, so he is booted from this conversation as well.
2023 NFL MVP candidate #1: Lamar Jackson
The first 2023 NFL MVP candidate under the microscope is Lamar Jackson. Betting odds are at -20000 at FanDuel and -8000 at Bet365. Compared to the other 2 candidate’s odds, a clear favorite. Lamar Jackson led the 2023 Baltimore Ravens to the NFL’s best 13-3 record and a truly dominant regular season.
Jackson completed an impressive 67% of his throws for 3874 yards at an 8-yards-per-attempt clip. He finished the season with 24 passing TDs with 7 interceptions and a great passer rating of 102.7. The X-factor with Lamar Jackson is his rushing though and he added a whopping 821 yards rushing and 5 rushing TDs. Gained 5.5 yards per attempt, that’s more than half a first down per rush. A lethal weapon for a QB to possess.
First downs have always seemed very pivotal to a football game for me, so they will be taken into account in this discussion. Lamar was a part of 205 total first downs and averaged 6.0 yards per touch with 148 touches. One little sour note for his season is 11 fumbles, by far the most of the 3 candidates. That brings his total up to 18 turnovers, a high number for an NFL MVP. Lamar Jackson also boasted a 90.4 PFF grade this 2023 NFL season. It’s a fantastic resume, but is it enough to be the 2023 NFL MVP?
2023 NFL MVP candidate #2: Dak Prescott
In second place in the 2023 NFL MVP betting odds is Dak Prescott. Dak’s are +1600 on FanDuel and +1600 on Bet365. Good value for a candidate with a pretty strong case. Dak Prescott led the media-hammered Dallas Cowboys to a 12-5 record and stole the division from the Philadelphia Eagles this past season.
Dak completed a slightly better 69.5% of his passes for 4516 passing yards for 7.7 yards per attempt. He accumulated a substantial number of 36 passing TDs and had a respectable 9 interceptions. Prescott finished with a 105.9 passer rating, also slightly better than Lamar’s stats. Dak is no Lamar in terms of rushing ability, but he does possess decent wheels.
On top of those impressive passing stats, Prescott added 242 yards and 2 TDs on the ground. He averaged an average of 4.4 yards per attempt and 4.4 yards per touch on 55 touches. Dak only had 4 fumbles compared to Lamar’s 11, quite the difference, and keeps Dak’s total turnovers under Lamar’s. Another case that favors Dak. Looking like a pretty good bet now right?
Dak Prescott shined in getting first downs this year for the Dallas Cowboys as well. He had a part in gaining 243 first downs! That’s quite a few more than Lamar Jackson. He also posted a higher PFF grade of 90.8. Can’t deny it, Dak was simply incredible this past season.
2023 NFL MVP candidate #3: Christian McCaffrey
Now, on to our third 2023 NFL MVP candidate and it is again, a very worthy player in Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey’s betting odds are +5000 on FanDuel and +5000 on Bet365. Favorable odds worth an extra look at. Christian McCaffrey is a great dark horse candidate because people are getting tired of the quarterback winning it every year. He has the stats to back up being in the race as well and he helped the San Francisco 49ers to a fantastic 12-5 record.
CMC had 1459 rushing yards with a rock-solid 14 rushing touchdowns. He ran for an incredible 5.4 yards per attempt. Christian racked up 7 100-yard rushing games and 4 games over 150 scrimmage yards! On the season, he finished with 2023 total scrimmage yards, fitting. Added 7 receiving TDs to raise his total to 21 total TDs. A true dual threat like Lamar Jackson.
Christian McCaffrey was back to his highly efficient self with 8.4 yards per reception and 6 yards per touch on a robust 339 touches. He had the least fumbles in the group with 3, a great number for that amount of touches. CMC landed a grade of 90.6 on PFF and that placed him 2nd out of these 3 candidates.
If I had a vote, I’d go with CMC. He was just simply incredible and a clear, pivotal player to the 2023 49ers. Would love to hear what you guys think. Who in the NFL deserves to win it in your eyes?
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