WS Chronicle

In my humble opinion, Saquon Barkley has been the best player in the NFL this season. With two games left in the season, Barkley has rushed for 1,838 yards and 13 rushing touchdowns, along with 31 receptions for 276 yards and two touchdowns. Those numbers have led the Philadelphia Eagles to a 12-3 record, a chance to have the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC, and that’s why I feel he is the most deserving of the MVP award this season.

If Barkley were to win the award, he would be the first non-quarterback to win MVP since Adrian Peterson won league MVP back in 2012. According to DraftKings Sportsbook, Josh Allen is the current favorite to win MVP with –200 odds, followed by Lamar Jackson (+145), and Barkley (+1600).

Allen is having a remarkable season for the Buffalo Bills. He has thrown for 3,549 yards, 26 touchdowns, with only six interceptions. He has also rushed for 514 yards and 11 touchdowns. Allen has also led the Buffalo Bills to a 12-3 overall record in the AFC and are poised to be the No. 2 seed in the playoffs.

We must remember Allen lost his top two receiving options in the off-season by losing Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis. He has also beaten arguably the two best teams in the NFL, the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions, and he was a deciding factor in both of those victories. Allen has never won an MVP award, and many feel he is more than deserving this time around.

“A Super Bowl would mean a lot more [than MVP], and I think that his drive for that is more than what he cares about for the MVP,” said Bills safety Micah Hyde. “Actually, I know, that’s a fact … [But] I’ll say it for guys in the league, guys want their own personal stats, and if they deny that, that’s a damn lie and for him to win an MVP and bring that here to One Bills Drive, that’d be pretty damn awesome.”

Throughout his career, Allen had been plagued with turnover problems as he was one of the league leaders in the stat annually. This season he has turned the corner with his turnovers, and he is making the right plays at the right time.  This might be the best version of Josh Allen that we have seen from the seven-year veteran.

“It’s the best I’ve seen him play and not surprised,” Bills coach Sean McDermott said after the Week 14 win over the Lions. “When he sets a goal for himself, for the team, he’s hard to stop. So, people have tried, they’ll keep trying, that’s what we do in this league … Every week, we’re watching an incredible player play incredibly consistent week after week and I’ll let you guys fill in the rest of the sentence.”

When it comes to Lamar Jackson, what else is left to say. He is already a two-time MVP award winner and one of the most electrifying players in the game. He also beat Allen heads up already this season in dominating fashion by the score of 35-10.

Jackson won the MVP award last season and his stats this year are better than that. This season he has thrown for 3,955 yards for 39 touchdowns and only four interceptions. He has also rushed for 852 yards and five more touchdowns.  

Many media pundits believe Jackson deserves to win the award for the second year in a row and a third time overall.  Here is what ESPN analyst Ryan Clark said about Jackson recently:

“When I look at what Lamar Jackson has done this season, he deserves to win the MVP,” Clark said. “And then I can look at Josh Allen in a silo and think about what I saw against the Los Angeles Rams, think about what I saw against the Detroit Lions win on the road and you say well damn, Josh Allen deserves to win the MVP as well. I think both of these men have played out of their minds. The hardest reason to pull it away from Lamar Jackson is this is a guy that’s already won two MVPs, and this is his best performance yet as a pro.”

Coupled with the astonishing numbers Barkley has already accumulated this season, he also has a chance to break the single season rushing record of 2,105 yards set by Eric Dickerson in 1984. This record has stood for 40 years and only eight players have even reached 2,000 yards rushing in a season. 

With or without the single season rushing record, I still feel Barkley should be the winner of the MVP award this season. I don’t have Lamar fatigue but if Barkley doesn’t win the award, then Allen should take home his first MVP.  We will have to wait a few more weeks to see who the eventual winner will be. My hope is that they stop making this award a quarterback award and give it to the guy who is most deserving.