24.02.2025 - As we push through the NFL regular season and into the Playoff territory, plenty of sportswriters are preparing those end-of-term style list articles covering the good, the bad, and the ugly of the season gone by.
Yet, while there is a little more time to run before we see the close of the season and start handing out awards, it’s pretty clear who is in the lead for the NFL MVP – Josh Allen. The Bills’ quarterback has been electric all season, and he’s one of the big reasons that Bills fans might finally get the Super Bowl victory they crave.
Allen emerged as the clear betting favorite in the fall (Patrick Mahomes started the season as the favorite with sportsbooks; Lamar Jackson also moved into the favorite spot for a short stint), and he has cemented that position ever since. It was, in fact, the big win for the Bills over Mahomes’ Chiefs that really set him on the MVP path, or at least it was the moment the wider sports media really came to a consensus that this was the guy. It’s difficult to argue with: Allen has been a cornerstone of so many NFL fantasy picks this season; he’s been the best.
But who – if anyone – has an outside shout of catching him? It might seem unlikely, but stranger things have happened in the MVP voting before. Below, we pick out the players that are at least still mentioned in the MVP betting markets:
Saquon Barkley (Philadelphia Eagles)
Barkley has been the best running back in the NFL this season. Arguably, people have not been paying enough attention to his performances. In fact, we’d say the Eagles overall have gone under the radar. It obviously will take a lot for the voters to give an MVP award to a running back, and Barkley might need a blistering finish to the season, but he has been so, so good.
Lamar Jackson (Baltimore Ravens)
Now the second-favorite with some sportsbooks, Jackson is, of course, no stranger to being in the running for end-of-season awards. His issue is perhaps not his excellence but the fact the Ravens themselves have had stuttering form across the season. The Ravens have a tough old finish to the season, but if Jackson can lead them to a few wins – and put them back in the Super Bowl conversation – there is an outside chance he can supplant Allen. But it’s a big if.
Jarred Goff (Detroit Lions)
We are definitely getting into miracle territory here. That said, Goff has been brilliant for a team that was often cited as the NFL’s best for large parts of the season. Injuries have threatened to derail the Lions’ juggernaut status as we reach the final stages of the campaign, and that, too, has impacted Goff’s effectiveness, but only to an extent. It’s going to be interesting to see how he – and the Lions – finish the season.
Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs)
You get the impression that sportsbooks and pundits are adding Mahomes to their end-of-season awards lists simply as a matter of form. He hasn’t been bad, and he has guided the Chiefs to hold the best record in the NFL throughout the majority of the season. He hasn’t been spectacular, nor have the Chiefs. Mahomes and his team have just done enough to win games, and that rules him out of the MVP running this time.
Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers)
Mayfield has a remote chance of winning the MVP, at least going by the odds. Will the AP associates vote for a player in a team that has been pretty average despite heading to the Playoffs? Probably not. Has Mayfield been largely excellent this season? Yes, he has been the standout player in an otherwise mediocre Tampa Bay team.
Joe Burrow (Cincinnati Bengal)
For Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, you can basically repeat everything we said about Mayfield, with the added caveat that the Bengals have been a little more average than the Buccaneers. He’s been the shining light as we all try to work out what the Bengals are and where they are going.
