Deshaun Watson (+1500) — In Jalen Ramsey “feather-ruffling” interview published in GQ Magazine, the Pro Bowl cornerback identified Deshaun Watson as someone who is “going to be an MVP in a couple of years.” But is it possible that Watson accelerates that timeline, and ends up becoming the league’s most valuable player this season? It’s a bit lofty to anoint someone who has a grand total of seven meaningful NFL games under his belt as such, but it’s not entirely far-fetched. After all, in those seven games last year, Watson averaged three touchdowns per game; at that rate, he would’ve finished with somewhere around 43 touchdown passes and another five rushing touchdowns. Obviously, such numbers aren’t sustainable over the course of an entire season, but Watson proved to be a one-man offensive dynamo last year, and if he leads the Houston Texans to an AFC South title, he could very well enter the conversation.
Carson Wentz (+700) – How quickly man of us forget that Carson Wentz was the runaway favorite to win the NFL’s MVP award last season, before sustaining the season-ending knee injury against the Los Angeles Rams last year. But even after missing three full games last year, Wentz still finished with 33 passing touchdowns (good for second in the NFL) and 101.9 passer rating (4th in the NFL). The beauty of Wentz’ situation is that his Philadelphia Eagles team is far from dependent on him to win them games; they can do so on the power of their stacked defense, if need be, or even run the football with the committee of running backs they have on their roster. In other words, there are too many things for opponents to worry about, for them to focus on trying to stop Wentz. With the early reports of him actually throwing with more velocity trickling out of Eagles camp, there’s plenty of reason to believe he could challenge for the award he should’ve won last year.
Aaron Rodgers (+550) — Or maybe we should ask if you remember him? Even with substantial questions along his offensive line, and without the services of his longtime favorite receiver, we simply cannot rule out the two-time MVP and maybe the most dangerous quarterback in the NFL. Before we began talking about guys like Carson Wentz, Russell Wilson, and Tom Brady in the MVP conversation last year, Rodgers looked like the early favorite, as he was eviscerating defenses over the first five games of last year. Between the first week of September and the first week of October, Rodgers threw for 13 touchdown passes, compared to only three interceptions. If you project out his stats over the course of the year, he would’ve had 41 touchdown passes and over 4,300 yards passing. With Davante Adams emerging as a top-15 receiver, Randall Cobb finally coming into the season healthy, and Jimmy Graham as a new red zone target, don’t overlook Rodgers’ chances becoming a three-time MVP.
About Rajan Nanavati
