The 2021 NFL regular season is just 39.3 percent complete, but we’re already monitoring the league’s top MVP candidates. Here’s a look at the 10 players best aligned for MVP runs based on the first seven weeks of the campaign.
1. Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray: That’s 20 combined passing/rushing touchdowns to five interceptions for the NFL’s highest-rated healthy passer, and his team is the only undefeated squad in the league.
2. Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford: The league leader in QBR also leads all quarterbacks in passer rating on third down and in the fourth quarter of one-score games for a 6-1 team. His overall rating is just 0.1 points back of Murray. This is a really close race.
3. Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB Tom Brady: The NFL leader in passing yardage and passing touchdowns also has the highest Pro Football Focus grade at the quarterback position thanks to just one turnover-worthy play thus far for a 6-1 team.
4. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen: A slow start is still holding him back a bit, but the Bills look like prime contenders and Allen has 15 touchdowns to only three picks. He’s in the thick of things coming off Buffalo’s bye.
5. Dallas Cowboys QB Dak Prescott: The Cowboys have the league’s highest-scoring offense, and Prescott is piloting that unit with a 16-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
6. Las Vegas Raiders QB Derek Carr: It’s been a career year for the 30-year-old, who leads the NFL in big-time throws and has a 127.0 passer rating in back-to-back wins since the Jon Gruden fiasco.
7. Green Bay Packers QB Aaron Rodgers: He’d be so much higher if not for that Week 1 mess against the New Orleans Saints, but that aberration is fading quickly for a quarterback who shares the same passer rating as Brady (108.2) for a team riding a six-game winning streak.
8. Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow: The sophomore No. 1 overall pick has exploded in recent weeks for a surprising first-place Bengals team.
9. Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry: The league’s top rusher is on pace to rack up an NFL-record 2,110 yards on the ground for a contender.
10. Dallas Cowboys CB Trevon Diggs: With seven interceptions in six games, the sophomore is on pace to shatter the single-season NFL record of 14. That’s unlikely, but the pace gets him a spot on here for now.
