Quarterback is the most important position in the National Football League, which makes the Most Valuable Player award very predictable.
The MVP award has usually gone to a QB over the past decade. The last non-QB to win the award was Adrian Peterson in the 2012-13 season.
For the 2022-23 season, Derrick Henry (+5000), Cooper Kupp (+6000) and Deebo Samuel (+6000) are the top three non-QBs with the best odds to win MVP, according to DraftKings Sportsbook.
Around the NFL writer Kevin Patra sought to have some fun and predict every AFC team’s non-QB MVP for the 2022-23 season. For the New England Patriots, he selected Matt Judon.
“The Patriots are an interesting makeup,” Patra wrote Thursday. “They have no obviously dominant players, but the roster is stellar. Picking one non-QB from this group who could break out is a crapshoot, particularly given how the Pats spread the ball on offense. I’ll go with Judon as the most likely stud to turn heads on a defense that got leaky down the stretch in 2021.
“In his first season in New England, Judon collected a career-high 12.5 sacks, and there was potential for more. PFF credited him with 64 total pressures last season — just three fewer than T.J. Watt, who tied the all-time sack record with 22.5. It’s not crazy to think Judon could have another career year in Bill Belichick’s system.”
Judon will enter the second year of his four-year, $54.5 million contract with New England, and he earned every penny of it. The Patriots will have to rely on their defense, once again, as the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins have made upgrades on offense, and the Buffalo Bills remain one of the top offenses in the league. Judon will be counted on to bring the pressure to disrupt opposing teams’ tempos.
For Patriots fans willing to throw in a long-shot bet, Judon’s MVP odds are priced at +50000. New England signal-caller Mac Jones could be a dark horse bet with his price set at +6000.
