Cowboys' Micah Parsons is tired of quarterbacks winning the MVP award
The NFL's MVP award has seemingly become an award for the league's best quarterback season by season. Aaron Rodgers has won the last two and Lamar Jackson, Patrick Mahomes, and Tom Brady were the MVPs before him.
In fact, the last nine NFL MVPs were all quarterbacks, with Adrian Peterson being the last non-quarterback to win the award in 2012.
While it's true that quarterbacks are generally one of the most important players on a team, one young NFL defender, Micah Parsons of the Dallas Cowboys, seems to think it's time for the MVP award to broaden its horizon's a bit.
The NFL is clearly pushing a race between Mahomes, Josh Allen, Tua Tagovailoa, and Jalen Hurts this season — all quarterbacks — but Parsons does have a point.
Where would the 7-3 Tennessee Titans be without Derrick Henry and his 1,010 yards and 10 rushing touchdowns? Or how about the Minnesota Vikings without Justin Jefferson? He has only four touchdowns on the season, but he's second in the league in reception yards with 1,003 and the Vikings wouldn't be close to 8-2 without him.
How about a defender?
The last time a defender won the MVP award was all the way back in 1986 when Lawrence Taylor dominated the league as an outside linebacker.
Matthew Judon has literally been a game-changer for the 6-4 New England Patriots with 13 sacks and a forced fumble. Speaking of game-changers, C.J. Gardner-Johnson has 53 tackles, six interceptions, and eight passes defended for the 9-1 Eagles.
And then there's Parsons himself, who is a one-man wrecking crew for Dallas' defense. Parsons has 10 sacks on the season -- which is third-best in the league -- to go with 35 tackles and three forced fumbles. He's a force of nature for the Cowboys.
Come to think of it...Parsons is right.
Why is the MVP so quarterback-heavy? There are plenty of non-quarterbacks who deserve consideration as well.
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