Top five NFL MVP candidates at the midway point
With the NFL season at the midpoint, a former NFL MVP has stepped to the front of the line for league MVP. Meanwhile, a former Defensive Player of the Year has put his name in for consideration for the award. Here are the leading MVP candidates through Week 8.
5. Steelers linebacker T.J. Watt
A healthy debate can be made between Watt and Myles Garrett for Defensive Player of the Year, but Watt is a more valuable player thus far. The 2021 DPOY does everything for offensively challenged Pittsburgh, even single-handedly winning its Week 2 game against Cleveland, 26-22, with a defensive touchdown.
He's a dominant pass-rusher and also makes plays in coverage, as this remarkable interception against the Rams in Week 7 shows.
In seven games, Watt has 22 quarterback pressures, 8.5 sacks, three fumble recoveries, two forced fumbles and an interception.
4. Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown
Brown is playing even better in his second season in Philadelphia than in his first in 2022, when he had 1,496 yards receiving and 11 TD catches. He's on a run of six consecutive games of at least 127 receiving yards.
In a 38-31 win over the Commanders in Week 8, Brown scored two touchdowns, including an epic one-hander late in the first half for Eagles first TD.
In eight games, Brown has 939 yards receiving, putting him on pace for 1,996 receiving yards. With him as the team's most consistent player, Philadelphia is 7-1 — the NFL's best record.
3. Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa
Head coach Mike McDaniel's offense wasn't pretty without a healthy Tagovailoa last season. With him healthy this season, the Dolphins have the NFL's best offense.
“He’s learned in such a short period of time how to be critical of yourself but not handcuff yourself as well," McDaniel said following a Week 8 win over New England, via Dolphins Wire. "Because if you’re self-lashing for a series or a quarter, you’re not going to like the results of your play.”
Tagovailoa leads the league with 2,416 passing yards and is tied for the lead in touchdown passes (18). He'd be higher on this list if it weren't for his remarkable teammate, who may shatter an NFL record.
2. Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill
In Week 8 against New England, Hill became the first wide receiver in NFL history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark in eight games, He's on pace to the season record for receiving yards, breaking Calvin Johnson's record of 1,964 set in 2012 with Detroit, and becoming the first player to top 2,000 yards receiving in a season.
He doesn't lack confidence, either.
"I've been calling my shot since I came in this league," Hill said following the win over New England, per ESPN.com.
It can be difficult to split up the credit for Miami's success between Hill and Tagovailoa, but as long as Hill is on track to smash the NFL record book, he deserves to be mentioned near the top of the MVP discussion.
1. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson
Jackson has played exceptionally through eight games, on par with his play in 2019 when he won league MVP. Under new offensive coordinator Todd Monken, the former Georgia OC, he's completing a career-high 70.5 percent of his passing attempts, compiling 1,767 yards with nine touchdowns and three interceptions.
Jackson also is averaging the most yards per attempt (7.8) since he won MVP and has the lowest interception rate (1.3 percent) of his career. Baltimore hasn't used him as much as a runner, but he has five rushing touchdowns and is No. 2 on the team in rushing yards (380). Still, the story for Jackson this year is his passing.
He saved his best play thus far for the Lions, somehow evading a rush and finding wide receiver Nelson Agholor in the end zone for a 12-yard touchdown on third-and-3.
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