Top 5 Contenders For the 2025 NFL MVP Award

As the 2025 NFL season nears the midway point, the race for MVP is now in flux with plenty of worthy candidates building their cases week after week. While some notable names have put their hat in the ring for the award, there have been some surprise candidates to arise so far this season. Let’s examine and rank the five best candidates for the 2025 NFL MVP up to this point.

1. Baker Mayfield

Despite a lackluster performance against a surging Detroit Lions squad on Monday Night Football, it’s been a career year for the Buccaneers franchise quarterback. Although the numbers that Mayfield has put up so far aren’t exactly eye-popping, his overall impact goes far beyond just the stat sheet.

The former Heisman winner has been missing the majority of his offensive weapons all season and yet has carried this injury-riddled Bucs team to a respectable 5-2 record. That bit of context, combined with Mayfield leading the NFL in game-winning drives this season with 4, is reason enough why he is the 2025 NFL MVP favorite at this moment.

2. Patrick Mahomes

It’s been quite the turnaround for the Kansas City Chiefs after the team fell into an 0-2 hole to start the season, and much of that turnaround can be attributed to the stellar play of their superstar quarterback. Mahomes has only gotten better as the season has gone on, as the two-time NFL MVP currently ranks 4th in passing yards and 4th in passing touchdowns. Great players find a way to overcome adversity, and if Mayfield falters down the stretch, don’t be surprised to see Mahomes swoop in and snag his third NFL MVP award.

3. Jaxson Smith-Njigba

While the NFL MVP award has become more of a quarterback award over the past decade, the Seahawks’ star receiver has a good shot at breaking that streak. The former Buckeye is on a record-breaking pace so far this season, as Smith-Njigba currently leads the NFL in receiving yards at 819 in just 7 games played.

That yardage total puts JSN on pace to eclipse the single-season NFL receiving yards record, which currently stands at 1,989 yards. If JSN can keep up his receiving yards per game average of 117 for the rest of the season, both the record and the NFL MVP award could be his for the taking.

4. Dak Prescott

Although the team record for the Dallas Cowboys of 3-3-1 doesn’t exactly make Prescott’s NFL MVP case look all that worthy, his numbers do a lot more of the talking. The three-time Pro-Bowler currently ranks 2nd in both passing yards and touchdowns so far this season, while also sporting a solid 107.6 passer rating to boot.

Those stats, combined with the fact that the Cowboys’ defense currently ranks as the second-worst in all of football, indicate that Prescott is doing much of the heavy lifting to keep Dallas afloat in the playoff hunt. This gives Prescott’s MVP case a significant boost and firm ranking of number four on this list.

5. Josh Allen

At the beginning of the year, many experts predicted Allen would repeat as NFL MVP, considering the overall field was fairly small, but that prediction has since soured, given Allen’s lackluster performances in the last two games. However, the superstar QB is still having a great season overall as Allen has put up a respectable 1,397 yards passing to go along with 11 touchdowns and a 103 passer rating. Although Allen’s MVP chances have taken a hit in the past two weeks, there is still a chance for last year’s NFL MVP to repeat if he can get back to his earlier form.

Final Thoughts

Some honorable mentions for this list include names like Puka Nacua, Drake Maye, Jared Goff, and Matthew Stafford. While those names unfortunately didn’t make the cut this time around, there’s plenty of time for these players to build their MVP cases as well and perhaps find themselves on a future NFL MVP list as the season winds down.