Now that Week 9 is over, the 2024 NFL season has reached its midway point. The favorites for each division and playoff spot have become increasingly clear in the past few weeks. According to the latest NFL MVP odds, the favorites for the league's most prestigious award have also become clear.
Only one team, the Baltimore Ravens, features two candidates for that top honor on the same squad.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson, already a two-time MVP winner, is the current favorite according to both BetMGM's and DraftKings' latest NFL MVP odds. In addition, 2020 Offensive Player of the Year Derrick Henry ranks in the top 10 in DraftKings' odds, the only non-quarterback on that list.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Ravens – second in the AFC North with a 6-3 record – are among Super Bowl favorites.
Other NFL MVP odds leaders include quarterbacks for teams leading their respective divisions: Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills and the Kansas City Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes.
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Here's which players are the favorites for the NFL MVP award after nine weeks of action, according to DraftKings on Wednesday:
Despite ranking 15th in the NFL in pass attempts (255), Jackson is third in the league with 2,379 passing yards. He trails only the Seahawks' Geno Smith (2,560) and the Buccaneers' Baker Mayfield (2,389), both of whom rank in the top three in pass attempts.
The Ravens' starter is also tied for second with the Bengals' Joe Burrow with his 20 passing touchdowns this season. Thanks to Jackson's relatively low pass attempt total and high passing touchdown total, he leads the NFL in TD percentage at 7.8%. He's also thrown just two interceptions all season, both of which hit his intended receiver in the hands before ending up in a defender's.
That's also all without mentioning Jackson's prowess as a rusher. The two-time MVP rushed for 122 yards in a season-opening loss to the Chiefs and has tallied at least 40 rushing yards in every game besides his most recent: a 41-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Week 9.
Allen has finished in the top five in MVP voting in three of his last four seasons, but he has never won.
His season numbers don't quite stack up to Jackson's, but his team's performance with Allen under center speaks for itself. The Bills are running away with the AFC East division title with their 7-2 record, Allen is tied for fourth in the NFL with 17 passing touchdowns and he has thrown multiple touchdown passes in six out of nine games so far this year.
Like Jackson, Allen also has just two interceptions on the year, and he's on pace for the fewest in a season in his career.
The two-time NFL MVP winner and reigning, back-to-back Super Bowl MVP is on pace for the worst statistical season of his career. He's on pace for his fewest passing touchdowns in a single season (23), his most interceptions in a season (19), his lowest passing-yard total since 2019 – a season in which he played just 14 games – and the worst passer rating of his career (90.1).
And yet, the Chiefs are the only undefeated team remaining in the NFL through nine weeks. Kansas City keeps finding ways to win. Mahomes is also coming off his best game of the year: a 34-for-44 night (season-high 77.3% completion rate) with 291 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
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Goff is leading the NFL with an impossibly high 74.9% completion rate through nine weeks. He's helped, in part, by having 30 consecutive targets to wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown end in completions. If he manages to keep up his completion percentage (or improve it), it would be the most accurate season by a passer in NFL history, topping Drew Brees' 74.4% mark in the 2018 season.
What's more, Goff has helped lead Detroit to an NFC-best 7-1 record that' is the best in the NFC that's second-best in the NFL. The Lions look like a legitimate Super Bowl contender with the former No. 1 overall pick under center.
The Washington Commanders' rookie quarterback is the second No. 2 overall pick in the last two years to receive MVP buzz as a first-year starter, following in the footsteps of the Texans' C.J. Stroud. Given how Washington has looked this year, that buzz appears to be warranted.
Daniels has led the Commanders to a 7-2 record and first place in the NFC East in the first half of his first season as a pro. Just last year, Washington finished 4-13 and last in the division.
With the help of offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, Daniels has made a nearly seamless transition to the NFL. He ranks third in the league in completion rate and has started more games than the two quarterbacks he trails (Goff, 8; Tua Tagovailoa, 4).
Daniels is also an elite rushing quarterback who has tallied four games with at least 50 rushing yards, and he has four rushing scores this year to go with his nine passing touchdowns. The rookie's total of two interceptions indicate he's doing a good job of protecting the football as well, and he's the heavy, odds-on favorite to win Offensive Rookie of the Year.
Hurts had a shaky first four weeks in 2024, but he's settled down in a major way since the Eagles' Week 5 bye.
In his first four games, the quarterback had a 68.2% completion rate with 930 passing yards as well as four touchdowns to four interceptions. In his latest four games, Hurts boasted a 72.3% completion rate with 844 passing yards, six touchdowns and zero interceptions.
The Eagles' quarterback has also continued to prove his ability to contribute in the ground game. Hurts has 322 rushing yards (fourth among quarterbacks) and eight rushing touchdowns (most among quarterbacks). Philadelphia's 6-2 record and second-place spot in the NFC East doesn't hurt Hurts' MVP odds either.
In many ways, Burrow's MVP case is the mirror opposite of the argument for Mahomes.
The Bengals' quarterback is having a very solid season statistically. He's tied for second in the NFL with 20 passing touchdowns, second with a 53.1% passing success rate (per Pro Football Reference), second in ESPN's QBR metric with a 76.3 mark and fifth in the NFL with 2,244 passing yards.
However, Cincinnati is 4-5 and sitting in third place in the AFC North after a 1-4 start. O.J. Simpson was the last player to win an MVP despite his team missing the playoffs, and that was in 1973. Burrow and the Bengals will need to keep stringing together wins to improve the quarterback's odds.
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Henry is the odds-on favorite to win the Offensive Player of the Year award, which would be his second (2020). In 2020, Henry became the first player to surpass 2,000 rushing yards in a single season since Adrian Peterson. This year, he has a chance to do something even more impressive, which could make him the first non-quarterback since Peterson to win an MVP award.
During Week 8, the Ravens' leading back became the first player since Jim Brown in 1963 to lead the league in four major rushing categories: rush attempts, rushing yards, yards per carry and rushing touchdowns. The Lions' Jahmyr Gibbs has since passed Henry in yards per carry, but Henry trails Gibbs by only 0.1 yards per attempt.
In an era of NFL football in which running backs have become increasingly devalued, Henry stands alone.
Darnold, who is on his third team in as many years, has been one of the biggest surprises of the 2024 season. The seventh-year quarterback has helped lead the Vikings to a 6-2 record in what many expected to be a transition year in preparation of rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy. When McCarthy needed season-ending surgery at the end of training camp, Darnold stepped up and pulled Minnesota into playoff contention one year after a 7-10 finish.
Through eight games, he has the highest completion rate (69.5%) and passer rating (107.8) of his career and is also on pace for career highs in passing yards (4,038) and touchdowns (36).
The sixth-year starter is the offensive leader of the only NFC West team with a winning record (5-4) through nine weeks. Murray is a big part why Arizona leads the division. He has led three fourth-quarter comebacks and three game-winning drives, both of which lead the NFL.
Two years after Murray tore his ACL, he doesn't appear to have lost any mobility. The 27-year-old is still scrambling around in the pocket to keep plays alive and picking up rushing yards when he can. Murray's 350 rushing yards are third most by a quarterback this year behind only Jackson and Daniels.
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