Zeke also leads in yards after contact in over 900, which would rank 13th in the NFL alone in rushing, so it's not just before contact.
Carr's oline is just as good as the Cowboys o-line, but keep in mind that same offensive line was there last year when they were ranked 9th in rushing yards and finished 4-12. Let's also keep in mind La'el Collins has been injured all season and Tyron Smith (their best offensive lineman) also missed his fair share of games and the numbers remained the same. Furthermore, the Cowboys offensive line is ranked 9th in the league. Oakland Raiders? Ranked 1st. Source: NFL Stats: by Team Category
What I always consider with the MVP if I was given an NFL franchise and could pick any player in the league to be the cornerstone of the franchise based on the players performance up to and including the past season. Nobody in their right mind would make their choice a running back or receiver, not in the modern day fantasy era of the NFL. They should just call the MVP the best QB award.
Quarterbacks are often given too much; too much blame during a win and too much credit during a loss. Running backs can be the MVP of a team. David Johnson/Le'Veon Bell/Ezekiel Elliott any of those three are arguably the MVP's of their team. Now this season? Derek Carr was originally one of my picks, Matt Ryan and Dak Prescott being the other two. I don't think you could go wrong with either of those three, but receivers (Julio, AB) and running backs (Zeke, Bell, DJ) are strong contenders as well.
Dak is very impressive as a rookie but what makes him good is the fact that that he does not suck as a rookie.His numbers are not great good TD/INT ratio is good but his totals 23 td's and under 4000 yards not that impressive.
He has 6 rushing tds, 23 passing tds and only 4 interceptions. Under 4,000 passing yards isn't bad considering that they run the football more than any other team and they have the leagues leading rusher in Ezekiel Elliott. You have to consider the offense. Not every team is explosive in the pass game like Atlanta and Pittsburgh. Isn't 26 touchdowns the most thrown by a QB in NFL history (Russell Wilson, Peyton Manning? Dak had 23 through the air and might have tied that had he played the last game versus Philadelphia for more than 1-2 snaps behind the first offense. Not to forget he is 4th in the league in completion % and 3rd in the league in QBR. Same offense that went 4-12 last year minus the running back that everyone says is a product of his offensive line, even though the same offensive line had the 9th best rushing offense last year and he broke college records without that offensive line.
IMO shady not so much anymore. Not downplaying his ability, but Bell and Johnson are on a whole nother level. To me Bell and Johnson right now...maybe someday Howard from Chicago are truly irreplaceable backs in their systems.
If they give the MVP to Aaron Rodgers, and not Matt Ryan even as a Green Bay fan I'll be ticked for Matty Ice. Dude has been amazing from start to finish. AR has finished well, and in the last 5 weeks has played arguably better than anyone...but that isn't the entire season.
Bell benefits from a strong offensive line (2ND in the league) and a deep threat. Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown is a scary deep threat combination that forces defenses back and gives Bell breathing room to make him look better than he is. Zeke led the league, as a rookie, with the 9th ranked offensive line and no deep threat since Dez Bryant and Dak do not have the chemistry romo and Dez had. Zeke also led the league in yards after contact, better break away/explosive speed and better blocker. To say amy one can do what he did should look at the 2015 cowboys. However, Deangelo Williams played pro bowl level in Bells absence. All this talk about the cowboys line came from having 3 pro bowlers. They were 9th in stats and far behind the steelers in sacks, qb hurries, yards before contact, etc.
How much of Matty's success is having Julio and a running game? Rodgers has been lights out the end of the season, and as critical as we are of him earlier he wasn't playing bad, just not what we expect since he as set the bar so high. If Cobb had been healthy all season we are probably sitting with 3 WR right around 1000 yards receiving each. Another aspect is how much Rodgers has helped the team with his running. I personally have a hard time saying Rodgers deserves it because as I said, how high he has set the bar for himself, but is it fair to look at it that way. Looking at the season, dealing with Jordy slow start off the injury having to look elsewhere until he got going, holding the confidence in Adams with his drops, Cobb health, Monty having to become a RB, bringing up Geronimo Allison, Cook injuries. The results with the cast around him might be one of his better years as far as what an MVP is.
There's so much contradiction in this thread it's unbelievable. One post it's all about one player and no one else. Next one it's the fact that he had no one to help (o line, WR, etc.,.). Next post is he had a ton of great players surrounding him (great WRs, great O line, etc.,.). This is why NFL MVP is just dumb in my opinion.
As for me I've consistently said Ryan if you go QB, Johnson if you go RB. Ryan was, is and will have my vote always.
Ryan confirmed even more so he is what I said he was: MVP. (yes I know full well how depleted GB was...but no matter Ryan is nasty this year)
