How NFL MVP Is Decided Each Season; Lamar Jackson Tops Betting Odds

Deciding who will win the NFL MVP award may sound critical but in reality, it is a simple process when compared to other leagues. That doesn’t mean that it is a perfect system, though.

Other leagues employ a point-based voting process that allows the voters to rank multiple players based on stats. Depending on the system, whoever gets the most points usually wins the award. However, the NFL does it differently.

The NFL has voters casting a single vote at the end of each season. This gives the vote more weight and allows a more definite result, as opposed to having closer competition among candidates.

There are 50 voters chosen by The Associated Press every year. These voters are ultimately the ones who decide who will win the NFL MVP award. Although it is possible to have carryover from year-to-year, the voters are not necessarily the same.

The chosen voters for this year have yet to be announced, but it will mostly involve sports personalities and insiders who have made a name for themselves in the sport. In fact, according to Sportscasting, the voters for 2018 MVP award were composed of several big names in sports media, including legendary quarterback Troy Aikman, Sunday Night Football announcer Chris Collinsworth, and Super Bowl-winning coach Tony Dungy.

Historically, quarterbacks usually get the advantage of winning the NFL MVP award. The simple reason for this is because the nature of the game basically revolves around the quarterbacks. They are considered as the orchestrators of the offense and draws the majority of the attention especially in MVP talks. Interestingly, a QB may also be the one who gets the most blame.

The last non-quarterback to win the award was running back Adrian Peterson in 2012.

This season, another quarterback leads the MVP candidates as Ravens’ Lamar Jackson is now the favorite to win the honors. According to NBC Sports, Caesar’s has Jackson’s odds currently standing at -900,. This means a $900 bet would win only $100.

FanDuel has Jackson at -800, while DraftKings pegs Jackson’s odds at -715.

The other two plausible finalists at this point are Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson .