NFL 2020: Dak Prescott, Tom Brady, Drew Brees Among Second-Tier MVP Contenders

Heading into the 2020 NFL season, there’s a top tier of MVP contenders. Reigning Super Bowl MVP and 2018 regular-season MVP Patrick Mahomes (+380) is the betting favorite at FanDuel Sportsbook. Lamar Jackson (+600) has the second-best odds after winning the award unanimously last year. Russell Wilson (+600), the NFC’s best quarterback, completes the list of top candidates.

There’s a sizable gap between the favorites and the next group of contenders. No other player has better than 12/1 MVP odds. Eight quarterbacks in total have better than 20/1 MVP odds.

Dak Prescott (+1200), Drew Brees (+1600), Carson Wentz (+1700), Deshaun Watson (+1700) and Tom Brady (+1800) make up the second tier of MVP candidates.

Prescott could end up being the league’s highest-paid player before the summer is over. He finished second in 2019 with 4,902 passing yards and was the only quarterback to rank in the top five in yards, touchdowns and yards per attempt. Prescott led the Dallas Cowboys to the No.1 offense in the NFL last year.

Drew Brees is 41 years and only made 11 starts last season, but he still puts up better stats than most signal callers. Brees posted a career-high 116.3 passer rating in 2019. He’s completed 74.4% of his attempts over the last two years and the New Orleans Saints have won three straight NFC South titles.

Wentz might have won the 2017 MVP award if he didn’t miss the final month of the season with a torn ACL. He was one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks down the stretch last season, leading the Philadelphia Eagles to the NFC East title with a 4-0 record, seven touchdowns and no interceptions in December.

Watson received some MVP buzz early last season before a few poor performances. He led the Houston Texans to a second straight AFC South title. Watson has a 101.0 passer rating in his first three seasons.

Brady is a three-time MVP, last doing winning the award in 2017. After putting up largely pedestrian stats during his final season with the New England Patriots, Brady is expected to have a bounce-back year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’ll have arguably the league’s best receiving corps at disposal, replacing Jameis Winston, who led the NFL in passing yards.

Aaron Rodgers (+2300) isn’t a top-tier MVP contender. The Green Bay Packers traded up in the first round to draft quarterback Jordan Love, potentially Rodgers’ eventual replacement.