Despite the latest buzz surrounding Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray and video games, and the claim by Colin Cowherd of Fox Sports Radio that “the media doesn’t like him,” there are, in fact, Murray supporters outside the Cardinals facility.
In fact, nfl.com senior national columnist Judy Battista listed Murray among seven players she believes are dark-horse MVP candidates for the 2024 season:
Three are quarterbacks other than Murray – Detroit’s Jared Goff, Houston’s C.J. Stroud and Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa – although Battista also mentioned Packers quarterback Jordan Love as a “bonus pick.”
The other three were Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill, 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey and Cowboys linebacker Micah Parsons.
She acknowledged that non-quarterbacks being voted the MVP is a long shot, but wanted to give those players their due.
Of Murray, Battista wrote, “He’s healthy and thinks he’s had one of the best offseasons of his career, and he’s building off a very strong finish to 2023. Murray returned from his 2022 ACL injury in Week 10 last season, but he and the Cardinals offense really took off in the final four games of the campaign — he completed 70.3 percent of his passes for 935 yards, seven touchdowns and three interceptions. In that span, the Cardinals led the league in total offense, with 414.3 yards per game.
“And now rookie receiver Marvin Harrison Jr. — who has earned raves in the offseason — is added to the mix. When Murray is healthy, he’s one of the most thrilling players in football. The Cardinals will have to win a lot more games for Murray to catch voters’ eyes, but if Murray can pick up where he left off last year, and if Harrison explodes in his rookie season, Murray could at least position himself for future MVP consideration.”
Cardinals tight end Trey McBride chimed in on that prospect during an appearance this week on NFL Network’s The Insiders show. While McBride mentioned many of the same things he said about Murray and the offense this week to the local media, he did add to it on NFL Network, saying, “I have full confidence that he’s capable of an MVP season.”
The most cogent point Battista made was that the Cardinals must win a significant number of games for Murray to receive MVP support, much less win the award.
How many games might that be?
Consider that in the last 20 seasons, the average number of team victories for the MVP winner is 13. Eight times, the MVP winner was on a team that won at least 14 games:
16: Tom Brady, Patriots, 2007
15: Aaron Rodgers, Packers, 2011; Cam Newton, Panthers, 2015
14: LaDainian Tomlinson, Chargers, 2006; Peyton Manning, Chiefs, 2009; Brady, 2010; Lamar Jackson, Ravens, 2019; Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs, 2022
Tomlinson is one of only three running backs to have won the award in the last two decades. The others were Seattle’s Shaun Alexander in 2005 and Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson in 2012. Peterson is the only MVP winner on a team that won only 10 games, thanks to a 2,097-yard rushing season following a torn ACL suffered late in the prior season.
Seven quarterbacks account for the other 17 MVPs:
4: Manning (2004-2008-2009-2013) and Rodgers (2011-2014-2020-2021)
3: Brady (2007-2010-2017)
2: Jackson (2019-2023) and Mahomes (2018-2022)
1: Matt Ryan, Falcons (2016) and Newton (2015)
Eleven MVPs were on teams that won 11 (2), 12 (4) or 13 games (5).
Finally, only two MVPs were on wild-card teams and not division winners: Manning in 2008 and Peterson in 2012.
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