Bill Simmons dismisses Saquon Barkley's case as frontrunner in favor of 20-TD QB: "We can't say he's the MVP"
Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley's quests to win the MVP award received a massive boost in Week 13. He and his team handed reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens a 24-19 loss, a crippling blow to the quarterback's odds of repeating.
Saquon Barkley, who rushed for 107 yards and one touchdown against the Ravens, has emerged as a serious contender to win the MVP award.
However, popular podcaster Bill Simmons believes Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen should take home the coveted prize. Allen has thrown for 2,691 yards, with 20 touchdowns and five interceptions this season, leading the Bills to a 10-2 record.
Following the quarterback's historic performance against the San Francisco 49ers, where he became the first player in NFL history to record a rushing, receiving, and passing touchdown in the same game, Simmons said on his podcast:
"This now feels like Allen's MVP to lose, and I feel like we've used the MVP to lose dot, dot, dot, with different players this year. But he's going to be a one or two seed, which is one of the things that usually has it. And just seems like, I don't know who's taking that from him."
He added that the quarterback is the most important position in football and a team's success is predicated on how their signal-caller plays. On the flip side, a great running back like Saquon Barkley playing on a team with a poor O-line can be easily bottled up. Simmons said:
"I know Barkley's having a great year, but we can't say he's the MVP of the league. If you just removed him and put an average running back in the Eagles attack, I still think they're a playoff team.
"If you removed Josh Allen, are [the Bills] a .500 team? Probably not. I think the Eagles would be a playoff team no matter who their running back was, as good as Barkley's been. We just have too much evidence how crazy valuable the QB is."
Saquon Barkley or Josh Allen: Bills QB still ahead in MVP odds
It's hard to predict who will win the MVP award. However, it's worth noting that since 2000, quarterbacks have won the coveted prize 20 times. The award heavily favors signal-callers, giving Josh Allen the edge.
Per DraftKings' latest odds, Allen remains the -225 favorite to win this year's award. Saquon Barkley is second at +350 while reigning MVP Lamar Jackson is third at +900.
But not all hope is lost for Barkley. The four non-quarterback MVP award winners in the 21st century — Marshall Faulk (2000), Shaun Alexander (2005), Ladanian Tomlinson (2006), and Adrian Peterson (2012) — were all running backs.
The Eagles superstar will likely have to pull off a historic feat to beat Allen to the prize. Fortunately for him, he's on track to do just that. Barkley is averaging 124.9 rushing yards per game this season. If he maintains that and plays the Eagles' remaining five games, he'll finish the season with 2,123 rushing yards, breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season record of 2,105, set in 1984.
History favors Josh Allen, but making history could tilt the scales in Saquon Barkley's favor. It remains to be seen whether he pulls it off.