Tom Brady picks his 2023 NFL MVP favorite between Christian McCaffrey and Brock Purdy
Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey are unintentionally dueling it out for the MVP award. It's a quarterback-centric award, which has Purdy with a really strong chance of winning it in just his second season in the NFL. McCaffrey, however, is a supremely dynamic player and has decent odds despite playing running back.
Tom Brady, a former NFL MVP who took home the award five different times, had his say recently on the debate. Via his "Let's Go!" podcast, he set the record straight on who he believes is the MVP, and he deferred to who Purdy believes is the MVP as well:
“This year’s just a lot of what he’s done in the past. It’s a different team with some different opportunities and they’ve been really dynamic on offense. He’s definitely, in my mind, the MVP favorite, and according to his quarterback too; Brock Purdy’s saying some amazing things about him.”
The odds may not agree, but both Brady and Purdy have given McCaffrey a ton of credit for transforming the offense in San Francisco. Since his arrival last year after a trade from the Carolina Panthers, they've been a different team.
Brady mentioned that he does get a vote, which means there could be at least one selection of McCaffrey, who had this to say:
"Oh man, vote for Brock, man, that guy deserves it. He's been unbelievable for this team and I hate when I hear people say anything negative at all. 'You're just a system quarterback' everyone's a system quarterback. That's part of what being a quarterback is in my eyes."
It will be interesting to see how things turn out this year.
Will Brock Purdy or Christian McCaffrey win MVP?
The odds currently give Brock Purdy the best chance at winning the MVP award. He's the favorite, with -190 odds. Between him and Christian McCaffrey are a couple of players, as McCaffrey still sees pretty long +1200 odds.
There's certainly a case to be made for both of them. Purdy is second in completion percentage and passing yards in the NFL. He's also first with a stunning 119 passer rating. He's been excellent.
Christian McCaffrey, for his part, is miles ahead in the rushing yards department. His 1292 yards are 324 yards above everyone else. He's the only player with more than 1000 rushing yards right now and he missed half a game.
He has the third-most rushing touchdowns by any player this year. Not to be outdone, he has also chipped in 509 receiving yards, more than most other players, and seven touchdowns through the air. He's only not come down with 11 targets, too.
There is a case to be made against both players as well. Many detractors say that Purdy doesn't have to do much. The system in San Francisco is helmed by an offensive guru in Kyle Shanahan.
He is protected by a very strong offensive line with perhaps the best offensive tackle in the game. Purdy has the best running back in the NFL to give the ball to who also happens to be pretty stellar as a receiver.
Speaking of receivers, Deebo Samuel is one of the best in the NFL (he also rushes as a halfback sometimes, too) and Brandon Aiyuk is extremely talented. The quarterback also gets to throw to one of the best tight ends in the league, so how valuable can one player in that offense surrounded by All-Pros really be?
The simple fact that McCaffrey is even in the race suggests that Purdy isn't as valuable as he seems. If there are two MVP candidates on one single offense, how valuable can one of them be?
For McCaffrey, that is true as well to a lesser extent since he doesn't rely on anyone but his blockers and occasionally Purdy. Nevertheless, running back is the least valuable offensive position, so being the best there (even by a wide margin) isn't necessarily all that valuable.
Lamar Jackson is right behind Purdy, so if McCaffrey continues to rise or Purdy falters, there may be a new favorite eventually.