San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (13). Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

NFL futures: Reassessing the MVP market

By Griffin Carroll | Last updated 12/19/23

The San Francisco 49ers look like the best team in football, and Brock Purdy has certainly played extremely well this season. Call us a hater if you want, but we just really don't understand the betting love on Purdy to win Most Valuable Player this season. His odds have skyrocketed to -200.

That's an unplayable price, and it doesn't even feel warranted. Now is the time to pounce on some alternative options in this market, and we have two options for you.

Christian McCaffrey to win MVP (+1000)

Purdy said it himself, Christian McCaffrey is the most valuable player on this 49ers team. We don't view that as a player trying to be humble, we view it as honesty and acknowledging how important McCaffrey is to what the 49ers pride themselves on accomplishing.

Without McCaffrey, Purdy and San Francisco's offense would not function at the same level. You don't account for 20+ touchdowns and not be the motor of a team. As McCaffrey goes, this offense goes. We're finally able to see what a treat it is to have a healthy McCaffrey on an elite offense, and one could argue the latter is not the case without the former being true.

McCaffrey is the best player on the NFL's best team. Is this a "Quarterback on the best team" award, or is this about honoring the league's most valuable individual to his team's success?

Josh Allen to win MVP (+1600)

Yes, we're totally on the Buffalo Bills bandwagon. We grabbed them to win the Super Bowl at 20-1 a few weeks ago, and now they sit here with a very real path at an AFC East title.

It's most certainly possible that Buffalo sees what they were able to pull off with James Cook operating at a high volume, and choose to keep pounding the rock, but more likely, an AFC East division crown will happen on the back of Josh Allen.

There are some vulnerable secondaries coming up in the Chargers and Patriots for Allen to put up some massive statistical games, and then a game against Miami that will most certainly be a standalone spot for the NFL world to see.

A big Allen showing there could be enough to vault him into consideration here. Join the bandwagon, it's not too late.

Follow Griffin Carroll at griffybets.substack.com for data, trends and targets for every NFL game, plus all the off-season news you can use.

Start your betting day right! Sign up for Bark Bets, the best sports betting newsletter on the web!

More must-reads: