Quarterbacks dominate the top of the NFL MVP odds ahead of the 2021 season, with Kansas City Chiefs pivot Patrick Mahomes leading the way as the +500 betting favourite at sportsbooks monitored by OddsShark.com.
Mahomes has continued to make strides since taking home NFL MVP honours in his first full pro season back in 2018. The 25-year-old led the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory in a half-century two seasons ago. He was also key to the team’s repeat as AFC champions last season, leading all NFL quarterbacks by throwing for 316 yards per game, and connecting on 38 scoring passes against just six picks.
While Mahomes’s rise to the top of the NFL MVP odds at online sports betting sites comes as little surprise, the three-time Pro Bowler faces plenty of competition from his fellow passers this time around. Reigning MVP winner Aaron Rodgers sits second to Mahomes as a +800 wager, just ahead of Buffalo’s Josh Allen at +1000, and Tampa Bay’s Tom Brady at +1200.
Intent on silencing the naysayers both inside and outside Green Bay, the Packers veteran enjoyed a spectacular 2020 campaign, leading the league with 48 touchdown passes. The 37-year-old has also thrown for over 4,000 passing yards in each of the past three seasons, while throwing just 11 total interceptions during that stretch. However, with no signs of a thaw in his relationship with Packers management expected anytime soon, speculation continues on where Rodgers may end up playing this season.
No such worries exist for Josh Allen, who established himself as an elite passer last season with the Buffalo Bills. The 25-year-old played a pivotal role in Buffalo’s climb to the top of the AFC East standings for the first time in a generation, joining the league leaders with 4,544 passing yards and 37 touchdowns. Allen should get an added lift from the Bills’ offseason signing of veteran receiver Emmanuel Sanders, and he currently trails only Mahomes among quarterbacks as a +1500 wager to earn NFL Offensive Player of the Year honours.
Just one week past his 44th birthday, Tom Brady has shown no signs of slowing down. The three-time NFL MVP winner steadily gained momentum during his first campaign in Tampa Bay, leading the veteran-laden Buccaneers to a decisive 31-9 victory over Kansas City in Super Bowl 55. Brady should also benefit from a year of transition for Tampa Bay’s rivals in the NFC South.
Further down the NFL MVP odds, quarterbacks Dak Prescott, Russell Wilson, and Kyler Murray sit deadlocked at +1400, while Tennessee Titans running back Derrick Henry leads all non-quarterbacks on those NFL odds with last season’s rushing yards leader set at +3300.
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