You see Perter King's list? I dont understand what makes him an NFL expert. Matt Ryan an MVP candidate? Kris Jenkins MVP Candidate? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?! He's lucky if hes the 3rd best at his position in his conference!

Please Bill, explain to me WHY Peter King Gets Paid. Is it just because he has the cell phone numbers of lot's of players? I reaaaaaly don't understand it.
--------------------------------------
Bob,
With all due respect to other writers, Ryan is having a spendid year but I think that the running game, meaning Turner, has helped the rookie QB immeasurably.
-- Bill O.

Vote #1 for Warner, with a 2nd choice of Portis. I think that with the success of Chad with Miami, that the Jets would be in similiar shape. Eli is showing that he may not be putting up fantasy numbers, 10-1 aint shabby, but he has not done a Montana and put the team on his back and carried them like Warner and Portis have done this year.
-----------------------------------------
Capt.,
I agree that Warner will be the popular pick and if he continues this way, a worthy one as well.
-- Bill O.

Jets are 8-3, not 7-4
-----------------------------
Nick,
Thanks, my bad, getting it fixed.
-- Bill O.

What about Albert Haynesworth and Even, just even Ray Lewis. Both are having awesome years and may be in line to some of the best stat for a defensive player in a long time. I full agree with your M turner pick, here's a guy who backed up a Hall of Fame running back and comes to a place with a rookie qb. Dominates the positon and is a scoring machine!

I'd give the award to Haynesworth. He is as valuable a player as Joe Greene, LT and Ray Lewis were when they were at the top of their games. Guys like that win you Super Bowls. After Haynesworth, I'd vote for the Giants Offensive Line.

The Most Valuable Offensive Player ("MVOP"), so far, in my opinion, is Brett Favre. Those guys you listed have nice numbers, but Favre has turned a team around with his play.

Phoenix? I think you mean Arizona.

The NFC West is a broken division. The Arizona Cardinals have a record of 4-0 when playing in their division and that could easily be 6-0 by the end of the season. As a matter of fact, Arizona has the same number of wins as the remaining 3 teams in their division COMBINED.

When playing outside their division, they are a paltry 3-4. One of those loses was to Brett Favre...who put up 6 TD passes in that game. I'd have to say that alone will put Favre ahead. If Arizona can't knock off New England when they play, Warner will be merely great against bad teams.

There is a lot of football left to determine the MVP. If the Jets can obtain a first round bye under the arm of Favre, it will be hard to beat. If they lose 4 of the next 5 he wouldn't even be on the list. Wouldn't a 4th be amazing for the old guy and a slap in the face for the ones that got rid of him?

Favre is overrated, he's cost the team several times, and lucked up to win (see Chiefs game, and actually WATCH the whole game and break down every pass and you'll see, I'm not really talking about that late pick 6 either).
Warner has turned the Cardinals (THE ARIZONA FREAKIN CARDINALS) into a playoff team. If it ended today, he should get it.
Still 5 games left though.

Bill they'e not Phoenix, it's Arizona. Anyway, I think Warner deserves it.
-----------------------------------
Marcus,
Thanks, we straightened that out right away.
-- Bill O.

your forgetting Drew Brees. The man has been stellar this year. If they had a secondary We would be talking about the Saints in the Super Bowl right now.
----------------------------------------------
Will,
I did the entry before the Monday night game and if it were today, I would have had him in there. That 5-5 record had me lukewarm on him as MVP although I like the guy a lot.
-- Bill O.

You missed one. Probably the one who should win it. Leon Washington of the Jets. Doesn't touch the ball a lot but look at his all purpose yards and # of touchdowns. He was the Jets MVP last season and will be again this season.
------------------------------------------
Ed,
That's an interesting pick. Realistically, though, a RB who isn't a 1,000-yard rusher doesn't have a shot but a guy who can score running, receiving and returning has tremendous value.
-- Bill O.

Give the MVP to an OL or a defensive player ... BTW Michael Turner would be nothing ... if he didn't have those 5 big guys in front of him , neither would Matt Ryan (or any other QB/RB).

I disagree about Farve turning the Jets around. They are only 16th in passing. Yet, they are 8th in rushing. Their ground game is helping the passing game out. Their defense is also playing well and keeping them in most of the games. If you look Farve rating is just barely higher than Pennington. Farve as usual leads the league in interceptions.

Michael "The Burner" Turner for MVP? Who woulda thunk it? Here's a guy who has singlehandedly turned an offense around! He will ground out a game and wear down a defense so Matt Ryan can then pick his passes he needs to manage the game effectively. Turner can run over defenders or, just as easily, run past and away from defenders - and hardly anyone can catch him in the open field. Its a shame he had to sit behind LT for 4 years. Its a shame he was drafted in the 5th round. This is Pro Bowl material at its finest.

I agree with your assessment of Eli. With a great running game, he has not had to put up Drew Brees type stats, but he passes well when needed. And he directs that high octane offense.

The Giants are (so far) the best in the league, and they keep losing players. The one player they could not do without is Manning. And his cool under pressure - the "ice running through his veins" - is quickly becoming legendary.

FAVRE-he's had 3 months to learn a totally different offense, high completion%, and he doesn't thrown to larry fitzgerald/anquan boldin, and play a pathetic NFC West-easy choice-and look what favres done for the team-open up the run game which was NON-EXISTENT last year!

With the Giants cruising this year without Strahan, Osi, and several games without their supposed best offensive playmaker in Plaxico, Eli just continues to get it done time and time again, proving to be the most clutch, cool customer at the qb position in the league today (with all due respect to his brother and Brady) ... he is the one Giant player above all others whose loss would truly be devastating if he were ever to go down for any period of time.

The NFL loves it's young stud qb's, and after being crucified in New York for years, Eli has proved to be a true champion and mature beyond his years both on and off the field, and would not be a surprise at all if he were to win the MVP.

Portis is having an explosive season at 5 yds/carry and is propelling an otherwise lackluster offense into playoff contention. As a Giant fan, I appreciate the cred that Eli is earning but honestly there is no single MVP for the team -- I'd suggest Antonio Pearce has more dibs on the award than the QB.

I honestly have no idea what the fascination is with Eli Manning and his "cool under pressure". If I remember correctly, the Giants have been way ahead in most games this year, meaning Eli hasn't led many game winning drives (in the 4th quarter at least). While that takes nothing away from him, it also means you can't possibly say he is a better pressure QB than Peyton or Tom Brady...there just isn't a reasonable sample size. A previous poster commented that Eli hasn't put up big numbers because he hasn't needed too. That's true, but since having to put up big games for your team to win is the actual definition of MVP, it's also precisely why he is ABSOLUTELY NOT the most valuable player this year. The Giants have a very good defense (soooo much better than last year's in the regular season for all of you claiming Eli is the biggest reason the Giants are so much better) and an absolutely outstanding running game (the Giants run to set up the pass...in that kind of offense, the quarterback just can't be the mvp). There is just no reasonable argument for Eli to be the most valuable player...especially since he isn't even the most valuable on his team (3rd to the offensive line and Brandon Jacobs).

I can't believe no one has brought him up yet in this discussion, but Peyton Manning is hands down the MVP of the league this year. The Colts have the 32nd ranked rush offense this year (versus 1st for the Giants). That's dead last in the league. He's coming back from knee surgery and, while struggling at times, has singlehandedly won several games for Indy. The defense has been a liability and (per usual) Bob Sanders has been injured for most of the year. It is an absolute miracle that the Colts are 7-4 and will be 10-4 after playing the Browns,Bengals, and Lions the next three weeks. And it's mostly due to Peyton and his ACTUAL cool under pressure (see games against Minnesota, Houston, Pittsburgh, and San Diego). If this essay isn't enough to induce serious consideration for Manning (the great one) for MVP, nothing will, so I'll stop rambling now :).
-----------------------------------------------
Jake,
That's interesting bit of advocacy and your arugment is a good one considering few would put Peyton in the conversation.
-- Bill O.

So give all the credit for Leon Washington's ablility to run and break tackles to Favre? That little 3 yard screen in the flats that Leon breaks for a 60 yard TD is how much of the success to Favre? BTW, does Favre play on special teams with Leon Washington gets the offense good field position with his returns?