Who will be the MVP of your team in the NFL?

arizona cardinals

Sure, the Cardinals would love to see some of their young players, like linebackers Isaiah Simmons and Zaven Collins, become team-caliber MVPs. The reality is that the best and most important player they have is quarterback Kyler Murray. For the Cardinals to be competitive in the NFC West, they will need Murray to be one of the best in the league consistently through 17 games.

Atlanta Falcons

Until the Falcons find their long-term answer at quarterback, the question will be whether Atlanta should have taken a quarterback in the last draft. However, that shouldn’t overshadow the player the Falcons got with that pick: tight end Kyle Pitts. As a rookie, Pitts led the team in receiving yards (1,026 on 68 catches), and he will be the top target again in 2022.

Baltimore Ravens

As long as Lamar Jackson stays reasonably healthy in 2022, there’s really no other answer. Given his contract status, Jackson will be arguably the most scrutinized player in the sport heading into Week 1. However, he seems to thrive on questions and proving people wrong. Jackson is said to have worked very hard this offseason on his fundamentals and those who know him best are hoping he has a great recovery year. He certainly should help the Ravens solidify their offensive line this offseason.

buffalo bills

Josh Allen has been a league MVP candidate for the past two years and should do so again, health permitting. But this year, Allen may establish himself in a completely different way. The only offensive coordinator he’s worked with, Brian Daboll, is now the Giants’ head coach. Allen went from an up-and-comer to a full-fledged star who buffs teammates, but the degree of difficulty without Daboll has increased because things changed in 2022. If Allen can also help freshman Ken Dorsey make transitioning smoothly, Allen will cement himself as one of the best in the league once again.

Carolina Panthers

A couple of seasons ago this would have been a no-brainer. But that was before the rash of injuries cost All-Pro running back Christian McCaffrey 23 of 33 games in 2020-21. So we’ll go with DJ Moore, whose 3,525 receiving yards over the past three seasons rank fourth in the NFL, despite playing with six different quarterbacks in that span. On a better team, Moore would be better known. He shows up every week (he has missed two games in four seasons) and makes plays (his 10 sacks of 50 yards or more are tied for the most since 2018).

Chicago Bears

The Bears would love for January, the answer to that is Justin Fields, but it’s hard to get there right now considering the new offense and lack of help around him. The likely MVP is the team’s most reliable player, Roquan Smith. He’s put up Pro Bowl numbers in consecutive seasons, and should get more opportunities to make impact plays on defense than Matt Eberflus. The Bears can count on Smith to be consistent and productive, a rarity for the 2022 team.

Cincinnati Bengals

If the Bengals’ MVP this year is anyone other than Joe Burrow, something has gone terribly wrong. More specifically, that means the injury would hit the starting quarterback again. There’s a scenario where Burrow regresses and someone upstages him despite a totally healthy season, but maybe in another galaxy. Burrow will be the driving force in everything the Bengals do and a year after being in the MVP conversation and ranking as the highest-rated quarterback in football by the PFF, this team will be shaped and driven by his performance while he’s on the field. taking pictures.

Cleveland Browns

While it’s impossible to see the Browns as a playoff team without Deshaun Watson and it’s hard to imagine them making it to the postseason without a monster season from Myles Garrett, Nick Chubb will most likely raise his hand as my projected season MVP. Regardless of who is playing quarterback (and for how many games), the Browns have invested heavily in their offensive line and running game and have a proven commodity in Chubb, who is not only outstandingly talented, but has proven capable. to support a heavy workload.

dallas cowboys

Mica Parsons. For the first time in more than a decade, the Cowboys have a chance to win because of their defense, and Parsons is the face of that group. He should be back in the NFL Defensive Player of the Year discussion again. He will continue to have plenty of opportunities to rush the passer as long as he sees significant time making plays all over the field as a traditional linebacker. While he showed during his rookie season that he can do just about anything you ask of him, Parsons is expected to be even more effective in his second season working with defensive coordinator Dan Quinn.

Denver Broncos

The Broncos traded three players and five draft picks for Russell Wilson at quarterback, ending a post-Peyton Manning stretch of wandering at the position that lasted six seasons. If Wilson isn’t the team’s MVP in 2022, then Denver’s hope of stopping its stretch of losing seasons at five is likely in jeopardy. The Broncos shouldn’t put everything on Wilson’s shoulders. They have talented skill players and an improved offensive line. But the 33-year-old quarterback needs to play at a Pro Bowl level if the Broncos have any hope of winning the AFC West.

Detroit Lions

The Lions will gain attention with D’Andre Swift, and that could be a springboard for the rest of the country to find out about Detroit’s best playmaker. It would be silly to suggest that Swift’s talent is an unknown commodity in the league, but inconsistency (and durability) has overshadowed it a bit. Swift matched 617 rushing yards and five touchdowns with 62 catches for 452 yards and two more scores last year. After Swift’s injury-plagued rookie season, Detroit brought in Jamaal Williams and he did a good job managing Swift’s workload early.

Green Bay Packers

It’s safe to think that the Packers’ team MVP will be the guy who has been the league’s MVP the past two seasons. Aaron Rodgers can make a middle receiving body look great, and there’s no question he will do so this season. There has been no sign that his game has slowed down, and there is a hunch that he will want to show that he can still play at an elite level without his top two receivers from last season.

Houston Texans

After signing a contract extension this offseason that keeps him tied to the team through 2024, Brandin Cooks is once again the Texans’ only above-average skill position player. Last season, he posted his sixth 1,000-yard season with his fifth different quarterback, serving as a security blanket for then-rookie Davis Mills while averaging a career-low 7.7 yards per target, a sign the Texans didn’t have no choice but to force-feed him.

Indianapolis Colts

What’s strange about this Colts offseason is how little talk there has been about Jonathan Taylor. All he did last year was lead the league in rushing for more than 500 yards, and nearly lead the Colts to the playoffs by himself. The third-year running back is poised to build off of his record-breaking 2021 season, and will once again be among the most formidable offensive weapons in the league. With Matt Ryan at center, defenses won’t be able to focus on Taylor as much as they did late last season. Be careful, twenty-eight is coming for more.

jacksonville jaguars

If you draft a No. 1 quarterback overall, you need him to be your best player and an obvious team MVP, and Trevor Lawrence should be in his second NFL season. After just 12 touchdowns passed in his rookie year, he was able to easily double that in 2022, thanks to new receivers Christian Kirk and Zay Jones and tight end Evan Engram. If there’s a dark horse to beat him, it could be second-year back Travis Etienne, who missed last year with injury but could be heavily involved in the run-and-pass game.

Kansas City Chiefs

The Chiefs are in the midst of rebuilding their roster around Patrick Mahomes, who is entering the second phase of his career. Mahomes, however, remains the most talented quarterback in the NFL, a precise gunslinger who can create magic out of adverse situations. If Mahomes guides the Chiefs through another strong regular season, while being presented with a brutal and historically difficult schedule, he will be the team’s expected MVP. And if Mahomes is excellent without Tyreek Hill and a revamped group of receivers, he could be the league’s MVP again.