Why Jahmyr Gibbs is the NFL MVP

Came up big in all 15 wins.

After hanging around near the top of the list for most of the season, Jahmyr Gibbs grabbed the top spot in the MVP Chase when it mattered most: the final game of the season.

You might think I’m nuts, but if I got to vote for the NFL MVP, he’d be first on my ballot, followed by the next four on the final top 20 list because that’s what I said I would do:

Here’s my reasoning. My baseline for a player to earn points for MVP each week was:

• For his team to win the game.
• To gain 90+ yards from scrimmage or earn a passer rating of 90+, although the player could have finished slightly below these marks if they had scored touchdowns.

For backs and receivers, the standard was to gain enough yards which, if repeated every game, would make one a Pro Bowler or All-Pro. That standard is 90 yards from scrimmage. I set a much lower standard for a quarterback; 90.0 was a little below average for NFL passer ratings. But the quarterback is a difficult position, and as long as the passer rating wasn’t too bad, I thought a quarterback’s win should count in his MVP…