NFL MVP watch 2021 – Is Tom Brady running away with the race? We ranked the top candidates

By now, the 2021 NFL MVP field is set with the clear-cut favorites. But as we learned from last year’s late-season leap-frogging, a lot can change order-wise for the top candidates during the final games.

The Buccaneers’ Tom Brady and the Packers’ Aaron Rodgers have made this a two-quarterback race entering Week 15 and could actually create history by season’s end. They are two of six players in NFL history to win three MVP awards, and there has never been a year in NFL, MLB, NBA or NHL history in which three-time MVPs finished 1-2 in voting for the award. But even though Brady and Rodgers appear to be the front-runners, this race has plenty of deserving stars in the mix.

We asked a group of analysts — Stephania Bell, Matt Bowen, Mike Clay, Courtney Cronin, Dan Graziano, Jeremy Fowler, Kevin Seifert, Field Yates and Seth Walder — to vote on the top players in the MVP race right now. Then we used those 10 sets of rankings to give our top five candidates overall, using Heisman Trophy-esque scaling for each ranking, to determine how the field stacks up to this point. ESPN analytics writer Seth Walder also weighs in on an under-the-radar MVP-caliber player, and ESPN Chalk analyst Doug Kezirian identifies his top value bet for MVP at the moment.

With 26 teams still alive in the NFL playoff picture, the MVP race is headed for an exciting finish, with candidates from all over trying to make one final push for the league’s most prestigious award. Here’s a look at where things stand going into the final four weeks of the regular season.

Note: All odds are via Caesars Sportsbook.

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Top five | Just missed
Under-the-radar | Value bet

2021 stats: 4,134 passing yards, 38 total TDs, 10 INTs, 67.7 QBR

Brady is currently the overwhelming favorite to win the MVP (-180) while leading the NFL in passing yards, completions and touchdowns throws. The 44-year-old QB has Tampa Bay jockeying with Green Bay and Arizona for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, which would almost certainly make him a…