This week Trey Vaughan and Mitch Carney will be debating the winner of the NFL MVP award through week 9.

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 Trey Vaughan

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The MVP race is interesting this year. A young quarterback trying to make his case for being a superstar in his first full season. A veteran quarterback who is breaking records and has yet to win an MVP despite his record-breaking career. A running back who looks to be one of the best to play the position. 

If you didn’t think of the players as I described them, they are Patrick Mahomes, Drew Brees, and Todd Gurley. 

Drew Brees is leading a team that is playing great football right now. He has only thrown one interception all season. He is arguably leading the best team in the NFL right now after knocking off the best team in the NFL. Brees’ stats may not blow your mind, but the man is efficient and he is playing the game better than anyone else right now, end of story. His team hasn’t lost since a fluke loss against the Buccaneers in Week 1. 

Patrick Mahomes is hard to pick against. His numbers are outrageous for a guy who has played less than a season. 2,900 yards, 29 TDs, and just seven picks. He is leading another team that has played great football all season. His only loss comes to a really good Tom Brady-led team. Mahomes has been stellar, the only knock against Mahomes is that he has some of the best offensive weapons around him. The best tight end in the NFL in Travis Kelce, a really good running back in Kareem Hunt, and one of the fastest players in the NFL in Tyreek Hill. I know Brees has some great weapons as well but collectively, the Chiefs have a more dangerous array of weapons. 

Todd Gurley is great don’t get me wrong.  Gurley is powering the Rams right now, but don’t doubt the abilities of Jared Goff and just how much he does to help that team. They also have a very talented receiving core, as well as the best defense of these three players’ respected teams. 

Brees leads the best team in the NFL and you can’t change my mind, if you beat the best, you are the best, and Drew Brees did that. He has played extremely efficient and has avoided turning the ball over. He is your current MVP. He has been an MVP caliber quarterback for a long time, it’s time he was rewarded.

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Mitch Carney

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I agree with Trey, it’s a three man race this year for MVP and personally I can see all of them winning the MVP award this year. I think out of three though Drew Brees finishes third , with Todd Gurley getting a close second to the Chiefs break out star Patrick Mahomes. 

Drew Brees is a great quarterback this year and will be for the next couple years, but Patrick Mahomes is on pace to break records as he tries to get 300 yards in his ninth game in a row. If you know me at all you probably know I’m a Chiefs fan, but this take is not biased. Patrick Mahomes has eleven more touchdowns and almost 600 more yards. Brees does have less interceptions only throwing one and a higher passing rating than Mahomes does, which is impressive, but I have to give it to Mahomes because of how bad that Chiefs’ defense has been. The Chiefs have to rely on Mahomes to score almost every drive because you can’t count on that Chiefs’ defense. 

The case against Todd Gurley is another tough one for me, but if you take Todd Gurley off that team they would probably be around a 6-3 or 5-4 team instead of at  8-1. If Patrick Mahomes was off of the Chiefs’ roster they would probably lose every game. If Gurley has a bad game Jared Goff can get the job done and get the win. The same goes to Brees. They have a great running back in Alvin Kamara who can take over the game with a defense that isn’t great, but is at least better than the Chiefs. If Mahomes isn’t able to throw for 300 yards the Chiefs are in big trouble. 

If the Chiefs had decided to keep Alex Smith I don’t think he would be able to do what Mahomes has done and that’s what makes the biggest difference for me. Alex Smith, who was a really good quarterback for the Chiefs, would probably be 4-5 with the same Chiefs team that Mahomes has just because of how bad the defense is. I’ll be honest, Mahomes does have it somewhat easy with the weapons he has, but I don’t think Alex Smith or another quarterback could put up the numbers Mahomes has this season. This award belongs to Mahomes because of the level of play he has to perform at because if he doesn’t the Chiefs would be outscored every game.