Brown is a Patriot, Mike Evans is a 49er, and Kyler Murray is a Viking. Sam Darnold is a Super Bowl champion ahead of Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, and Joe Burrow. The Chiefs just won six games, and the Bears beat the Packers in a playoff game.
Aaron Rodgers, 42, is still quarterbacking in the NFL. If you told me any of this last August, I wouldn't have believed you. The past year has been a crazy one, and some of the award winners in 2025 caught everyone by surprise.
Did anybody think a 38-year-old Matthew Stafford would put up the best numbers of his career? Or that Drake Maye would take the Patriots to the Super Bowl? The NFL remains a wild, unpredictable beast, and that's why we love it.
With Week 1 right around the corner, it's time to make our calls on who takes home the league's top individual honors this season. More news: Jerry Jones Plans to Make Cowboys Players Pay for $500,000 NFL Fine Burrow's got the best receiver in football in Ja'Marr Chase, arguably the best WR2 in Tee Higgins, and, for the first time, an actual defense. He's one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the NFL and has powered one of the league's most explosive offenses for years.
Most importantly, he's said repeatedly that this is the best team he's been around during his time in Cincinnati. If the defense is even slightly above average, Cincinnati could easily win 12+ games and recapture the NFC North throne. And if Burrow stays healthy, there's no reason he can't recapture his 2024 form (4,918 yards, 43 touchdowns) — nearly identical to Matthew Stafford's MVP season, minus a losing record.
Honorable mentions: Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Caleb Williams This is the year Gibbs cements himself as the best running back in the NFL. With David Montgomery gone, Gibbs finally gets the backfield to himself — he's never topped 67% of Detroit's offensive snaps, well below top backs like Saquon Barkley (78%), Bijan Robinson (79%), Jonathan Taylor (82%), and Christian McCaffrey (83%) last season. Barkley won OPOY in 2024 off a historic 2,005-yard season; McCaffrey won it in 2023 with 1,459 rushing yards, 21 total touchdowns, and 564 receiving yards — numbers Gibbs has already flirted with while splitting carries.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
