Just four weeks remain in the 2022 NFL regular season, so we are back with another edition of our MVP watch poll.
A panel of 11 voters each submitted the top five names on their early MVP ballots, and those ballots were tabulated using a weighted points system to determine the leader. A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote worth four points, a third-place vote worth three, a fourth-place vote worth two, and a fifth-place vote worth one.
After all that tabulating was done, our leader was again Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, who (slightly) expanded his narrow advantage over Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Hurts (8) did leapfrog Mahomes (3) in the number of first-place votes this week, and neither player received any vote lower than third place. The same was nearly true of Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, who also appeared on every ballot. He received exclusively second- and third-place votes with the exception of one this time around. Outside of that trio, only Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson received a vote inside the top three.
Without further ado, let's get to the voting breakdown.
The panel of voters: Jonathan Jones, Ryan Wilson, John Breech, Jared Dubin, Cody Benjamin, Jordan Dajani, Bryan DeArdo, Josh Edwards, Tyler Sullivan, Jeff Kerr, Chris Trapasso
The full MVP leaderboard
1. Eagles QB Jalen Hurts (51) Last Week: 1st
2. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (43) Last Week: 2nd
3. Bengals QB Joe Burrow (36) Last Week: 3rd
4. Bills QB Josh Allen (15) Last Week: 4th
5. Vikings WR Justin Jefferson (7) Last Week: 7th
T-6. Dolphins QB Tua Tagovailoa (5) Last Week: 5th
T-6. Dolphins WR Tyreek Hill (5) Last Week: 6th
8. 49ers EDGE Nick Bosa (2) Last Week: T-8th
9. 49ers RB Christian McCaffrey (1) Last Week: T-8th
Dropped out: Cowboys EDGE Micah Parsons
Most first-place votes:
- Jalen Hurts (8 out of 11)
- Patrick Mahomes (3)
Most second-place votes:
- Patrick Mahomes (4)
- Joe Burrow (4)
- Jalen Hurts (2)
- Justin Jefferson (1)
Most total ballots:
- Jalen Hurts, Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow (11 out of 11)
- Josh Allen (8)
- Justin Jefferson, Tyreek Hill (4)
- Tua Tagovailoa (3)
- Nick Bosa (2)
- Christian McCaffrey (1)
Positional representation:
- QB (5)
- WR (2)
- RB (1)
- EDGE (1)
So who will actually win?
Hurts is now the betting favorite, according to Caesars Sportsbook, but Mahomes is close behind. That's a reversal from last week, but the gap between the two players is close enough that because of the new voting system that will debut this year, the actual result could conceivably come down to who gets the most down-ballot votes and/or winds up on the most ballots.
