Brock Purdy can stump for teammate Christian McCaffrey all he likes, but the reality is that oddsmakers view the San Francisco 49ers’ second-year quarterback as the odds-on favorite to win Most Valuable Player honors this season.
Purdy is coming off a four-touchdown game in the 49ers’ Week 15 rout of Arizona. Meanwhile, two of his closest pursuers in the MVP race, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts, suffered defeats that were surprising for separate reasons.
Purdy, who was the final pick of the NFL draft less than two years ago, now has a league-leading 29 touchdown passes against only seven interceptions while passing for 3,795 yards this season. He is now the -200 MVP favorite at DraftKings and has even shorter odds at -225 at BetMGM, where he leads all players with 11.7 percent of the money wagered backing Purdy to win MVP.
Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson remains firmly in the picture at +450 and +500, respectively, followed by Prescott, who is being offered at +700 by both books. Jackson does have a prime-time opportunity to go head-to-head against Purdy, with San Francisco set to play host to Baltimore on Monday Night Football on Christmas Day.
Purdy said after Sunday game that he believes the versatile McCaffrey should be leading the MVP race, and the running back is fourth at DraftKings (+1000) and fifth at BetMGM (+1,600). McCaffrey leads the league in carries (244) and rushing yards (1,292) and has amassed 20 total touchdowns through the 49ers’ first 14 games.
“I think Christian should be MVP,” Purdy told reporters. “I really do believe that. He does everything for us. Runs the ball well, catches the ball, he does everything. In my eyes, that’s the MVP.”
McCaffrey does remain BetMGM’s biggest liability in the MVP market, having drawn 7.9 percent of the money wagered since opening at +10000. He is also the odds-on favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year honors. McCaffrey is being offered at -150 by DraftKings and at -155 by BetMGM, where he leads with 13.1 percent of the total bets placed.
Hurts, who led the MVP race much of the season and still has been backed by the most total bets at BetMGM at 11.1 percent, has almost fallen out of the picture at +2000 and +1800 by BetMGM. The Eagles have loss three consecutive games, the most recent coming in a Monday night upset at Seattle against a Seahawks team that had dropped four consecutive games and started a backup quarterback.
Prescott remains in the picture, but his odds also took a significant hit after Sunday’s 31-10 blowout loss at Buffalo. In additional to failing to throw a touchdown for the first time since Week 1, Prescott threw his first interception in five games.
–Field Level Media