The first two weeks of the NFL season has shuffled the deck of Most Valuable Player contenders, with oddsmakers divided about who the current favorite is.
Tua Tagovailoa, who has steered the Miami Dolphins to one of only two 2-0 starts in the AFC, has seen the biggest jump at many sportsbooks. In fact, he now has the shortest odds at BetMGM (+500) and DraftKings (+600) ahead of two-time and reigning MVP Patrick Mahomes at +650 and +700, respectively.
Tagovailoa continues to blossom in his fourth season, throwing for 715 yards with four touchdowns against a pair of interceptions. However, he has yet to play more than 13 games in a season and must show he can avoid significant injuries to remain in the hunt.
While his MVP odds have shortened from +2000 to +900 at Circa Sports, Tagovailoa still shares just the fourth-shortest odds at the book. Mahomes, who led Kansas City to a win over Jacksonville after an opening loss to Detroit, remains the favorite at Circa at +500.
They are followed by Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts (+800) and Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson (+950).
Meanwhile, the biggest faller has been Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, who has moved from being the second favorite at +575 entering the season to +1300. The Bengals are 0-2 and Burrow is dealing with a calf injury he first suffered in training camp and aggravated in Sunday’s loss to Baltimore.
Through two games, he’s 28th in the NFL in passing yards (310) and has one completion longer than 20 yards, a 32-yarder to running back Joe Mixon. Burrow is averaging 4.22 yards per pass attempt, down from 7.38 last season and 8.87 in 2021.
NFL MVP ODDS (Circa Sports)
–Patrick Mahomes (+500)
–Jalen Hurts (+800)
–Lamar Jackson (+850)
–Josh Allen (+900)
–Tua Tagovailoa (+900)
–Justin Herbert (+1200)
–Joe Burrow (+1300)
–Trevor Lawrence (+1300)
–Dak Prescott (+2000)
–Field Level Media