Who will be named Most Valuable Player of Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday? With the star power on both the San Francisco 49ers and the Kansas City Chiefs, the game won’t be lacking in quality candidates for the honor.
It’s no surprise that the biggest star in the game, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, is the favorite to win Super Bowl MVP honors for the second straight year, even though the San Francisco 49ers are currently favored by two points.
According to BetMGM’s current odds, following Mahomes is San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and then 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey, with Mahomes’ teammate, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, making a push the closer we get to Super Bowl LVIII on Sunday.
Here’s a closer look at each of the top five candidates:
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1. Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs QB (+135)
Mahomes could win his third Super Bowl MVP award, tying him with Joe Montana for the second-most all-time behind Tom Brady, who has five MVPs. In addition, if Mahomes wins again, he would be the first back-to-back Super Bowl MVP in 44 years. The last to do it was Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Terry Bradshaw for Super Bowl XIII and XIV.
2. Brock Purdy, 49ers QB (+230)
Purdy could complete a “Cinderella’ story if he were to win the Super Bowl and take home MVP honors. Already, the former “Mr. Irrelevant” as the final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft will be the third-youngest quarterback to start a Super Bowl at 24 years and 46 days. The only ones younger were Dan Marino (23-127) and Ben Roethlisberger (23-340). He’d be the second-youngest to win a Super Bowl (behind Big Ben) and the third-youngest player to win Super Bowl MVP — behind Marcus Allen and Lynn Swann.
Related: How winning Super Bowl LVIII would be San Francisco 49ers QB Brock Purdy’s silver bullet
3. Christian McCaffrey, 49ers RB (+450)
Based on Super Bowl history, McCaffrey would appear to be a long shot. Only seven running backs have been named Super Bowl MVP, but no one this century. The last to do it was Denver Broncos running back Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII, played on Jan. 25, 1998. Given how often McCaffrey touches the football and his knack for getting into the end zone, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see McCaffrey have a huge game that is worthy of the honor.
Related: Best players in Super Bowl LVIII
4. Travis Kelce, Chiefs TE (+1200)
This is where it gets interesting. Before the wild-card round of the playoffs, Kelce was at +12500. But thanks to the Taylor Swift effect, bettors have been pouring in to wager on the Chiefs’ tight end, who’s currently getting more bets than everyone but McCaffrey. While no tight end has ever won the award, Kelce is only 11 receptions behind Jerry Rice for the most receptions in Super Bowl history. If he were to surpass Rice and score a few touchdowns, he could be headed to Disneyland with his famous girlfriend.
Related: Travis Kelce vs. George Kittle: Who’s the better tight end in Super Bowl LVIII?
5. Deebo Samuel, 49ers WR (+2500)
Receivers have won two of the past five Super Bowl MVPs (Cooper Kupp in 2021 and Julian Edelman in 2019), but what separates Samuel is his game-breaking ability both as a wideout and as a back coming out of the backfield. He’s a powder keg ready to explode, particularly if the Chiefs key on McCaffrey. That could open up opportunities for Samuel to have a productive all-purpose game. He had 96 all-purpose yards in the NFC Championship Game and could erupt for more in the Super Bowl.
Others:
- Isiah Pacheco, Chiefs RB (+2800)
- Brandon Aiyuk, 49ers WR (+5000)
- Rashee Rice, Chiefs WR (+6600)
- George Kittle, 49ers TE (+8000)
- Chris Jones, Chiefs DT (+12500)
- Nick Bosa, 49ers DE (+12500)
And the winner will be …
The choice here is Christian McCaffrey. He will get at least 25-30 touches in the game because the Kansas City Chiefs’ defense is poor against the run. 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan will craft a game plan around his best offensive player, and McCaffrey will reward his coach’s faith in him with 150 all-purpose yards and at least two touchdowns.