Todd Gurley passes Tom Brady in MVP poll after sitting final week of season
Gurley went for over 2,000 all-purpose yards in 2017 and was a key cog in LA's offensive turnaround
By
Kevin Skiver
•
1 min read
After a phenomenal season, the Patriots' Tom Brady may fall short of the MVP award once again. According to a weekly poll from USA Today, the Rams' Todd Gurley has overtaken Brady as the front-runner for MVP. Gurley, who has been a major part of the Rams' 10th-ranked offense in 2017, has reaffirmed himself as one of the top backs in the NFL after a down 2016 season.
Brady has been involved in a lot of MVP conversations this year. After a slow 0-2 start, the conversation was Brady vs. Alex Smith. Then it was Brady vs. Antonio Brown. After that Brady vs. Wentz was in play, followed by Brady vs. Russell Wilson. Ultimately, Brady has been a constant. He threw for 4,577 yards, 32 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2017. He also led the Patriots to the first seed in the AFC with a 13-3 record. All-in-all, it was a really good year for Brady.
However, a relatively slow final five weeks and a huge stretch from Gurley propelled the Rams' running back into the conversation. Over the last five games, Brady averaged 240.6 yards per game, threw six touchdowns and five interceptions. The Patriots, however, went 4-1 over this stretch.
Meanwhile, over his last two games of the season, Gurley averaged 228 yards from scrimmage and scored six touchdowns before sitting in Week 17. This recent turn illustrates -- and somehow argues against -- recency bias. Gurley not playing in Week 17 somehow gave him a jump over Brady, who wasn't amazing against the Jets, but didn't play poorly. Although the MVP may be taking a similar direction to the Coach of the Year Award, which Bill Belichick has won three times (and hasn't won since 2010). Brady is a two-time MVP winner, with his last win also coming in 2010.
Although there's no question that Gurley has earned a spot in the conversation, Brady has been a mainstay in the conversation all season. The only counterargument for bumping Gurley would be watching the Rams get dismantled without him, but that was in a game that Jared Goff also didn't play in. Brady is trailing right now, but the race with Gurley will be neck-and-neck until all the votes are in.
