Joe Burrow among top favorites to win 2022 NFL MVP

The entire NFL got to learn what Cincinnati Bengals fans had already learned in 2021.

Quarterback Joe Burrow is already one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL, and this offense has the skill position players to be the best in the league. That doesn’t make it all that surprising that DraftKings Sportsbook has Burrow tied as the fourth-most likely player to win the MVP award in 2022.

Here is the breakdown of some of the favorites:

• Josh Allen +750
• Patrick Mahomes +750
• Aaron Rodgers +800
• Joe Burrow +1400
• Dak Prescott +1600
• Matthew Stafford +1800
• Kyler Murray +2200
• Russell Wilson +2500

It isn’t too bad sitting behind two players who have already won the award (Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes) before and Josh Allen who looked unstoppable in the playoffs before his defense let him down.

Burrow’s 2021 season was far more impressive than many will give him credit for. He was sixth in passing yards, led the NFL in yards per attempt (8.9), led the league in completion percentage (70.4 percent), eighth in touchdowns (34) and second only to Rodgers with a passer rating of 108.3.

The scary thing about that season is we all know he did that coming back early from a devastating ACL injury in 2020 and an offensive line that was still below average. This will be Burrow’s first regular offseason that isn’t over Zoom or spent rehabbing. The best news is that all of his weapons — outside of veteran tight end C.J. Uzomah — are under contract for next season. Even with them under contract, the Bengals have plenty of cap space to bring in a few offensive linemen to improve Cincinnati’s franchise quarterback’s protection.

It is also interesting that wide receiver Ja’Marr Chase is the fifth most likely non-quarterback option to win the MVP. He is behind names like Derrick Henry, Cooper Kupp, Jonathan Taylor and Deebo Samuel. That show how much the oddsmakers respect Chase going into his second season.

This is all is exciting news now. Last season we saw the Bengals clearly viewed as one of the worst teams in the NFL by the oddsmakers and national media. Now they will enter 2022 as favorites in multiple areas — if they continue to make the right moves in the offseason.

There will be a time in the next few years that this all will become expected. It is a tough race with all of the extremely talented quarterbacks in the NFL, but Burrow should end up with at least a few MVP awards by the time it is all said and done.

Will 2022 be his first?