Is Christian McCaffrey a Dark Horse for The 2025 NFL MVP Award?

We are in the age of the quarterback in the NFL, so it’s no wonder that the MVP award for the league has basically become a “best QB in football” trophy. But there are still non-QBs, like Christian McCaffrey, who are putting up season-long performances that would have been more than deserving of the honor in previous decades.

As it stands, the MVP race seems like one of the two-horse variety. New England Patriots second-year QB Drake Maye is the odds-on favorite. If the odds are to be believed, veteran Los Angeles Rams QB Matthew Stafford is the only guy with a chance to upset Maye. CMC is way down in sixth on the odds board with massive long-shot odds.

But there are many who continue to bristle at the whole “MVP-turned-QB-trophy” trend. Former San Francisco 49ers standout safety Donte Whitner said that CMC is not just an MVP-caliber player, but is setting himself up for “legendary status” with his performance this season.

“When you hear people say ‘Christian McCaffrey is slowing down’, shut the f*ck up,” Whitner said. “You don’t know football, you never watched football, you never played football. Christian McCaffrey is solidifying himself as a legendary status in my opinion.”

Whitner’s and CMC’s respective tenures with the team were about a decade apart, but Whitner still defends McCaffrey like they were teammates. The 49ers’ brotherhood clearly continues to run strong.

There is one specific scenario where Christian McCaffrey could steal the MVP

Another voice in CMC’s corner here is respected ESPN pundit Peter Schrager, who argues that the weak field of QBs this season means that perhaps voters should throw caution to the wind and consider a player at a different position, like McCaffrey.

“Christian McCaffrey belongs in the MVP conversation in a year where it’s not a slam-dunk, historical season from a quarterback. … In a year where we’re kinda like, I guess it’s the best quarterback award, and we can’t really decide whether Drake Maye or Matthew Stafford’s that guy, maybe this is the year we give it to a running back.”

As it stands, the 2025 Pro Bowler leads the league in touches, with 399. He’s third in rushes (303), eighth in rush yards (1,179), and t-ninth in rushing TDs (10). However, his 3.9 yards per attempt do stick out like a sore thumb there.

What’s most impressive is CMC’s ability to impact the game through the air. He’s a running back, and he’s seventh in the league with 96 receptions. He also has 890 receiving yards and seven receiving TDs. McCaffrey is second in yards from scrimmage (2,069) and scrimmage TDs (17).

If he catches four passes in Week 18, CMC will become just the second player in NFL history to record 300+ rushing attempts and 100+ receptions in the same season (LaDainian Tomlinson, 2003).

And that Week 18 game is really going to be McCaffrey’s MVP Hail Mary. As Schrager outlined, if the 49ers win on the back of another huge game from their running back, CMC will simply have to be a serious MVP contender. It would mean San Francisco finished 13-4 and atop the NFC as the No. 1 seed. Their best player will have to be considered.

However, with +25,000 odds going into the weekend, this is the long shot of all long shots. Heck, when Tomlinson achieved the 300-100 season over 20 years ago, he wasn’t even named a First-Team All-Pro.

And he certainly didn’t get any MVP votes, as two QBs split the vote and shared the award. Could we be headed for a similar fate?