Jon Gruden Crosses Off Josh Allen & Lamar Jackson While Naming His True MVP of the Season

While the football world has been bickering over Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson as their NFL MVP this season, revered coach Jon Gruden doesn’t see either of them as the true contender for the crown. For the former Bucs HC, Joe Burrow is the undisputed NFL MVP this year.

In Jon Gruden’s latest Instagram reel, the former Buccaneers head coach showered intense praise on Burrow. He described the Bengals QB’s performances this year as a never-before-seen experience, despite years of coaching QBs and following the league.

Gruden appeared mesmerized by Burrow’s statistical superiority over his peers, and rightly so. When compared head-to-head, no one but the QB has stats that read like this: 4,641 passing yards, 42 passing TDs, and 8 INTs.

What impressed Gruden the most about the LSU alum was his ability to put up these humongous numbers despite his supporting cast being ravaged by injuries. This is a major contextual point that cannot be ignored, as both Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson had healthy and firing teammates.

Burrow, however, has an injured left tackle (Orlando Brown Jr.) and had a rookie in his right tackle (Amarius Mims), along with receivers missing multiple games due to injuries.

On top of these adversities, the fact that Joe Burrow set the never-before-seen record of going 8 games straight with 250+ yards and 3 TDs was simply unbelievable to Gruden. For all these reasons, he named Joe Burrow his true MVP of the season, over top contenders like Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Sam Darnold, Jared Goff, and Saquon Barkley.

To me there’s one clear MVP. This man led the NFL with 4641 yards. He also led the NFL with 42 TD pass, only 8 INTs. He ran for 202 yards, and threw for 70%. He has 8 straight games with over 250 yards with 3 or more TDs. Never been done. He has a rookie right tackle. He also has an injured left tackle. His star receiver was out for a while… I’ve been coaching QBs and studying QBs a long time but I ain’t never seen a QB play like Joe Burrow.

Despite Gruden making a strong case for Burrow, the bookmakers don’t feel the same. As per the latest odds, Josh Allen remains the favorite to win the NFL MVP at -400, while Lamar Jackson trails in second place at +230. The Bengals QB, meanwhile, is a distant third at +3000, with Saquon Barkley right behind him at +4000.

Despite statistical superiority, the logical reason why Burrow seems to not be a favorite is due to the Bengals’ collective failures this season. For the ones against Burrow being an NFL MVP favorite, their definition of the title means a player who was fundamental in a team’s success.

This is unfortunately true as “success” has eluded Burrow & Co. this season. Unlike Allen and Lamar’s teams, Burrow’s Bengals are barely in playoff contention, let alone be Super Bowl favorites.

That said, things will get interesting in the MVP race should the Bengals qualify for the playoffs. This, however, is a tough ask as they don’t control their destiny anymore. Statistical models give Burrow & Co. just a 6% chance of making it to the post-season amongst the teams [Broncos and Dolphins] vying for the final playoff spot.