“Saquon Barkley Should Be the MVP”: Joy Taylor Gives Her Final Verdict on the Much Debated MVP Race

While Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen lead the bookmakers’ odds for the NFL MVP this year, the outspoken Joy Taylor believes that doesn’t reflect the true winner. For her, Saquon Barkley should be the undisputed NFL MVP.

Joy argued that the Eagles RB should be given the award for being one of nine players in the history of the league to reach the 2000+ rushing yards milestone in a season. She also shed light on the impact that Barkley’s addition has had on the Eagles, who have significantly improved from 11-6 last year to 13-3 now. They still have one more game left.

“Saquon Barkley should be the MVP… Only eight other players in the history of the NFL have done what he did. We watched the Eagles last year. They were not what they are this year now. There’s other things that have been adjusted, but our eyeballs have seen the impact that he has had on this season [for the Eagles],” she said on the latest episode of Speak on FS1.

While Taylor fought passionately to make a case for Saquon, she did concede that her pick wouldn’t win the NFL MVP this year. The reason? He is a running back, and unfortunately, this award has become QB-centric, especially over the last decade.

For instance, back during the Manning era, Peyton and Drew Brees had seasons where they threw for more than 5,000 yards to be in the MVP conversation. But the favorite for this season’s MVP, Josh Allen, has not even thrown for 4,000 yards so far.

In a pass-first league, in a league that’s gotten “softer,” the fact that Allen doesn’t have 4,000 passing yards yet and still leads the MVP race is bonkers. What’s more bonkers? An RB in a pass-first league is on course to break the NFL’s single-season rushing yardage record, yet he isn’t a favorite for the MVP.

That said, one might also need to make a case for Joe Burrow if Joy Taylor’s logic is to be applied. For those out of context, the Bengals QB has now gone eight straight games with 250+ yards and 3 TDs — something no QB has done in the history of the league.

The majority of the NFL world, however, disagrees with this take because of the lack of wins Burrow has racked up for the Bengals. This argument once again makes Saquon’s case stronger, as he has both wins and record-breaking performances in Philly, despite it being his debut season.