Saquon Barkley MVP Odds Skyrocket After 200-Yard Performance vs. Rams

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is now the No. 3 choice to win the NFL MVP award this season.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley is now the No. 3 choice to win the NFL MVP award this season. / Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has entered the NFL MVP conversation.

On Sunday Night Football against the Los Angeles Rams, Barkley carried the ball 26 times for 255 yards and two touchdowns, adding four catches for 47 yards as well (302 scrimmage yards) to lead Philly to a seventh straight win.

Saquon Barkley has set an Eagles single-game rushing record AND career-high with 255 yards‼️@saquon | #FlyEaglesFly pic.twitter.com/8spJ32UbFz

— Philadelphia Eagles (@Eagles) November 25, 2024

Barkley now has 500 total yards over his last two games, and he leads the NFL in carries (223), rushing yards (1,392), yards per carry (6.2) and yards per game (126.5). He's on pace to clear 2,000 yards in the 2024 season, rare air for any running, but especially nowadays.

Saquon Barkley in his last 2 games

58 touches
500 total yards ‼️
4 TDs pic.twitter.com/Jwe3THrFmy

— PFF (@PFF) November 25, 2024

As a result of his amazing showing, Barkley moved all the way to +500 to win the NFL MVP award at DraftKings Sportsbook -- the third best odds in the NFL.

Only Josh Allen (+150) and Lamar Jackson (+200) have better odds than Barkley, who leaped past Patrick Mahomes, Jared Goff and his own quarterback Jalen Hurts in the latest odds.

There is some precedence for Barkley to win this award. The last running back to win MVP was Adrian Peterson back in 2012, and he finished that season with 2,097 yards, averaging over 130 yards per game on the ground.

Barkley is a dual-threat back who has instantly rejuvenated an Eagles offense that had fallen flat at the end of the 2023 season. Not only that, but Barkley has the Eagles in the mix for the No. 1 seed in the NFC, and it's hard to argue that he's not the best player on the team.

So, if he's the best player on what ends up on the best team in the NFC, why can't he win MVP?

There may be a little more volatility with Barkley's odds than a quarterback over the final stretch of the 2024 regular season, but he's made his case that he's the most valuable non-quarterback in the NFL right now -- and it's not really that close.

Plus, Allen and Jackson are far from guaranteed to finish in first in the AFC, meaning Barkley may be the player with the best record by the end of the season.

The movement around the star running back is interesting, as he could snap over a decade-long streak of quarterbacks dominating the NFL MVP award.

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Odds refresh periodically and are subject to change.

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