Who deserves to win the NFL MVP award? The case for 10 candidates

The MVP race has its early front-runners, but our staff expanded the net to make the argument for a wide range of elite players propelling their teams in 2016.

It’s been 29 years since the NFL Most Valuable Player award was awarded to a player that wasn’t a quarterback or a running back (Jerry Rice in 1987), so when it comes to making predictions for the 2016 season, it’s generally not tough to predict. Tom Brady? Probably. Matt Ryan? Potentially. Ezekiel Elliott? Maybe.

In a season full of mediocre teams and underwhelming performances, a few players have stood out from the rest. The obvious choices are included in here, but so are a couple of unexpected players as well, who, despite likely not having a shot, still deserve recognition.