Anonymous NFL player poll concludes Bills QB Josh Allen is ‘due’ for an MVP Award

The Athletic recently polled 110 NFL players on who they think is set to earn MVP honors, with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen being a popular answer.

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Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has long been viewed as one of the league’s best signal-callers, and players across the NFL feel it’s only a matter of time before he’s recognized as such by earning an MVP Award.

The Athletic recently published an anonymous poll of 110 players around the league. Players were asked the same set of questions across August and September, among them who will win this year’s MVP Award, which player they would choose as a franchise building block, and which NFL market is their favorite to visit on the road. Allen received a league-high 18 votes in the MVP category, with some wondering why he doesn’t already have the particular honor on his resume.

“I feel like he’s due for one,” one player said, per The Athletic. “I don’t know when, but he’s going to get one.”

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Allen has long been present in MVP discussions, earning votes for the award in three of the last four seasons. He was one of two players to receive first-place votes last year, the other being ultimate winner Lamar Jackson; one player feels as though the Buffalo signal-caller was snubbed of the honor.

“Josh should have won it the year Lamar did [2023],” an anonymous player told The Athletic. “If you look at any stat in that category, put them together, tell me how that worked out. I don’t get it.”

Whoever the anonymous player was may be onto something, as Allen threw for far more yards (4,306 compared to 3,678) and touchdowns (29 to 24) than Jackson a year ago. The Baltimore Ravens passer did rush for more yards (821 to 524), but Allen dwarfed him in rushing touchdowns (15 to five). Jackson did have the slight edge in completion percentage (67.2% to 66.5%), but Allen also attempted over 120 more passes; Jackson did throw 11 fewer interceptions, which may have been the tipping point.

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Allen could be on track to earning his first MVP Award this season, as he’s completed 69.3% of his passes for 814 yards and seven scores through four games as he’s led Buffalo to a 3-1 record. He’s also picked up two touchdowns on the ground, his nine total scores currently good for third in the NFL.

Allen, if he were to win the NFL MVP Award this season, would be the first Bill to earn the honor since running back Thurman Thomas did so in the 1991 NFL season. He’d be the fifth player in franchise history to earn either AFL or NFL MVP honors, joining Thomas, Cookie Gilchrist, Jack Kemp, and O.J. Simpson.

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