Packer Central

Love Among Eight ‘Dark Horse’ NFL MVP Candidates

After a strong finish to the season carried the Green Bay Packers to the NFL playoffs, Jordan Love is a contender to win NFL MVP in 2024.

Bill Huber

Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love led the team to an NFC divisional-round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers in 2024.
Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love led the team to an NFC divisional-round playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers in 2024. / Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports
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GREEN BAY, Wis. – The last six NFL MVP awards have been won by three players: Patrick Mahomes, Lamar Jackson and, yes, Aaron Rodgers. The last 11 MVPs have been won by players at only one position: quarterback.

At NFL.com, senior national correspondent Judy Battista named eight “dark horse” MVP hopefuls beyond the obvious frontrunners such as the Chiefs’ Mahomes, the Ravens’ Jackson, the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen, the Cincinnati Bengals’ Joe Burrow and the Los Angeles Chargers’ Justin Herbert.

Not surprisingly, Green Bay Packers quarterback Jordan Love made the list, even if he’s much closer to favorite than dark horse.

“Love’s ascension in 2023 amid the Packers’ second half and playoff performance makes him and his team early darlings for the 2024 season,” Battista wrote.

At FanDuel Sportsbook, Love is +1400 to win the award – tied with Jackson and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Jalen Hurts for the fifth-shortest odds. Love’s odds are unchanged; Jackson started at +1300 and Herbert has slid from +1400 to +2000.

Love’s “ascension” was impossible to ignore.

During the first nine games of last season, 34 quarterbacks threw at least 100 passes. From that group, Love was 27th in passer rating, 33rd in completion percentage, 11th in touchdowns and 34th in interceptions.

During the final eight games, 33 quarterbacks threw at least 100 passes. Love was second in passer rating, third in completion percentage, second in touchdowns and first in interceptions. In a Rodgers-esque stretch of games that carried Green Bay to the playoffs, Love threw 18 touchdowns vs. just one interception. Then, he obliterated Prescott’s Cowboys in the playoffs.

As coach Matt LaFleur said throughout Love’s finishing stretch, it wasn’t just Love making things happen. The youngest group of pass catchers in the NFL rose alongside their quarterback to form a fearsome passing game.

The totality of the group, as is typically the case, is why Love is on the short list of favorites.

“Green Bay boasts a cast of young receivers who should continue to develop, and the running game should be improved with the addition of Josh Jacobs,” Battista continued.

A key will be cranking up the scoring. Even during Love’s hot streak, Green Bay was “only” ninth in scoring. With points will come wins; with wins will come accolades.

Perhaps even the highest accolade – one won by Rodgers on four occasions and by his predecessor, Brett Favre, three times.

“The only thing that could get in his way is that the Packers would probably have to topple the Lions and Jared Goff at the top of the NFC North for Love to get serious consideration,” Battista concluded. “He, like (Houston’s C.J.) Stroud, will not be a dark horse for very long, though.” 

Love also is +1400 at DraftKings and BetMGM. His shortest odds are at Caesars Sportsbook, where he is +1200.

After a sharp series of offseason practices, Love is eager to get his contract extension behind him and kick off a season filled with expectations.

“I think it’s just excitement,” Love said during minicamp. “Everyone, I think, from when the season ended last year, the way it ended for us, I think everybody was hungry and ready to just get back to it, get back to training camp and get the new season rolling. There’s been a good amount of time since that game, so I think everyone’s still hungry and just excited to get rolling.”

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Bill Huber
BILL HUBER

Bill Huber, who has covered the Green Bay Packers since 2008, is the publisher of Packers On SI, a Sports Illustrated channel. E-mail: packwriter2002@yahoo.com History: Huber took over Packer Central in August 2019. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BillHuberNFL Background: Huber graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, where he played on the football team, in 1995. He worked in newspapers in Reedsburg, Wisconsin Dells and Shawano before working at The Green Bay News-Chronicle and Green Bay Press-Gazette from 1998 through 2008. With The News-Chronicle, he won several awards for his commentaries and page design. In 2008, he took over as editor of Packer Report Magazine, which was founded by Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Nitschke, and PackerReport.com. In 2019, he took over the new Sports Illustrated site Packer Central, which he has grown into one of the largest sites in the Sports Illustrated Media Group.