JP & Cakes debate if Jayden Daniels isn't getting enough MVP love
Looking at the odds, it’s Lamar, Allen, Burrow, and Saquon, and then longshots that would make a few Kentucky Derby horses shudder at the odds.
But, JP and Cakes wondered as they closed out 2024: is Jayden Daniels getting a little bit of a snub by not even being talked about in the mix? JP is on the side of not so sure.
“If you actually think about the MVP, the guy with the best stats this year is actually Lamar Jackson. He has better stats than Josh Allen, but Allen’s close when you combine rushing and passing touchdowns,” JP said. “And guys are having great seasons, like Joe Burrow, but his team is .500 and might miss the playoffs. Jared Goff is having a great year, but Sam Darnold, your guy, is delivering, and the Vikings have the same record as the Lions. And Darnold is having a much better statistical year than Jayden Daniels, so I do think Jayden should be in the running like of the Top 10, but that’s it.”
“But you're completely discounting the rushing element when you're comping Sam Darnold to Jayden Daniels,” Cakes replied. “Jayden has 31 combined touchdowns as a rookie, and he’s not throwing the ball to Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison and TJ Hockenson.”
JP doesn’t think being a rookie should be a factor for the MVP voting, even as he admits the Commanders have become this good because they drafted Jayden – but that’s where ‘definitely Top 10 but that’s it’ comes into play.
“I’d have to figure out exactly where I'd put him, but I think Lamar, Allen, and Darnold are more deserving. Then you can talk to me about where he should be,” JP said.
“I also just look at the fact that he's leading a team that's coming out of the wreckage of the Ron era, where all of Ron’s top picks either aren't on the team or aren't performing, and he’s doing it with nothing,” Cakes replied. “Some of those other players that you're mentioning have much better supporting cast. That's why I would throw some of my support behind Jayden Daniels. I know he’s not gonna win, and I’m very biased, but I would seriously consider him.”
Perhaps JP can be convinced to have Jayden as the fourth-best QB, but he’s not sneaking past Lamar, Allen, and Darnold, let alone any other candidates like Patrick Mahomes, whose team is 15-1, or potential all-time single-season rushing leader Saquon Barkley.
“I can see the argument for him in the Top 3,” Valdez said, “but if I was voting, I’d probably have him at five or on the fringe. I said in my preseason prediction he will garner more MVP votes than CJ Stroud did as a rookie, so I have him in that tier, but on my list, he’s not in my Top 3, he’s fifth or sixth.”
Listen to the entire conversation, which ended with a $2 bet between JP and Cakes on where Jayden finishes in the voting!
