Chris Johnson Wants To Be MVP

On NFL Live Today, one analyst (who are normally good) said that the MVP is going to go to a quarterback this year. Why? Why has that assumption already been made. The analysts (I believe it was Merrill Hodge but I forget exactly) said it was either going to go to Brees, Manning, or Favre? What? I thought football was past the idea that wins automatically equate to MVP votes? MVP should go to the best player. And how do you determine the best player, by using statistics! Baseball has already gotten past this by voting Pujols as the MVP last year, even though he couldn't pitch well enough to make it to the playoffs and by voting in Zack Grieke who was on the second worst team in baseball and "only" had 15 wins. Football I thought was already there. Yes, the three best teams are the Saints, Colts, and Favre, and yes, all of them are having a fantastic year, and yes, all are huge contributors to why their team is doing well, but that doesn't mean they AUTOMATICALLY get to be MVP. The reason is doesn't make them an automatic, is because of Chris Johnson.

Even though the Tennessee Titans have a losing record (5-6), they still have a shot at the playoffs. If they make it in, Johnson will get more votes because his team made the playoffs. But even if the Titans do make the playoffs, football writers will probably credit Vince Young more than Johnson. And if they don't (and I personally think the Titans have dug themselves into too deep of a hole playing the crappy Kerry Collins to start the season), Johnson's MVP chances will also be hurt. But why haven't more people talked about him this year?

I haven't fully looked into who I think should be the MVP this year, and there still is four more games to go, but Johnson should be near or at the top of everybody's list. Johnson said today that he wants to be MVP this year, and it's hard to find an argument right now why he shouldn't be the NFL MVP. I was watching the MNF game between Tennessee and Houston and Johnson is on pace to have the most rushing yards ever by a RB in a single season. While this stat will be helped by the longer season Johnson plays in versus the greats like Peyton, Brown, and the record holder Dickerson in the past, it's still quite an accomplishment if and when he accomplished this feat. Even if Johnson doesn't break the record, he's still amazing.

The biggest factor I look for in a RB is the run blocking of the offensive line because that is the single biggest causal factor to how good a RB is- and to Johnson's benefit, his O-line is awful. Tennessee ranks 25th out of 32 teams. So Johnson is able to produce, and come up big, despite this huge detriment. Johnson ranks first in rushing yards and first in YPC. He gets on average 6.4 YPC carry. Considering you only need 10 yards to get a first down, the Titans can just rush Johnson and will barely see third downs is seems like! TBO told me Johnson already had three TD run over 85+ yards and in t-4th in TDs. Obviously Johnson is very efficient ranking 2nd in DVOA and DYAR. Johnson also is able to catch the ball and doesn't fumble (unlike SOME people. Yes, I'm looking at you All Day).

Johnson is very good and I hope football writers and voters do take a serious look at Johnson instead if automatically coming to the conclusion that a QB should win it. Again, I'm not saying Johnson SHOULD win it, but he absolutely needs to be in the conversation more.

Although I do think the fact that he looks like an alien should be a good enough reason to not vote him in for MVP.