The discussion around who should be the NFL MVP has become something of a lightning rod issue, especially in today's internet landscape.
Having said that, this is one of those years where the "favorite" or "leader" seems to be more fluid than ever, even in a time when the award has basically devolved into the "Best Quarterback from the One or Two Seeds" award. With that being the case, though, one name hasn't been brought up at all, and that should be changing as we approach the second half of the 2025 NFL season, and that name is Jalen Hurts.
On the topic of hot-button NFL talking points on TV and the internet, the Philadelphia Eagles' starting quarterback certainly fits that mold and then some. This even comes after winning the Super Bowl MVP just a few months ago,
Hurts deserves to be discussed as the potential league MVP for 2025
One of the big knocks on Hurts is the team around him, especially after the Eagles' Super Bowl championship run of 2024. Well, in 2025, the offensive line is not the same due to injuries, which in turn has affected Saquon Barkley. A.J. Brown has been in and out of the lineup (as you might have heard), and there's a new offensive coordinator in town (as you also might have heard).
That's not even mentioning the fact that the defense is still getting into the swing of things after a good amount of personnel changes. The one constant? Hurts.
Now, while there have been admittedly some rocky moments with this offense, particularly out of the gate, the fact of the matter is the Eagles are 6-2 heading into the bye after a brutal schedule. While the outside noise could cause a potential circus, the leadership, poise, and calm demeanor of Hurts have kept this ship afloat, and dare we say, appearing to be on a steady course the rest of the way.
That isn't exactly something you can quantify, though, and in today's advanced, statistical, and fantasy football-obsessed society, let's take a stroll down the quantifiable route.
Don't look now, but despite the roller coaster nature of the first half of the season for the Eagles offense, Hurts' 15-1 touchdown to interception ratio is on another stratosphere from the field, and his 15 touchdown passes are second in the NFL. His 20 total touchdowns? Well, that's first among quarterbacks. Funny how things work out.
By the way, only three of those touchdowns have come courtesy of the Tush Push, so that's a tough one for those who support that "merchant" argument.
Another knock on Hurts is that he rarely throws for a ton of yards since he doesn't need to throw the ball at a high clip for the Eagles to thrive. However, while his 1,677 yards currently have him sitting at 11th in the NFL, which isn't AWFUL by any stretch of the imagination.
When you add all of that together, and throw in the fact that the NFL MVP has been the quarterback of either one of the one or two seeds every year since 2013, and the Philadelphia Eagles certainly have a strong chance of achieving that, then Hurts has the recipe to win the award potentially.
It also helps that Hurts tends to always beat the other top quarterbacks that will also be in the discussion now and at the end of the year.
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Hurts has played his way into the NFL MVP conversation, and folks are going to have to learn to deal with that reality.