Welcome to the MVP Chase, where I, James Leroy Wilson, rank players and teams using objective data.
(See the Methodology and previous MVP rankings following the "About the Author.)
It is rare that the two best teams from the previous year continue to be so. At least one Super Bowl participant suffers a letdown and other teams surge. And there's a lot of football to be played but the Chiefs and Eagles are the winningest teams and their quarterbacks lead the MVP Chase.
Down the list, tied for 8th with 33 MVP Points, is Travis Kelce. He's far ahead of the next tight ends, Mark Andrews of the 5-2 Ravens (21 points): Sam Laporta of the 5-2 Lions (18), Dallas Goedert of the 6-1 Eagles (16), George Kittle of the 5-2 49ers (14).
So the numbers agree with what your eyeballs already tell you: that he's the most valuable tight end in the NFL, and among the most valuable of all non-quarterbacks.
Patrick Mahomes, QB, Chiefs (6-1) 47 MVP Points
Jalen Hurts, QB, Eagles (6-1) 45
Jared Goff, QB, Lions (5-2) 39
(Tied 4th) Lamar Jackson, QB, Ravens (5-2) 35
(Tied 4th) Trevor Lawrence, QB, Jaguars (5-2) 35
(Tied 4th) Brock Purdy, QB, 49ers (5-2) 35
Travis Etienne, RB, Jaguars (5-2) 34
(Tied 8th) A.J. Brown, WR, Eagles (6-1) 33
(Tied 8th) Tyreek Hill, WR, Dolphins (5-2) 33
(Tied 8th) Travis Kelce, TE, Chiefs (6-1) 33
(Tied 8th) Chrstian McCaffrey, RB, 49ers (5-2) 33
(Tied 8th) Raheem Mostert, RB, Dolphins (5-2) 33
(Tied 8th)Tua Tagovailoa, QB, Dolphins (5-2) 33
Isaiah Pacheco, RB, Chiefs (6-1) 32
Josh Allen, QB, Bills (4-3) 31
Desmond Ridder, QB, Falcons (4-3) 29
Jake Elliot, K, Eagles (6-1) 28
(Tied 18th) Harrison Butker, K, Chiefs (6-1) 27
(Tied 18th) Geno Smith, QB, Seahawks (4-2) 27
(Tied 18th)Kenny Pickett, QB, Steelers (4-2) 27
(Tied 21st) Dustin Hopkins, K, Browns (4-2) 26
(Tied 21st Dak Prescott, QB, Cowboys (4-2) 26
(Tied 21st Kenneth Walker III, RB, Seahawks (4-2) 26
D'Andre Swift, RB, Eagles (6-1) 25
(Tied 25th) George Pickens, WR, Steelers (4-2) 24
(Tied 25th) Amon-Ra St. Brown, WR, Lions (5-2) 24
(Tied 25th) Kyren Williams, RB, Rams (3-4) 24
College Football Playoff Chase.
The rankings are based on winning percentage and strength of schedule. Undefeated Ohio State's opponents are a combined seven wins over .500. For 6-1 Texas they're 17 wins over .500. 6-2 Notre Dame's opponents are 19 games over .500, whereas undefeated Georgia's opponents are 13 games under .500.
Time will tell if James Madison makes a real case to crash the playoffs as a non-Power 5 contender. The only team to do so previously was Cincinnati, but before Big East football dissolved they had been in a BCS conference. James Madison is in only its second year playing at the FBS level.
Ohio St 7-0 107.0
Florida St 7-0 104.0
Oklahoma 7-0 103.0
Texas 6-1 102.71
James Madison 101.0
Michigan 8-0 100.0
Utah 6-1 98.71
Washington 7-0 95.0
Ole Miss 6-1 94.71
Alabama 7-1 94.5
Notre Dame 6-2 94.0
Liberty 7-0 93.0
Oregon St 6-1 89.71
Missouri 7-1 89.5
Penn St 6-1 88.71
Air Force 7-0 87.00
Georgia 7-0 87.00
Oregon 6-1 85.71
Louisiville 6-1 84.71
Tulane 6-1 84.71
Georgia St 6-1 83.71
Wyoming 5-2 84.43
Memphis 5-2 83.43
Troy 5-2 83.43
Rutgers 6-2 83.00
About the Author
James Leroy Wilson writes The MVP Chase (subscribe) and JL Cells (subscribe) and is a monthly columnist at Meer. Thank you for your subscriptions and support! You may contact James for writing, editing, research, and other work: jamesleroywilson-at-gmail.com.
MVP Chase Methodology
For each game, I will look at the winning team. Then I will rank its top eight statistical performers using fantasypros scoring. I'll give 8 points to the team's top performer, 7 to the next-best, and so on. Then their points are added to their previous points in victories to give the current-week total.
Week 1 totals (No formal Power Rankings)