WENTZ SUPPLANTS SMITH AT TOP OF MVP RACE
From Week 1 through Week 17, USA TODAY Sports’ NFL staff will be handicapping the race for league MVP. A first-place vote is worth five points, a secondplace worth three, and a thirdplace worth one. Our MVP tracker after Week 7’s games:
1. QB Carson Wentz, Eagles
(22 points): Sophomore slump? Pfft. His sophomore surge hit high gear this month, and Wentz now has the title-starved Eagles perched atop the NFL as the only team with a 6-1 record. And he looks great, dropping dimes with hyper-accuracy, keeping his eyes downfield and making plays with his legs when necessary. Wentz now has a league-best 17 touchdown passes (he had 16 all of last season) after connecting on 11 over the last three games. He’s also at the top of the heap at 13 yards per completion. And unlike recent second-year star
passers, Wentz is largely driving this train, not just managing games. Last week: 4
2. QB Alex Smith, Chiefs (18
points): After pacing our MVP poll for the first six weeks, he’s finally come back to the pack and fallen from the catbird seat. There’s a certain irony to this given Smith was sublime in K.C.’s latest loss, carving up the Raiders for 342 yards and three TDs last Thursday. Smith’s radar lock continues as he’s completing 72.4% of his passes, ahead of the single-season record pace, which — along with his doughnut
in the interceptions column — computes to his NFL-high 120.5 passer rating. A historically conservative quarterback, his 1,979 passing yards rank second, while only Wentz has more TD passes than Smith’s 15. LW: 1 3. QB Tom Brady, Patriots (15
points): Nobody’s airing it out more. TB12’s 174 completions and 2,208 yards are tops in the league and put him on pace for his second 5,000-yard season. However it’s worth noting the Patriots are coming off their best performances both defensively and running the ball, so they
might be able to ease the load on Brady in the coming weeks, potentially diluting his candidacy for a third MVP nod. LW: 2
4. RB Kareem Hunt, Chiefs
(51⁄ points): Does it feel like 2 we’re already taking him for granted? The explosive rookie has surpassed 100 yards from scrimmage in every game and is the only player in the league who’s already exceeded 1,000 in 2017. Hunt hasn’t scored since Week 3, but that hardly detracts from what could eventually be viewed as an all-time debut campaign. LW: 3