Aaron Rodgers was the NFL MVP last season, but Tom Brady was voted the top player in the league on the NFL 100. The debate has reopened.
On Sunday, the NFL Top 100 was officially revealed, and the No. 1 player is, to no surprise, Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady.
Actually, it was a surprise, mainly because Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers was named NFL MVP last season for the second consecutive year, and defensive nightmare Aaron Donald was voted No. 2 on the NFL Top 100 list.
But let’s not focus on Donald for a second. We need to look at the quarterbacks because it is incredible how, despite what happened last season, Brady threw for well over 5,000 yards compared to Rodgers, yet Rodgers walked away with the MVP hardware.
While neither made it to a conference championship game, the argument for Rodgers is likely due to him having a home-field advantage in the playoffs, which Green Bay ultimately squandered to San Francisco. Rodgers threw a meager four interceptions to 37 touchdowns during the 2021 season, with a seven-game streak without throwing a single pick. His precision was lauded in his MVP case, yet Brady made NFL history by racking up records for career yards and touchdowns — 84,520 yards and 624 touchdowns, to be exact.
Tampa Bay beat Philadelphia in the Wild Card. Still, despite coming back from a large 27-3 deficit against the Rams, it took a heave and catch from future Super Bowl MVP Cooper Kupp for the eventual champions to advance in the postseason.
The NFL 100 Ranking of Tom Brady at No. 1 reopens the debate as to how Aaron Rodgers was named MVP
The NFL MVP is voted upon by 50 AP NFL writers. More often than not, it’s a quarterback, the same position that Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers play. But the reasoning for choosing the latter over the former doesn’t make much sense for a number of reasons.
Brady threw for a league-leading 5,316 yards and also had 43 passing touchdowns. Granted, it was in 17 games. Rodgers, in 16 games, threw for 4,115 yards and 37 scores. Wait a second — that’s statistically lower than Brady by a wide margin, well over 1,000 yards.
An argument could be made based on completion percentage playing a role, with Rodgers putting up 68.9 percent compared to Brady’s 67.5 percent. There’s also QBR, which graded Rodgers higher at 111.9 compared to Brady’s 102.1.
Ultimately, the debate will go on between who should have been the MVP and who should have been the top player voted by peers. But the peers spoke about how they feel, and if they think Brady is the best, so be it. If Rodgers? Same thing. Ultimately, this debate will never have a solid conclusion, so it’s best to let it rage on till the end of time.
