Why Trevor Lawrence was NFL’s True Most Valuable Player

At long last, Super Bowl LX is nearly upon us, the finale of a tremendous 2025 NFL season. With the Pro Bowl now out of the way, there's only one major event left standing between the schedule and the title fight between the Seattle Seahawks and the New England Patriots: the awards ceremony.

Ballots were due prior to the start of the postseason to ensure that playoff performance had no influence on the voting. After the publication of this piece, the announcements will be made just hours after. The Jacksonville Jaguars and their loyal fans will be watching intently as they have two finalists for three different awards: Liam Coen for Coach of the Year and Trevor Lawrence for both Comeback Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player.

Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars, NFL, Los Angeles Rams — Oct 19, 2025; London, United Kingdom; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence (16) passes the ball against the Los Angeles Rams during the first half of an NFL International Series game at Wembley Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Why Trevor Lawrence is the real MVP

It was great to see Trevor Lawrence get named a finalist for the 2025 NFL MVP award, but everyone who watched the Jacksonville Jaguars and the league closely this season knew that he didn't have a real shot at it. There's a much better chance that he takes home Comeback Player of the Year or Liam Coen bags Coach of the Year in his first go at the helm.

It's almost a guarantee that the MVP will be either the New England Patriots' Drake Maye or the Los Angeles Rams' Matthew Stafford. They were the heavy betting favorites over Lawrence and the other finalists: the San Francisco 49ers' Christian McCaffrey and the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen. T-Law just arrived too late to the party to be a serious contender. It wasn't until the last few weeks of the season that he picked up any MVP buzz at all.

NFL ranks in "Supporting Cast Rating" which is the average team PFF grades in rushing, receiving, pass blocking and run blocking (everything except passing):

1. Rams
2. Colts
3. Bears
4. Bills
5. Lions
6. Seahawks
7. Broncos
8. Eagles
9. Falcons
10. 49ers
11. Vikings
12. Chiefs…
— Ian Hartitz (@Ihartitz) December 22, 2025

And yet, by definition, he should be the winner. There are two schools of thought on what the MVP should represent. Sometimes, it goes to the best player on the best team by default. None of the finalists were on the No. 1 seed in either conference so that won't be the case this season. The other interpretation is more literal — who was actually the singular most impactful and uplifting talent for their team.

By that measure, it should be T-Law. He might not have had the counting stats to compete with Stafford's case for the Rams and the Jaguars may have had a slightly worse record than Maye's Patriots, but no one did more with less than Lawrence, at least according to Pro Football Focus.

In terms of supporting cast, Jacksonville's offensive facets outside of quarterback (offensive line, running game, and pass-catchers) were the worst graded among the five teams that fielded MVP finalists. Despite that, Lawrence led the Jags to similar heights as the other nominees and had a competitive box score impact to them.

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