NFL.com Picks Packers’ NFL MVP Candidate

Looking beyond the obvious selection of a quarterback, NFL.com selected one NFL MVP candidate who does not play QB.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – Over the last decade, quarterbacks swept to victory for all 10 NFL MVP awards. Going back further, quarterbacks won 15 of the last 16. Four of those, of course, were claimed by then-Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

More likely than not, a quarterback will be the NFL’s 2023 MVP. At FanDuel Sportsbook, the top 24 MVP candidates are quarterbacks, with two of the top four scheduled to face the Packers.

Showing “some love” to the other positions, NFL.com’s Eric Edholm picked one non-quarterback MVP candidate for each team.

For the Packers, Edholm picked All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander.

“The NFC North has some true No. 1 receivers now, and Alexander will be tasked with covering them quite often,” Edholm wrote. “Entering a season where the margin for error has shrunk following the departure of Aaron Rodgers, Alexander is carrying a heavy load defensively, which earns him the nod here.”

Edholm is right. There are some legit No. 1 receivers dotting the schedule. In fact, 13 of the 17 games feature at least one receiver who’s gone over 1,000 yards at one point in his career. That includes all three teams in the NFC North, with the Chicago Bears acquiring D.J. Moore from the Carolina Panthers in a predraft blockbuster. He joins the Minnesota Vikings’ Justin Jefferson, who led the NFL in yards and receptions in 2022, and the Detroit Lions’ Amon-Ra St. Brown.

Individually, 15 receivers on Green Bay’s schedule have at least one 1,000-yard season on the resume.

There are some decent quarterbacks on the schedule, too, led by Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, the reigning MVP who threw for 5,250 yards last season. Also on the schedule are the Chargers’ Justin Herbert, who finished second in passing yards, the Vikings’ Kirk Cousins, who finished fourth, and the Lions’ Jared Goff, who finished sixth.

With a bunch of excellent receivers and quarterbacks on the schedule, Alexander is going to face a bunch of spotlight matchups. If he can be a stopper, like he was against Jefferson in Week 17 at Lambeau Field, he’ll have a season worthy of being an MVP.

Even if the award almost certainly will go to a quarterback again.

Click here for the full story, including to see the NFC North MVP candidates.

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