Nick Foles
BY ROLAND SOMORIN
During the NFL regular season, Eagles quarterback Nick Foles fascinated football fans with his playmaking ability and leadership, which helped take the Eagles all the way to the Super Bowl this year. For this reason and many more, Nick Foles deserves the title of this season’s Most Valuable Player.
Foles was selected by the Eagles in the third round as the 88th overall pick in 2012. From 2012 to 2015, Foles was in and out of a regular starting quarterback position due to hand and head injuries. Foles’ time in Philadelphia has been a learning process. He won many games, but never made a huge impact.
In 2015, the Eagles traded Nick Foles to the Rams, where he would later be released to the Chiefs. Foles had a short stint with the Chiefs and landed back with the Eagles in 2017 as a free agent.
Despite Foles struggling to find a home throughout his career, he has soared in his second stretch with Philadelphia. Foles stepped up after Carson Wentz got knocked out with a season-ending injury and led the Eagles to their first division title in seven years. Foles has maintained a strong pocket presence and has been precise with his passes.
As Foles entered playoff season, his energy and leadership on the field only grew as he led his team to back-to-back wins in the playoffs, throwing over 500 yards in only two games. Foles has been the leader the Eagles needed to make it this far, and this is why he deserves an MVP title.
Todd Gurley
BY BEAU WOODCOCK
Many football fans think the NFL MVP is a no-brainer, giving the award to Tom Brady.
However, I believe there is a player more deserving of that title this year: Todd Gurley. While the NFL and so many fans focus exclusively on Tom Brady, few people notice that Tom Brady has significantly more help on his team than Todd Gurley.
Gurley had a career year while on a team that didn’t see the playoffs a year before. He singlehandedly catapulted a below average offense to the playoffs.
While people understood the strength of the the Rams defense during the regular season, the Patriots were in fact statistically better throughout the season, finishing in the top 5 for both yardage defense and scoring defense. The Rams were outside the top 10 in both categories on defense, leading to younger coaching staff to boot.
The MVP award goes to the player who was made the biggest impact for his team throughout the season, not the best player, and the Rams would have not been a successful football team without Gurley. Without Tom Brady, the Pats still had a top 5 defense and a top 10 running game and would probably still have won a weak AFC East division with a replacement level quarterback.
Todd Gurley had a career year ascending the Rams from a mediocre team into a playoff contender. For these reasons, Gurley has shown he more than deserves the title of NFL MVP.
