While Brock Purdy might be the odds-on favorite for NFL MVP this season, the 49ers quarterback feels the award should go to Christian McCaffrey.
Some feel that San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy is merely a product of a friendly offense in which a merely OK signal-caller can ride the coattails of star players like tight end George Kittle, wide receiver Deebo Samuel and running back Christian McCaffrey.
While that only explains a modest portion of the success that Purdy is having this season, which is now culminating with him being the betting-odds favorite for NFL MVP, according to post-Week 15 oddsmakers at FanDuel after the Niners walloped the Arizona Cardinals 45-29, it doesn't dismiss the fact that the second-year quarterback is doing things that no other quarterback in the league is touching right now.
Such as this:
Most games this season with 4+ Pass TD and 0 INT
— NFL on CBS 🏈 (@NFLonCBS) December 18, 2023
Brock Purdy 3
11 QBs tied 1 pic.twitter.com/xE0dWlPUD3
Purdy's four-touchdown performance against the Cardinals only cemented his claim on the league's top-performer award. Especially with him gutting it out in the wake of a stinger injury, which created quite the scare when Purdy had to come off the field for a couple of plays.
However, not to be outdone, McCaffrey also shone bright during the game, rushing for 115 yards on 18 carries with a touchdown while adding five catches for 72 yards and two touchdowns through the air.
In doing so, McCaffrey tied an NFL record for the most games with at least one rushing and one receiving touchdown.
Purdy was impressed.
Brock Purdy feels Christian McCaffrey should be NFL MVP this season
Purdy is leading the league in plenty of categories, yes. But so is McCaffrey, including total rush yards (1,177) and yards from scrimmage (1,614) entering Week 15.
Additionally, no skill player has had more touches than McCaffrey (278) prior to Sunday's contest, which is a testament to how much San Francisco relies upon him.
After Sunday's win over Arizona, it's hard to argue that McCaffrey is putting together an MVP-like season of his own.
Brock Purdy breaks down why Christian McCaffrey has his MVP vote 💯 pic.twitter.com/eDH8vg9Sjx
— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 18, 2023
"Dude, I think Christian should be MVP," Purdy said in his postgame press conference. "I really do believe that. He does everything for us, runs the ball well, can catch the ball. He does everything. And so in my eyes, that's an MVP."
Too bad for McCaffrey, the league MVP award is almost exclusively given to quarterbacks now, and the last non-QB to win the award was then-Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson in 2012.
It doesn't seem likely the quarterback-MVP trend will change anytime soon, although McCaffrey has to be in line for the Offensive Player of the Year, though.
If McCaffrey receives that while Purdy gets NFL MVP, few among the 49ers ranks will complain.