NFL executives and scouts are pointing in one direction when it comes to the 2026 MVP race: Joe Burrow.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler checked in with multiple league executives and scouts about the major awards for 2026, and the message on the league’s biggest individual honor was pretty clear. For all the talk about stars at every position, the MVP conversation still runs through the quarterbacks. The last non-quarterback to win the award was Adrian Peterson in 2012, and last season’s winner, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, became the oldest player in league history to take home the trophy at 37.
This time, the buzz is centered on Burrow. An AFC executive told ESPN, “He (Burrow) senses the urgency this year and is talking like it - I think he’s ready to back it up.
If he stays healthy. Big if.”
That health caveat matters. Burrow missed nine games last season after what was reported as a severe turf toe injury, and Cincinnati stumbled badly without him, going 1-8 in the games he sat out. The Bengals opened 5-3 with Burrow in the lineup, but once the injury hit, the season unraveled.
Even with that setback, Burrow’s 2024 production is exactly the kind of résumé that puts him in the MVP mix. He threw for 4,918 yards and 43 touchdowns that year, numbers that make the case loud and obvious if he can put together a full season.
Burrow himself is talking like a quarterback who expects bigger things from Cincinnati in 2026. “I just want to win this year.
I just want to win. The rest will take care of itself.
I think we’ll break a bunch of records eventually, but I think we’re going to have a really good team that has a chance to win every game that we step foot on the field for. I don’t know about you, but I could really feel it in my bones and my soul in OTAs this year - different from years past,” he said via FOX Sports.
There’s still uncertainty around some of his favorite offensive targets, who are dealing with injuries, but the expectation around Burrow hasn’t changed. If he stays on the field, the executives and scouts believe he’s the quarterback to beat for the 2026 MVP. And if Cincinnati turns that confidence into wins, their read on the award may look right on the money.
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