“MVP” may stand for “Most Valuable Player”, but let’s be real. It’s basically just an award for the best NFL quarterback of the season these days.
You don’t really need fancy metrics, stats and data to determine who the truly most VALUABLE and irreplaceable players in football are. You just need to watch which players have the ability to take over games while keeping in mind how much their teams struggle when they’re not out there.
Now, what would happen if you removed these 10 franchise stars from their respective teams? Let’s just say that things could get ugly reallllll quick.
Kansas City Chiefs Without Patrick Mahomes
Yes, yes. We saw Matt Moore and Chad Henne enjoy minimal success without Mahomes in 2019 and 2020, respectively. But don’t be silly now. This team isn’t a juggernaut without the best player on the planet.
Don’t believe us? Let us ask you this: How did the Chiefs do in the postseason again before Mahomes took over as the starter in 2018? Nothing against Alex Smith, Mahomes’ predecessor, but he didn’t even come close to moving the needle like Mahomes can.
Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce took their games to whole new levels with Mahomes. And just look at how No. 15 ripped apart that Philadelphia Eagles’ defense — one that racked up 70 sacks, by the way! — in Super Bowl 57 with a bad ankle.
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You just don’t replace a generational talent like Mahomes. His skill-set is simply out of this world. Take him off Kansas City for a full season, and they aren’t a playoff team.
With him, however, they’re football’s golden standard. Plain and simple. Two Super Bowl championships down, with probably several more to come!
Cincinnati Bengals Without Joe Burrow
I mean, what more can we say? The Bengals were football’s WORST team in 2019 before they won the honors of picking first overall, which allowed them to take Joe Burrow with the top selection in 2020.
In his first fully healthy season, Burrow completed 70.4 percent of pass attempts for 4,611 yards and 34 touchdowns against 14 interceptions. The Bengals made a stunning run to Super Bowl 56, where they narrowly dropped a heartbreaker to the Los Angeles Rams.
Burrow worked his magic again in 2022, throwing for 4,475 yards and 35 touchdowns against 12 interceptions. The Bengals went back to the AFC title game but lost to the Chiefs in a last-second heartbreaker — also due to some questionable officiating.
If Mahomes is the best quarterback in the NFL, Burrow is No. 2 or 3. The Bengals were a mess for four years before he arrived. Two fully healthy seasons later, and they’ve earned back-to-back division titles to go along with consecutive AFC title game appearances.
Indeed, this team would totally unravel if they didn’t have Burrow… So, with that in mind, maybe they should do a better job of protecting him up front, don’t you think?
Baltimore Ravens Without Lamar Jackson
Just look at Baltimore’s record without the 2019 league MVP, for crying out loud.
They were 4-and-5 with Joe Flacco in 2018 before Jackson took over the offense as a rookie. Baltimore went 6-and-1 under Jackson to claim their first AFC North division crown since the 2012 season.
In 2019, Jackson led the Ravens to football’s best record at 14-and-2. And he won 11 of his 15 starts in 2020. And seven of 12 in 2021. But the Ravens went 0-and-4 without Jackson for the final four games of 2021 and missed out on the postseason.
In 2022, Jackson and the Ravens were rolling at 8-and-4 before he suffered what would be a season-ending knee injury. The Ravens went 2-and-3 without him and lost to the Bengals in the Wild Card Round.
With a healthy Jackson, the Ravens have a top-five offense in football. Without him? The team is mediocre, at best. If it weren’t for his strong start in 2022, the Ravens would’ve missed the playoffs altogether for a second straight year.
Yeah, this guy means a lot to his team — which makes the Ravens’ reluctance to lock him up for the long haul all the more confusing.
Pittsburgh Steelers Without T.J. Watt
The Steelers’ record without Watt since his 2017 rookie year? Get this… They’re 1-and-10. Yep, that’s how much of an impact he makes as a defensive player.
That includes an awful 1-and-6 mark without Watt in 2022. When he was ON the field? The Steelers went 8-and-2. Simply amazing, we know!
It’s not surprising that a guy with 77.5 career sacks, 37 pass defenses and 23 forced fumbles is such a game-changer. Not to mention that he won 2021 Defensive Player of the year honors after recording 22.5 sacks — tying Michael Strahan’s single-season record.
Pittsburgh has almost always fielded a good defense under Mike Tomlin. But the unit simply doesn’t function the same without Watt. He changes the entire dynamic, and his absence is very much felt on that D when he’s not on the field.
New York Giants Without Saquon Barkley
The No. 2 pick of the 2018 NFL Draft won Offensive Rookie of the Year honors after racking up 2,028 yards of offense and 15 touchdowns. Unfortunately, injuries limited him to 28 games over the next three seasons.
This included a season-ending ACL tear in Week 2 of the 2020 season that essentially took out one year of his prime.
Daniel Jones wasn’t a good quarterback over his first three seasons. But he finally put it together in 2022, and a lot of that has to do with Barkley’s ability to finally remain healthy and produce.
The Penn State product changed everything about the Giants’ offense in 2022, recording a career-best 1,312 rushing yards and 10 touchdowns. Not only did Barkley and Jones get the Giants to the postseason, but they stunned the 13-win Minnesota Vikings in the Wild Card Round.
THAT’s exactly what a healthy Barkley does: He single-handedly takes over games. And when he’s not on the field? The Giants offense scares no one, as they finished 31st out of 32 teams in points per game in both 2020 and 2021.
Cleveland Browns Without Myles Garrett
The Browns are 4-and-10 without the No. 1 pick of 2017 in the lineup since his rookie year. If Garrett didn’t miss five games as a rookie, those pathetic Browns probably wouldn’t have finished with an 0-and-16 record.
The Browns’ struggles without Garrett just isn’t at all surprising. After Aaron Donald and maybe TJ Watt, he’s the best defensive player in the league. 74.5 career sacks in 84 games pretty much says it all.
Cleveland was an absolute joke of a football team without Garrett. But since 2018, they’ve won at least seven games in four of their five seasons. That included an 11-win season in 2020 and a stunning win over the Steelers on Wild Card Weekend.
Garrett kept the Browns in the playoff race in 2021 and 2022, despite their glarring issues at quarterback — and without any other Pro Bowl-caliber pass-rushers by his side. It just goes to show how much this guy means to his team.
The Browns would be near the bottom of the standings every year without Garrett, alright.
Tennessee Titans Without Derrick Henry
The Titans actually hold a 6-and-6 record when Henry isn’t in the lineup, dating back to his 2016 rookie year. It’s not atrocious, and we know they were 6-and-3 without him in 2021 — but are we really gonna try and argue that they’re a better team when King Henry isn’t in the lineup?
I mean, look at how this team took off as an annual playoff contender once Henry took over as the lead running back in 2017. Do you really think the Titans upset the defending champion New England Patriots on Wild Card Weekend and the top-seeded Ravens in the 2019-2020 postseason without the two-time rushing champ?
Henry is an absolute beast. The dude is a man-made tank that cannot be stopped when he’s fully healthy. Double-digit touchdowns every year since 2018 and a 2,000-yard season in 2020 sum it all up. This is not a very good football team without King Henry.
But WITH him? They’re a playoff contender.
Los Angeles Rams Without Aaron Donald
Incredibly, Donald has only missed eight total games through his first nine seasons. And six of those games were in 2022 because of an ankle injury.
So the Rams’ record of 3-and-5 without Donald on paper doesn’t seem that bad. But we don’t really need stats here. We can just remind you that the Rams were an NFL laughingstock until Donald arrived in 2014 and brought a little more relevance to this franchise.
Three Defensive Player of the Year awards and 103 sacks in 138 career games as a defensive tackle speaks for itself. Thing is, sacks aren’t even all that this man provides. Donald is a game-wrecker all over the place, even if he’s not quite bringing down the opposing team’s quarterback.
He’s a force to be reakoned with in the run-stopping game. Always — always — bursting through double teams. You just can’t stop this freak of nature who’s already made a compelling case as the best defensive player of all time.
You saw him completely take over the 2021 NFC Championship Game as well as the Rams’ Super Bowl 56 win over the Bengals. Without Donald, this franchise isn’t revived under Sean McVay with those two NFC title banners and a Super Bowl title.
Be happy you have him, Rams fans, because life would be very different without him.
Minnesota Vikings Without Justin Jefferson
Jefferson has been everything the Vikings could have wanted AND more since they drafted him 22nd overall back in 2022. How was he taken that late, we continue to wonder to this day.
Kirk Cousins’ numbers have taken off in The Gopher State ever since Jefferson arrived in town. Three straight seasons now of over 80 receptions and 1,400-plus receiving yards. Yep, JJ is already on a Hall of Fame trajectory.
Cousins is prone to making those back-breaking mistakes. Dalvin Cook can’t stay healthy, and Adam Thielen hasn’t been a Pro Bowl-caliber weapon in a few years. But the Vikings simply stay afloat because of Jefferson — whom you can easily argue is the new No. 1 receiver in football.
The 2022 Offensive Player of the Year was easily the main reason why the Vikings won 13 games and the NFC North title in 2022. Think about it — they had a point differential of minus-three but still won 13 games.
That’s because Jefferson continuously found ways to take over games that the Vikings should have lost. If Cousins didn’t have Jefferson, we’d wager that the former would be out of Minnesota by now.
Buffalo Bills Without Josh Allen
The Bills were mired in mediocrity before Allen arrived. Yes they made the playoffs in 2017, the season before his rookie year, but that was a complete fluke. They were lucky to get in that year, but now they’re simply a juggernaut and an annual Super Bowl contender thanks to Allen.
We can probably all agree that Mahomes is the best quarterback in the league. Take your pick between Joe Burrow, Jalen Hurts and Allen for No. 2, though. You can’t really go wrong with either guy.
The point is, Allen completely changes this offense with his rocket arm, athleticism and scrambling abilities. And if the Bills didn’t draft him in 2018, they’d probably still be near the very bottom of the league standings.
Buffalo didn’t make the playoffs once from 2000 to 2016. They’ve made it four straight years under Allen, racking up double-digit victories in each and claiming 3 straight AFC East division titles after being bullied by Tom Brady’s Patriots for two decades.
Yes, Sean McDermott is one of the best coaches in the game today. And yeah, Stefon Diggs’ arrival in 2020 helped Allen emerge as one of football’s premier signal-callers. These guys have certainly made an impact in Orchard Park.
But unless you’re trading for Mahomes, the Bills aren’t replacing what Allen does to this offense. His ability to make plays with both his arms and his legs make this Buffalo offense almost impossible to stop at full strength.
All it took was one simple draft selection to change the history of the Bills after nearly two decades of misery. Wth Allen on their roster, Buffalo knows they have a shot at the Super Bowl every year.
Good thing they have him locked up long-term. Because without Allen, this franchise would still be a perennial bottom-feeder.
