The Panthers aren’t winning pretty, but they are winning. Carolina carries a three-game win streak into Week 6 of the 2019 season after starting out the year 0-2 at home.
Speaking of carrying, running back Christian McCaffrey is the main reason why the team has rebounded so well. Over the last three weeks, McCaffrey has been on a tear, totaling 604 yards from scrimmage and scoring five touchdowns on 89 touches.
Doug Farrar at Touchdown Wire has the Panthers ranked No. 17, up four spots from last week. Here Farrar makes the case for McCaffrey to at least be in the conversation for league MVP.
“The last running back to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award was Adrian Peterson in 2012, and you have to go back to LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006 for the last one before him. Not that Christian McCaffrey will add his name to the list in an era when running backs are considered fungible at best, but when you consider the players most valuable to their teams, McCaffrey has to be mentioned. . . With Carolina’s quarterback situation very much in flux, is there a more crucial offensive player in the NFL right now?”
As far as the traditional “value” metric goes, it’s hard to argue there’s any one player who is more important for his team than McCaffrey right now.
However, MVP voting is anything but a perfect process. Team wins is still the single greatest factor that determines who wins the award. With that in mind, Patrick Mahomes and Tom Brady should still be considered the favorites.
Then again, if the Panthers keep winning while McCaffrey is playing like this, anything is possible.
