Odds on Jalen Hurts winning MVP are improving, but he’s far from the favorite

This isn’t a tout for Jalen Hurts to win MVP. That’s probably not going to happen even with a wide receiver tandem that has a chance to be the best the Eagles have had since DeSean Jackson and Jeremy Maclin more than a decade ago.

But Hurts is on the MVP oddsboard, and Caesars has seen enough activity to lower his chances from 50-1 to 40-1 over the last month.

“I just think the Eagles have a little bit of a buzz after having a good draft and picking up A.J. Brown,” said Adam Pullen, assistant director of trading for Caesars Sportsbook. “They’re just trending in that direction and people are backing Hurts. If you look at the MVP odds, quarterbacks are all at the top of the list.”

And that’s the point here. Shopping around is critical. Hurts, who had 16 TD passes and nine picks last year, is 25-1 at FanDuel, and even lower (18-1) at DraftKings. Similarly, Las Vegas’s Derek Carr is 25-1 at FanDuel, 40-1 at BetMGM.

There’s even variance among who is at the top of the board. Earlier this week, the Chargers’ Justin Herbert was at +550 at DraftKings, but was at 10-1 there on Friday morning. Tom Brady had different odds at four of the five ‘books we looked at with 10-1 at DraftKings being his highest.

BetMGM: Josh Allen +700, Patrick Mahomes +700, Aaron Rodgers +700, Tom Brady +900, Joe Burrow +1200, Russell Wilson +1200, Justin Herbert +1400. Jalen Hurts +3000.

Caesars: Allen +700, Mahomes +750, Brady +900, Rodgers +1000, Justin Herbert +1200. Hurts +4000.

DraftKings: Allen +700, Mahomes +900, Brady +1000, Herbert +1000, Rodgers +1000, Burrow +1200. Hurts +1800.

FanDuel: Allen +700, Mahomes +700, Brady +800, Rodgers +1000, Herbert +1000, Dak Prescott +1200. Hurts +2500.

PointsBet: Allen +700, Mahomes +700, Rodgers +800, Brady +850, Burrow +1100, Herbert +1100. Hurts +4000.

Rams wide receiver Cooper Kupp had a season for the ages in 2021, becoming just the fourth player ever to lead the league in receptions, receiving yards, and receiving touchdowns. His team went 12-5 and won the NFC West. Yeah, so?

Among the 50 voters for last year’s Associated Press MVP, Kupp received one first-place vote. Aaron Rodgers had 39. Tom Brady 10. It was the ninth year in a row the MVP has gone to a quarterback. The first 14 names on Caesars’ oddsboard for 2022 MVP are QBs before Kupp, Tennessee running back Derrick Henry, and Indianapolis RB Jonathan Taylor show up at 50-1.

DeVonta Smith is 200-1, A.J. Brown is 300-1.

“People who are looking for a team to improve or a team that’s going to make a splash, they’ll bet that quarterback to win MVP,” Pullen said.

MVP is a regular-season award, but the odds often are similar to the quarterback’s team’s chances of winning the Super Bowl. Here’s how Caesars has them:

MVP/Team to win Super Bowl

Josh Allen +700/Buffalo +700

Patrick Mahomes +750/Kansas City +900

Tom Brady +900/Tampa Bay +800

Aaron Rodgers +1000/Green Bay +1100

Justin Herbert +1200/L.A. Chargers +1600

Joe Burrow +1300/Cincinnati +2200

Russell Wilson +1600/Denver +1600

Matthew Stafford +1600/L.A. Rams +1200

Dak Prescott +2000/Dallas +1800

Kyler Murray +2000/Arizona +3000

Lamar Jackson +2000/Baltimore +2200

DeShaun Watson +2500/Cleveland +1800

Derek Carr +3000/Las Vegas +5000

Jalen Hurts +4000/Eagles +4000

*DraftKings has the Eagles laying 4 on the road at Detroit for the Sept. 11 opener. They’re -2.5 for the Monday night visit from Minnesota the following week.

*The over/under on the Eagles’ win total is 9 at Caesars. (There are some 8.5 lines out there with higher odds.) The rest of the NFC East is Dallas 10.5, Washington 7.5, N.Y. Giants 7. The Eagles are -110 to either make or miss the playoffs at Caesars and PointsBet.

*BetMGM has the Cowboys-Eagles to finish first-second in the NFC East at +280. Eagles-Cowboys exact finish is +450, Eagles-Commanders is +1600, Eagles-Giants is +2500.

*Caesars’ biggest Super Bowl liability entering the week was the Bills with 14.4% of the money wagered. Next is Tampa Bay at 6.8%. Their largest ticket was $8,000 on Buffalo at 7-1.

Giants kicker Graham Gano switched jersey numbers in order for defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux to wear No. 5. Thibodeaux, who is co-favored for rookie of the year at BetMGM (+450) with Detroit’s Aidan Hutchinson, wore that number at Oregon and was the fifth overall pick in April. He had to donate $50,000 to Gano’s preferred charity, Puppies Behind Bars, which places service dogs with wounded veterans and first responders.

Might be worth putting $55 on Thibodeaux just to have a woofing interest.