APP ONLY: Who's the Eagles' offensive MVP?
Who is the Eagles' offensive MVP for the first half of the season?
By Sheil Kapadia
Philly.com
I'm working on a post for Friday that will hand out midseason awards for the Eagles.
And the first category is giving me trouble: Who is the team's offensive MVP?
The candidates are simple enough. The most obvious is Michael Vick. He leads the NFL in quarterback rating, has thrown for seven touchdowns (and no interceptions) and is 3-0 in games he's started and finished. The only thing not going for him is that Vick has only been on the field about half the time through the first half of the season. And in the three games that he missed completely, Kevin Kolb led the Eagles to two victories. So we get into that whole valuable discussion that is always brought up when talking MVP.
Which brings us to LeSean McCoy. You really could make an argument for the second-year running back, based on what the Birds have behind him, which is, well, nothing. Initially, McCoy's backup was Mike Bell, but he was shipped to the Browns. Now it's Jerome Harrison, who is a complete unknown. If McCoy were to go down, the Birds would be in trouble.
He's on pace for over 1,100 yards on the ground and is averaging a healthy 4.7 yards per carry. McCoy's been good as a receiver also. His 41 receptions are tops among all running backs, and McCoy already has one more catch than he had all of last season. His 383 yards after the catch lead the league, although that number is somewhat deceiving, considering nearly all of his receptions are near the line of scrimmage.
And, finally, the third candidate: DeSean Jackson. For the simple fact that he takes this offense to another level. No one can keep up with him downfield, and when teams commit extra attention to Jackson, it opens up opportunities for his teammates. Jackson is averaging 19.4 yards per catch, a higher number than he put up last year in what was a record-breaking season. He was knocked out of the Falcons game and missed the following week against the Titans.
So those are your candidates. Who will it be? You'll get my answer on Friday. I still have some time to think about it.