14 Sports | December 2020
2020 mvp MVP candidates Candidates Chef Russell or The Bazooka? Paige Trahan| Sports editor Josh Allen is an obvious candidate for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season because of his “bazooka” of a throwing arm. Allen knows he has a strong arm. In his rookie year we saw him attempt many deep passes. In 2018, 18.1% of his passes were deep and averaged 11 yards in the air so his completion rate plummeted to 52.8%. This season he is focussing on accuracy, with passes averaging 8 yards in the air, and only 10.1% of his pass attempts this season have been deep passes. Former Bills coach Rex Ryan said, “The guy protects the ball, he’s got a bazooka for an arm and he’s just a huge man that’s similar to Cam Newton in the running game.” Allen is 6’5” 230 lbs and still has 279 rushing yards for 5 touchdowns so far this season. Many people compare his throwing style and his overall physical appearance to Ben Roethlisberger but as Rex Ryan said, Allen can run the ball like Cam Newton so not only is he a threat in the passing game, but he knows when there is a hole he needs to take advantage of it. As of November 18, the Bills are 7-3 having lost to the Cardinals, Chiefs, and Titans whereas the Seahawks are 6-3 having lost to the Rams, Cardinals, and Bills. The Seahawks-Bills game was a true showdown of possible 2020 MVP’s but in this game, Josh Allen really brought it to the table winning 44-34. In that game alone Allen had 31 balls caught for 38 attempts with a total of 415 yards and 3 touchdowns whereas Russel Wilson only had 28 caught balls for 48 attempts with a total of 390 yards and only 2 touchdowns. NFL analyst Dan Orlovsky said, “When you have a guy like Josh Allen who is dominating games not with his legs like we thought he would do for the first few years of his career but by outpassing and outperforming Russell Wilson as a passer… making Wilson look like maybe he shouldn’t be MVP.” Not to mention Josh Allen won Fox Sports’ Midseason MVP award with 40.1% votes, Wilson was second place with 22.5% of the votes. If you look at their stats alone, Allen is MVP hands down. He has 2,871 passing yards, 21 touchdowns, only 7 interceptions (19th overall), and a QB rating of 78.4 putting him in 5th overall. The Bills haven’t had an MVP since Thurman Thomas in 1991 (30 years), they haven’t even had a playoff appearance since 1995 when 2002 Hall Of Fame inductee, Jim Kelly was quarterback. Josh Allen has been the difference-maker for this franchise. Since he was drafted in 2018 he has been working to change the Bills franchise and bring them out of this playoff drought. “We’ve always known about the talent, the size, the athleticism and arm strength of Josh Allen, but now we’re starting to see the trust to go along with that talent,” said NFL Network Analyst, Daniel Jeremiah. After only 3 seasons in the NFL Allen has made history as one of the best quarterbacks to come out of Buffalo and has made himself a front runner for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player of the year.
Charlie Nolting| staff writer Russell Wilson is an obvious candidate for the NFL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2020 season because of his ability to make the play you need. Wilson is just like a Swiss Army knife, there when you need it, and can do just about anything. In and out of the pocket, sitting flat, on the run, on his backfoot. He’s got it. With amazing leadership, and an 80.7 QB rating putting him 4th in the NFL, this sets Wilson up to be what you need on and off the field. This makes the 2020 MVP award in his future. With receivers downfield Russell averages a passer rating of 102, placing him in good standings. Wilson has a 71% completion rate. Among the 71% chance of his throw connecting with a receiver, his throws average 8.6 yards per completion. With a cannon of an arm, Russell has a 62-yard pass in 2020 alone. Not to mention the smooth play-action movements keeping defenses guessing all over the place. Averaging at 7.2 yards per rush with 15 first downs this season, if all fails, he can take matters into his own feet. With both of these skills, Wilson is a defense’s worst nightmare. Using these many talents, defenses are forced to play traditional defense. Stick to the basics and it’ll all be fine right? Nothing fancy? That’s when Pete Caroll does his thing, throw something in to take them off their tracks, and Russell executes. With Wilson being in the league for 8 seasons, working through 9, and 2 Super Bowls and a win under his belt, Caroll knows whatever call he needs to make, he can. Russell has had the experience to be able to read defenses like none other. Coach needs a triple option? Russell makes the read. Three routes all to read off of a zone to man? Russell knows before the snap. If all fails and the defense tricks him, he can still make those last-second decisions with confidence. Having been in 7 Pro Bowls, you could say Wilson is known. Teams study him on film for hours just trying to figure out how to somewhat get an understanding of where he’s gonna be. Mistakes all over give Wilson that slight edge to be himself and make a highlight play. Some may argue the Wilson to D.K. Metcalf duo is the best in the league. Maybe the Wilson to Lockett. That’s two receivers Wilson can let do their thing and reign terror on defensive backs. Besides the top tier receiver core to his left and right, this 5-star quarterback can make a practice squad player look like a starter. Putting the ball right where they need it. This makes it easy for receivers even if they are not in a great position. These many different skills put Wilson in good standings to be MVP in my book. That’s why Russell Wilson is the obvious candidate. Graphics created by Natalie Delgado
