Brady's MVP Case Should Not Be Open and Shut

Unlike Major League Baseball, the National Football League has never had an "official" Most Valuable Player award. Historically, several organizations have chosen each year's MVP, with the Associated Press choice considered the most prestigious. Not every player, of course, has an equal chance to win: Every decade or so, a handful of writers actually notice that there are players on two sides of the ball and decide to reward a defensive player.

For instance, since 1957, the only AP selections on defense are Detroit Lions' linebacker Joe Schmidt in 1960 (and he shared the award with a quarterback, Norm Van Brocklin), Minnesota Vikings tackle Alan Page in 1971, and Giants linebacker Lawrence Taylor in 1986. Taylor was the last defensive player to win. Outside of that, it's always been a quarterback or running back (except for 1982, when the writers, in a collective fit of insanity, chose a kicker, the Washington Redskins' Mark Moseley).

There are two obvious reasons for this. Passers and runners have almost all of the gaudy stats, and, just as important, they, especially passers, handle the ball more than anybody else.

A quarterback can call his own number as often as he wants to, which is primarily why Tom Brady will win this year's AP MVP and probably all the others as well. Brady has had a magnificent season, currently leading all NFL passers in the most important stat, yards per throw, with 8.47, and though he threw no touchdown passes against the Jets last Sunday, will probably end up breaking Peyton Manning's season record of 49 (he currently has 45). No one, not even contrarians like myself, is going to go to the barricades insisting that he shouldn't be voted MVP. I would, however, like to make a few comments and suggestions about MVP selection that I think are common sense.

First, though there are all kinds of awards given to defensive players, they don't carry the same weight as "AP NFL MVP." The AP and everyone else should simply choose an offensive and defensive player at the same time and in the same sentence. Second, players should be awarded from each conference. I don't know why no one has ever noticed this, but in baseball they choose MVPs from both the American and National leagues; it makes no sense that the AFC and NFC (which total 32 teams, to MLB's 30), should select just a single player. After all, you need two teams to play in the Super Bowl.

Third, the title of the award should be changed from MVP to "Player of the Year," or something like that. This would give running backs a better chance to compete for an award in a game that is increasingly becoming dominated by passers.

Finally, I'd like to make a fourth suggestion, namely that the voters stop acting like a bunch of lemmings and put a little analysis into their selections.

Let's get the details out of the way before we approach the main point: In the NFC, which is far and away the lesser of the two conferences, the top three players this year should be, in order, Dallas quarterback Tony Romo (who is second in the league in yards per throw with 8.37 and is currently leading the NFC in TD passes, 35), Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook (who, after 14 games, has rushed for just under 1,200 yards with an excellent 4.7 average, catching 83 passes), and Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson. Peterson might be the closest thing the game has to a Jim Brown: He leads the league in rushing yards per game at 106.5, has a Brown-like 5.9 yards per rush, and averages a wide receiver-like 14.4 yards per catch. If Peterson hadn't missed two games due to injury, I might have picked him over Romo in the NFC.

Regarding the selection of Tom Brady as the AFC's MVP, voters might find a worthier candidate if they did a little digging. Brady was a very good quarterback for six seasons before 2007, but he was never the primary reason why his team won Super Bowls. From 2001, when he became a starter, to the end of last season, Brady averaged a respectable, but unspectacular, 7.04 yards per throw and had 147 TD passes against 78 interceptions. His high in TD passes was 28, a mark he achieved twice, in 2002 and 2004. This year his numbers have exploded: just under 8 1 /2 yards per pass and better than 3 TD passes a game.

There are only two things that can make a QB's numbers zoom like that — steroids, or throwing to Randy Moss. Throwing behind the best offensive line in the league, Brady, through 14 games, has connected 87 times with Moss for 1,343 yards, 15.4 yards a catch, and 19 TDs. Catching balls from Brady hasn't produced unfamiliar numbers for Moss (who caught 124 passes with Oakland in 2005 for a 16.8 average per catch), but throwing to Moss has done wonders for Brady, who has picked up an almost phenomenal yard-and-a-half on his career YPP average so far this season. Since Moss draws double coverage and leaves other New England receivers open, voters should perhaps consider him for MVP instead of Brady — though they almost certainly won't.

There might, though, be an even worthier AFC candidate than either Brady or Moss. You might have heard of him: His name is Peyton Manning. Manning hasn't put up awe-inspiring stats this year — 3,634 yards in 14 games, a 7.83 YPA, 28 TDs to 14 interceptions — but all things considered, this might be his best season in the NFL. Indianapolis has been hit hard with injuries at two critical areas: offensive line and wide receiver. Marvin Harrison, normally the Colts' deep threat, has missed most of the season with a knee injury. After Reggie Wayne, who is currently third in the league with total receptions with 82, you have to go to 65th place on the stats list to find another Colts wide receiver, Anthony Gonzalez, with 35.

What numbers, one wonders, could Manning have put up pitching behind the Patriots' front wall and throwing to Randy Moss? As it is, he has led the Colts to a 12–2 record, and if Adam Vinatieri had made a key field goal against the Patriots and not missed two chip shots against San Diego, the Colts would probably be unbeaten and the AFC's no. 1 seed. Tom Brady will sweep the NFL's MVP voting for this season, but Peyton Manning is the thinking man's pick.

Mr. Barra is the author of "The Last Coach: A Life of Paul 'Bear' Bryant."