MINNEAPOLIS -- Despite only playing in 13 games, Carson Wentz still got some MVP love from the voting body, drawing two votes in a losing effort to eventual 2017 NFL MVP Tom Brady.
Wentz looked like he might very well become the MVP, especially in a sport and with an award where people are always looking to reward new blood. Wentz helped to elevate the Eagles offense to an elite level, converting a crazy amount of third downs and piling up touchdowns.
In his second year, it was entirely possible that Wentz was becoming one of the best quarterbacks in football, and it felt likely he would be in a race with Brady down the stretch for the MVP award.
Then injury struck and Wentz, who hurt himself against the Rams in a Week 14 game, tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season. The MVP is an award that is for the full season, and even as good as Wentz played, it felt as if he was out of the race the second that injury happened.
Something would have to happen with Brady, and the Eagles would need to crater down the stretch in order for Wentz to have any shot. Nick Foles played well in his first game replacing Wentz, though, and it felt like a lost cause, as good as the young quarterback played for much of the year.
It was a lost cause, too: Brady didn't win unanimously, but he garnered 40 votes out of a possible 50, which means it was not remotely close. Rams running back Todd Gurley, who was named the NFL's Offensive Player of the Year on Saturday, also received eight votes. But the campaign to get Gurley the MVP hardware was not going to overtake the season Brady put together at the age of 40.
And neither was Wentz's injury-shortened season, although it was clearly good enough for two different voters (potentially ones in Philadelphia?) to recognize him as a legitimate MVP candidate. Don't be surprised when he is one of the favorites to win the award next year.
