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The 2021 NFL regular season is over, which means it's time for our last weekly check-in on the MVP race. We have been using this space throughout the second half of the season to take the temperature of our rotating panel of experts, trying to get a feel for who is in the lead, who is in contention, who is hanging on the fringes, and how those groups are changing from week to week. 

As always, each of our experts was asked to submit their top-five MVP rankings. Five points were awarded for a first-place vote, four for a second-place vote, three for a third-place vote, two for a fourth-place vote, and one for a fifth-place vote.

With the season at a close, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers is our favorite to win for the second consecutive season. He would join Peyton Manning, Brett Favre, Joe Montana, and Jim Brown as the only players to win the award in consecutive years. However, the voting ended up closer than one might have expected -- and a surprise player actually took a first-place vote. 

Without further ado, let's get to the voting...

The panel of voters: Jonathan Jones, Ryan Wilson, John Breech, Jared Dubin, Jordan Dajani, Bryan DeArdo, Josh Edwards, Chris Trapasso, Tyler Sullivan, Jeff Kerr

The full MVP leaderboard

1. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers (45)

2. Buccaneers QB Tom Brady (40)

3. Rams WR Cooper Kupp (20)

4. Bengals QB Joe Burrow (16)

5. Bills QB Josh Allen (13)

6. Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes (5)

T-7. Colts RB Jonathan Taylor (4)

T-7. 49ers WR Deebo Samuel (4)*

9. Steelers DE T.J. Watt (2)

10. Chargers QB Justin Herbert (1)*

*New on the list this week

Dropped out: None

Most first-place votes:

  • Aaron Rodgers (7 out of 10)
  • Tom Brady (2)
  • Cooper Kupp (1)

Most second-place votes:

  • Tom Brady (6)
  • Aaron Rodgers (2)
  • Josh Allen, Deebo Samuel (1)

Most total ballots: 

  • Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady (10 out of 10)
  • Cooper Kupp (8)
  • Joe Burrow (7) 
  • Josh Allen (5)

Positional representation:

  • QB (6)
  • WR (2)
  • RB (1)
  • DE (1)

So who will actually win?

It would be pretty surprising if anyone other than Rodgers won. There's no way for anyone to overtake him with the regular season now finished, and he has been an overwhelming favorite for several weeks now. In all likelihood, he is going to repeat.