Jalen Hurts Deserves MVP Consideration Despite Eagles' 1-3 Start

Did you know that headed into Monday night, Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts leads all quarterbacks in total yardage through the first four games of the NFL season?

Apparently, Vegas doesn't, nor do they seem to care.

In Week 4, Philadelphia fell to the Kansas City Chiefs 42-30 at home as Hurts passed for 387 yards and two touchdowns without an interception. Yet the Eagles' second-year signal-caller saw his odds fall all the way down to +10000 at WynnBET Sportsbook; the lowest among active quarterbacks not named Mac Jones, Daniel Jones, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields, Trevor Lawrence, Jimmy Garoppolo, Ben Roethlisberger, or Matt Ryan.

The league MVP isn't decided on fantasy points, but it's certainly eye-opening to see the No. 3 ranked quarterback behind only Patrick Mahomes and Kyler Murray come in as the No. 20 lowest-ranked quarterback on the odds board. For those who still don't think he's a true quarterback because of how often he tucks and runs, Hurts also leads the league in this unique stat highlighting the lack of bad throws made by quarterbacks at Pro Football Reference.

Hurts' MVP Odds are Disrespectful Relative to His Performance

Since their blowout road win against the Falcons in Week 1 in Atlanta, the Eagles have lost three straight games. Two of the last three came in blowout fashion to the Cowboys and Chiefs, two of the best teams in football, but it's hard to pin it on the offense when the defense gave up 41 and 42 points respectively.

Quarterbacks on winning teams are often the beneficiary of this particular award, but if that's the case, how does Vegas evaluate that Carson Wentz, Kirk Cousins and Ryan Tannehill are more likely to win MVP?

I'm not presenting Hurts as an indisputable MVP candidate. In fact, there are plenty of players like Kyler Murray who has the projected last-place Cardinals off to a 4-0 start that are far more deserving at this point in the season. If I were putting on my "oddsmaker" hat, Hurts certainly wouldn't be the favorite, but his overall stats indicate he's closer to that of Lamar Jackson (+2000) or Joe Burrow (+4000) compared to players who just got their first win of the season, or have less than half the total touchdowns and yards he's accumulated.

Hurts' overall collective body of work is far too impressive for him to be this far back in the race. Philadelphia's schedule will only get more difficult, with matchups coming up against the Panthers on the road and the Buccaneers at home on a short week over the next two weeks. A few more dominant performances, and maybe, just maybe those odds start to creep back up.

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