30 non-QBs who should be in MVP consideration for the 2024 season

28. Matthew Judon, Atlanta Falcons

We just spoke about Mike Evans. The NFC South might seem like a division that could have four bad teams. However, what if one team stands out and takes advantage of this division? The Bucs now have to play a first-place schedule. The Atlanta Falcons and all their talent do not. 

Meanwhile, the Falcons defense has not been great in a long time, but they are trying to change that. They made two moves this month, trading for former Patriots pass rusher Matthew Judon and signing safety Justin Simmons. While Simmons is a great player, we want to focus on Judon here.

He was fantastic for most of his time with the Patriots, even if some of that time was tumultuous. We did want to see how he would do under new Patriots head coach Jerod Mayo, but it wasn’t meant to be. Now, he’s playing for Raheem Morris, another defensive-minded head coach who has a long track record of getting the most out of his defensive players.

Judon is also playing for a new contract. The 32-year-old has to be stupendous to earn truly life-changing money. He had 28 sacks in his first two years in New England. He must do even better than 14 sacks to be in the MVP conversation. He needs to lead the league in sacks with an impressive number to be in this stratosphere.