Somehow, Jalen Hurts is still being treated as more important to Eagles than Saquon Barkley

The Philadelphia Eagles are back in the NFC Championship Game, making them one of the NFL's final four teams standing. Considering their underwhelming postseason exit in 2023 and their lackluster 2-2 start to this season, Philadelphia playing well enough to get back to the NFC Championship Game has been pretty cool to see.

With the Super Bowl just weeks away, the odds for players to win the MVP award in that game have been revealed. Patrick Mahomes and Josh Allen understandably top the list, but where arguably the two most valuable players slot in according to DraftKings Sportsbook is shocking to see.

For whatever reason, DraftKings has Jalen Hurts (+400) ahead of Saquon Barkley (+550) on the Super Bowl MVP odds. That feels... wrong.

Early Super Bowl MVP odds prove Saquon Barkley needs more respect

To be fair, the Super Bowl MVP award almost always goes to the quarterback of the winning team. Patrick Mahomes has won each of the last two Super Bowl MVPs, and quarterbacks have won 11 of the last 15 Super Bowl MVPs. Taking that into account, it isn't hard to see why Hurts is among the leaders when looking at MVP odds. With that being said, he simply cannot be ahead of Barkley. Anyone who has watched the Eagles this season knows that.

Barkley has been nothing short of a revelation in his first season in Philadelphia. He was expected to dominate, considering his talent, by running behind an elite offensive line, but nobody expected this. Barkley could've broken the NFL's single-season rushing record had he played in Week 18 of the regular season. His game has only elevated in the playoffs.

In Philadelphia's Wild Card Round win over the Green Bay Packers, Barkley ran for 119 yards on 25 carries, averaging just under five yards per carry. He followed that up with a 205-yard showing in the NFC Divisional Round win over the Los Angeles Rams on 26 attempts with two touchdowns. He averaged nearly eight yards per carry in the victory.

Not only has Barkley dominated in the playoffs thus far, but Hurts has done virtually nothing. The 26-year-old completed just 13 of his 21 attempts for 131 yards in Philadelphia's win over Green Bay and went 15-for-20, throwing for 128 yards against the Rams. Overall, Hurts has just 259 yards passing in the first two rounds of the playoffs. In comparison, Barkley just rushed for 205 yards in one game, and has 324 rushing yards overall.

Yes, the Super Bowl MVP award is most often won by quarterbacks, but quarterbacks who aren't even required to throw for 150 yards won't win it over a running back who outgains them yards-wise.

If Hurts plays like he did in his previous Super Bowl appearance and the Eagles win, he'll win the MVP award. However, we haven't seen Hurts play like that at all in these playoffs and, frankly, haven't seen him play at that level much at all lately. To add to that, he isn't even fully healthy right now. Based on what we've seen from Barkley and haven't seen from Hurts, Saquon deserves way more praise than he's getting. He looks like an incredibly valuable Super Bowl MVP pick right now, especially with the Eagles favored to get to the Super Bowl.