Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley has grabbed the attention of sportsbooks as he makes a run at becoming the first non-quarterback to win the NFL’s Most Valuable Player award since Minnesota’s Adrian Peterson a dozen years ago.
Barkley opened as a +30000 longshot at BetMGM to win MVP honors in his first season with Philadelphia. He had slashed those in half by Week 11 and to +5000 by last week.
Still a +5000 longshot Sunday morning, Barkley then exploded for 255 rushing yards and a pair of touchdowns while adding four catches for another 47 yards in a 37-20 win over the Los Angeles Rams that night. By Sunday night he had trimmed those odds to +650, as he leads the NFL with 1,392 rushing yards to go along with 12 total touchdowns.
By Tuesday, Barkley had the third-shortest odds at +400, and is now BetMGM’s biggest liability in the MVP market. Only Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen (+150) and Baltimore quarterback Lamar Jackson (+250) have shorter MVP odds.
Barkley is also the -400 favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year honors, down from +2500 when the market opened. That’s well ahead of Ravens running back Derrick Henry, who is a distant second at +275 despite having only 67 fewer rushing yards.
“Nobody can stop Saquon right now and the bettors know it,” BetMGM trading manager Christian Cipollini said.
Barkley’s MVP odds have seen a similar trend at DraftKings, where he is now the third favorite at +475 after being +4000 before his performance against the Rams.
Allen is the +150 favorite at the book followed by Jackson, Barkley and Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff (+700). No one else has shorter odds than Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes at +1300.
Meanwhile, the book reported that a pair of quarterbacks saw their MVP chances take enormous hits following upset losses in Week 12. Washington rookie Jayden Daniels went from +2500 to +6000 after the Commanders lost to Dallas, while Houston’s C.J. Stroud plummeted from +2800 to +9000 following the Texans’ shocking loss to Tennessee.
Going in the other direction was Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield, who is still a +3500 longshot but saw his odds improve from +5000 following the Buccaneers’ blowout victory over the New York Giants.