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Green Bay Packers: Aaron Rodgers, the 2020 NFL MVP?

By Matt LeVene

GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 10: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates a touchdown scored by Aaron Jones #33 against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter in the game at Lambeau Field on November 10, 2019 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
GREEN BAY, WISCONSIN - NOVEMBER 10: Aaron Rodgers #12 of the Green Bay Packers celebrates a touchdown scored by Aaron Jones #33 against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter in the game at Lambeau Field on November 10, 2019 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /
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Green Bay Packers
Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers (12) celebrates his 74 yard touchdown pass to Marquez Valdes-Scantling with Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur during the 4th quarter of the Green Bay Packers 42-24 win over the Oakland Raiders at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Sunday, Oct. 20, 2019. Photo by Mike De Sisti/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel /

Why Aaron Rodgers will win MVP

I briefly noted Rodgers’ stats earlier, so now, let’s take a little deeper dive into showing how his 2020 campaign is off to a historic start.

Let’s start with passer rating, which is essentially a metric calculated to assess the performances of quarterbacks. Aaron Rodgers is currently the league leader in this category with a rating of 117.5. Leading this statistical category is nothing new for Rodgers as he has the highest career passer rating in NFL history at 103.1.

As impressive as this is, it also gives a reason to believe he has the inside track to the Most Valuable Player award. The two previous times he has taken home that hardware (2011, 2014), AR’s passer rating was 122.5 and 112.2, respectively. His current rating is just about in the middle of those two, which is not a bad place to be.

Another reason to have an optimistic view of Rodgers’ MVP chances is his lead in Quarterback Rating (QBR). This metric was instituted by ESPN in 2011 and differs from passer rating as it factors the QB’s impact on the game as a whole. This includes passes, rushes, turnovers, penalties, and the context of the game, meaning garbage time stats don’t carry the same weight as high-pressure situations do.

As I mentioned, Aaron leads the league in this metric with a QBR of 87.6, the highest rating of his career to date. To give a frame of reference, let’s look back at his past MVP seasons, where Rodgers had ratings of 84.5 in 2011 and 78.3 in 2014. His direct competition for the award, Patrick Mahomes, is second in QBR with an 87.0.

In an effort to further bolster Aaron Rodgers’ MVP case, one word comes to mind; efficiency. Throughout the entirety of his career at the helm of the Green Bay Packers’ offense, he has been a model of efficient play; 2020 is not an anomaly. While Mahomes has also had a ridiculous start to the season and currently has a better TD-INT ratio and Interception percentage than Rodgers, Mahomes has had more turnover worthy plays.

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