The award for the Most Valuable Player (MVP) is given out to the most outstanding player in the NFL every season. The MVP has been awarded 67 times, but its history has been dominated by quarterbacks.
Wide receivers like Terrell Owens, Cooper Kupp, Julio Jones, Randy Moss, and Jerry Rice have all put together seasons where they could have won MVP. But did any of them ever manage to achieve the accolade?
Has a Wide Receiver Ever Won MVP?
Surprisingly, in the history of NFL MVP, a wide receiver has never won the award. Despite great seasons by many great receivers, none managed to achieve the award.
Of all the non-quarterbacks, Miami Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill has the best chance of winning MVP in 2023. Hill is on track to beat Calvin Johnson’s record single-season receiving yards total of 1,964.
Hill could surpass 2,000 receiving yards in 2,000, and he has proven invaluable to the Dolphins in 2023. After all, the award is supposed to go to the most VALUABLE player.
Hill is aware of what it would mean for him to win the award, but he knows his chances are slim. Hill told the media, “It’s a quarterback award. We all know that. And if Tua won it, I’d be happy. I’d be happier if Tua won it. I feel like I’ve gotten everything I want. I get a chance to play the game that I love.”
After Week 12 in the NFL, Hill is currently fourth in the betting odds for MVP. The players in front of him are Brock Purdy, Dak Prescott, and Lamar Jackson. All quarterbacks.
Is MVP a QB-Only Award?
While it is not an award solely for quarterbacks, the winners list is dominated by them.
The award is voted for by the Associated Press (AP), and there is no doubt that there is certainly a bias toward quarterbacks. One reason for this is that if a wide receiver has had a statistically outstanding season, his quarterback most likely has as well.
QBs dominate the award every year. Of the 67 awards given out, only 21 of them are non-quarterbacks.
The last time a non-QB won the award was in 2013 when Minnesota Vikings RB Adrian Peterson won. Before Peterson, RB LaDainian Tomlinson (2006) and RB Marshall Faulk (2000) were the only non-QBs to have won the award since the year 2000.
In fact, the last non-QB or RB to win the award was Lawrence Taylor in 1986. Taylor is one of two defensive players to have won NFL MVP, the other being Alan Page in 1971.
MORE: Who’s Won the Most NFL MVPs in League History?
Curiously, despite a receiver never winning the award, a kicker has. Washington kicker Mark Moseley won the award in 1982.
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