Ranking NFL non-quarterback MVP candidates in 2021: Top 10 includes Cooper Kupp, Micah Parsons, Ja'Marr Chase

The NFL's MVP award is quite often the most valuable quarterback award. As maybe it should be, given that is the most important position. But the game is played by 21 non-quarterbacks on a given scrimmage play, and some of those players were awfully valuable themselves — even if they aren't true candidates for the actual MVP award. Aaron Donald, T.J. Watt and Jonathan Taylor had incredible seasons, but likely won't ever get that national recognition.

They deserve their own award — the non-QB MVP.

So I'm casting my 10-player ballot for this hypothetical award. As always, my selections lean heavily on metrics — like our Expected Points Added (EPA) numbers and NFL Next Gen Stats player tracking metrics — to make these votes. No matter how you go about this, it's a tricky exercise. Because when we expand to any non-quarterback position, there are a ton of great players to consider — including many who did not make this list. But top 10 means top 10, so that is all that is making the cut today.

Let's break down the ballot.

A season ago, Aaron Donald took the top spot on my ballot for dominating the rest of his position group in production. This season, his teammate earns the honor — at the position that research suggests is the second-most valuable in the sport. The Rams generated 115 expected points added on Kupp targets this season (interception plays removed), which was way more than the rest of the receiving field. Only Ja'Marr Chase cracked 80 EPA for his team on targets, and he was just at 85.

There's an argument for looking at completions only when evaluating wide receivers, but Kupp dominates that way too with 143 EPA to Justin Jefferson's 116, the next highest. Kupp ranked second — only behind Chase — in receiving