Opening NFL MVP odds have Dak Prescott below Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray, above Russell Wilson

We are still far away from the 2021 NFL season, but that doesn’t mean that it isn’t squarely on the minds of every football fan everywhere. Time will tell what the year ultimately has in store for the Dallas Cowboys. Oftentimes an NFL season doesn’t follow the consensus predictions for the Cowboys, or the league as a whole. It was certainly possible there weren’t exactly a lot of people who thought that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers would win Super bowl LV back in April of 2020 for example.

If I were to tell you that Dak Prescott had an MVP-like season in 2021 you would obviously feel confident in the team’s prospects this year, right? If the team’s quarterback played well enough to take home the game’s highest individual honor then it would stand to reason that he propelled his team to a lot of wins which is what everyone wants to see.

Our friends at BetOnline released their opening odds to win NFL MVP this year and Prescott is near the top. Is he too high, too low, or just in the right spot?

Opening NFL MVP odds have Dak Prescott below Matthew Stafford and Kyler Murray, but above Russell Wilson

There are a lot of people who are going to be backing the Cowboys offense to return to high form this year with Dak Prescott under center, and if that happens then obviously he will likely experience a lot of statistical success in his own right. This is undeniably an important factor in winning an MVP award.

Part about winning an MVP award is about narrative. It is generally an award won by a quarterback which Prescott is, but as the signal-caller for the Dallas Cowboys he also has a lot of opportunity to shine for the world to see him.

Dak has the sixth-best opening odds to win MVP and trails the likes of Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Matthew Stafford, Kyler Murray, and Tom Brady. There is zero doubt that Mahomes and Rodgers should have the best odds, you can certainly make an argument that Josh Allen belongs right behind them, but everything else is a bit suspect.

Perhaps Lamar Jackson will return to the form that won him his own MVP award in 2019, but it feels like the thoughts behind Matthew Stafford joining the Los Angeles Rams are leading people to have quite the optimism around him. The Arizona Cardinals got some nice energy this offseason with the acquisition of JJ Watt, but that isn’t exactly going to help out Kyler Murray.

Many will point out that Prescott was on pace for an incredible statistical season last year, but we have no idea if things would have sustained themselves had he stayed healthy. He has all of the things that an MVP candidate needs to win the award in terms of things out of his control (opportunities on national television as an example), all that’s left is for him to go out and do his part.