2017 NFL odds: Matthew Stafford not among 17 MVP candidates

It’s apparently NFL Odds week across sports betting websites. Earlier in the week, Bovada dropped Coach of the Year odds. Bovada was not kind to Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell, giving him the longest odds out of any coach to win the award, tied with six other coaches with 50/1 odds.

Sports Betting Dime joined the fun on Thursday, releasing a massive list of prop bets and odds for the entire 2017. You can see playoff odds, Super Bowl odds, odds Jay Cutler finishes with more interceptions than touchdowns (6/1), odds Tom Brady admits to breaking his vegan diet (75/1) and much, much more.

But one of the more interesting odds listed was for the 2017 MVP award. Earlier in the year, we saw Bovada place Matthew Stafford’s MVP odds at 50/1, the 14th-best odds overall, and 12th-best among quarterbacks.

If you’re looking for Stafford on Sports Betting Dime’s list, you’ll be looking for a long time, because he isn’t even listed. Here are the 17 players listed by the betting site.

• Tom Brady (Patriots): 6/1
• Aaron Rodgers (Packers): 9/1
• Derek Carr (Raiders): 11/1
• Ben Roethlisberger (Steelers): 14/1
• Russell Wilson (Seahawks): 15/1
• Matt Ryan (Falcons): 20/1
• Dak Prescott (Cowboys): 25/1
• Cam Newton (Panthers): 25/1
• Drew Brees (Saints): 33/1
• Andrew Luck (Colts): 33/1
• Le’Veon Bell (Steelers): 35/1
• Antonio Brown (Steelers): 35/1
• Julio Jones (Falcons): 37/1
• David Johnson (Cardinals) 40/1
• Marcus Mariota (Titans): 45/1
• Odell Beckham Jr. (Giants): 50/1
• Ezekiel Elliott (Cowboys): 60/1
• FIELD: 4/1

When discussing odds, it’s always important to point out that this isn’t what Vegas thinks will happen, but rather, their predictions on who will draw the most betters. Additionally, with an MVP award, team success plays a big factor in selecting candidates. A quarterback of a division-winning team is much more likely to win the award than one from a 6-10 team.

That being said, let’s take a closer look at this list. Sports Betting Dime lists three wide receivers in their candidacy list: Antonio Brown, Julio Jones and Odell Beckham Jr. Maybe there are people actually betting on these guys, but if they are, they’re suckers. The last time a wide receiver won an MVP award was 30 years ago—when Jerry Rice became the first and last receiver to win the award.

The list included 11 quarterbacks, which happen to be the 11 quarterbacks listed ahead of Stafford in Bovada’s MVP odds. An argument could be made for any of them, but it’s hard to explain the optimism around guys like Andrew Luck and Marcus Mariota when their teams aren’t widely considered that much better and the players themselves have plenty to prove, as well.

Interestingly enough, Sports Betting Dime does have a prop bet involving Stafford. It lists Stafford at 2/3 odds to throw for over 4,000 yards this year. Stafford has accomplished that feat in six straight years, so if you’re bummed you can’t put money on his MVP odds, that may be the way to go. (But, remember, don’t gamble because sports are random and you can buy some really cool stuff with money, like food and houses.)