Super Bowl 50 Betting Props: MVP Award
Quarterbacks have won the Super Bowl MVP more than every other position combined in Super Bowl history. In 49 Super Bowls the MVP has gone to a quarterback 27 times. A QB has also won seven of the last nine MVP awards, including Tom Brady last year.
Taking that history into account it’s not surprising that the quarterbacks, Cam Newton and Peyton Manning, are drawing the best odds on the Super Bowl MVP props at online sportsbook Bovada.
Newton is a heavy overall favorite to claim the MVP at -130. Newton is expected to also claim the NFL MVP award later this month and one other reason he’s the overall favorite is because Carolina is favored to win the big game.
A player from the winning side has won all but one Super Bowl MVP award. The only player on the losing side to win the MVP was Chuck Howley with Dallas in Super Bowl V.
Manning, who already has a Super Bowl MVP from Super Bowl XLI with Indianapolis, comes in at +275 on the Bovada props. If Manning does win again he would be the sixth player with more than one MVP.
The Panthers and Broncos boast two of the best defenses in the NFL so a defensive player winning the MVP would not be a big surprise. Nine defensive players have won the MVP, including Seattle’s Malcolm Smith two years ago.
Carolina linebacker Luke Kuechly is getting the best odds among defensive players at +1400, while Von Miller is the oddsmakers' top pick from Denver at +2000. The odds on a few other defensive players include Josh Norman at +2800, Aqib Talib at +3300 and DeMarcus Ware at +3300.
With quarterbacks winning the MVP with regularity it takes quite a standout performance for a running back or wide receiver to win the award. Only seven running backs and six wide receivers have won before.
A running back hasn’t won since Terrell Davis in Super Bowl XXXII, but if Denver’s C.J. Anderson can end that streak he’d pay out at +2000, while Carolina's Jonathan Stewart is listed at +2200.
The favorites among wide receivers are Ted Ginn Jr at +2000, Demaryus Thomas at +2200 and Emmanuel Sanders at +2200. A tight end has never won the MVP but Carolina’s Greg Olsen will try to change that as a +2200 underdog.