Carson Wentz: your new favorite for NFL MVP

By: Jesse Larch, Sports Talk Philly editor 

When Aaron Rodgers suffered a potentially season ending injury this past Sunday the reverberations were felt throughout the league. With a top dog falling suddenly the doors swung open for a number of teams looking to push for a playoff spot. 

Another door that swung open was the race for MVP, which Rodgers previously was favored to win. 

With Rodgers's season in jeopardy the new favorite for MVP according to Bovada. Carson Wentz's odds to win the award are currently at 7/4. The next closest is Kansas City Chiefs' quarterback Alex Smith whose odds are at 2/1. Tom Brady of the New England Patriots is in third with 4/1 odds.

Wentz and Smith quarterback the top two teams in the NFL standings, with both teams sitting at 5-1 after six weeks. 

Wentz ranks fifth in the NFL in passing yards (1,584), and only five quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts have thrown less interceptions than Wentz this season. Only Deshaun Watson of the Houston Texans has thrown more touchdowns than Wentz this season, and Wentz's 99.6 quarterback rating is seventh best in the NFL among quarterbacks with at least 100 pass attempts. 

Where Wentz has been truly elite is on third down. The Eagles as a team have converted on 50.6 percent of their third downs this season, with the next closest team converting over five percent less. 

Wentz has completed 66.6 percent of his passes on third down with seven of his 13 touchdowns coming on the money down. Wentz has attempted less passes on third down than either second or third down this season, but he has thrown for more yards on third down than any other, averaging 10.2 yards per attempt and boasting a 130.5 quarterback rating. 

If Wentz continues to build on his strong sophomore campaign, he would be the first second-year player to win MVP since Dan Marino in 1984. That season the hall-of-famer led the Miami Dolphins to a 14-2 record with 48 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions while throwing for 5048 passing yards (317.8 per game).