3. Sam Darnold, QB, Seattle Seahawks
Sam Darnold and the Seattle Seahawks played on Sunday Night Football in Week 9 and got to play in front of a primetime crowd. All Darnold did was toss four touchdowns. He now has 16 touchdown passes against four interceptions this year for a stellar 116 passer rating. He's actually on pace to be more productive than he was in 2024 with the Minnesota Vikings.
Seattle is now 6-2 on the season and have a great chance at capturing the NFC West title in the 2025 NFL Season, but there is another NFC West quarterback on this list who is more deserving of a higher ranking in our MVP stepladder as Week 9 closes out.
2. Drake Maye, QB, New England Patriots
Drake Maye and the New England Patriots are tied with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos for the best record in the NFL at 7-2, and it's truly amazing to see the Patriots play as well as they have this year. Drake Maye has been outstanding and is turning into an elite QB before our very eyes.
The Pats have beat up on a lot of bad teams this year, but they can't help who is on their schedule. New England still leads the AFC East as well and don't appear to be slowing down, either.
1. Matthew Stafford, QB, Los Angeles Rams
Matthew Stafford has thrown 21 touchdown passes this year. He's only thrown two interceptions, as the Los Angeles Rams are now 6-2 on the season and rank 8th in the NFL in points scored per game. The Rams play the 49ers, Seahawks, and Buccaneers over the next three games and could really make some notable progress in the NFC if they could win two of those games.
Stafford himself is playing the best football of his career and is operating at a higher level than any QB in the league at the moment. The Rams won it all back in 2021 and appear to have enough to win it all again. Matthew Stafford is trending toward getting some serious consideration for his first MVP award, and that could end up being enough to push him into Canton one day.