"Easily handed to them": Myles Garrett, Micah Parsons spark debate over why quarterbacks dominate NFL MVP race

The NFL MVP award once again belongs to a quarterback, with Matthew Stafford earning this year’s honor and reinforcing a trend that has defined the modern era. The league’s most prestigious individual trophy rarely strays from the position that touches the ball on every snap. In fact, no non-quarterback has won the award since 2012, and only 15 players outside the position have claimed it since the 1966 merger. Just two pure defensive players have ever lifted the trophy.

That imbalance has not gone unnoticed inside locker rooms. Two time Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett raised the issue during a candid conversation with Micah Parsons on Parsons’ podcast this week. The debate cut straight to the heart of the sport’s biggest individual prize. Who truly defines value in the NFL, and why does the answer almost always point to a quarterback?

NFL MVP award debate: Why quarterbacks dominate and what Myles Garrett argues

The numbers explain part of the story. Quarterbacks drive scoring, control tempo, and shape headlines every Sunday. Fans see touchdown passes, passing yards, and fourth quarter comebacks. Those moments stay fresh in voters’ minds.

Garrett believes that visibility plays a decisive role.

“I feel like QBs have MVP on lock because they have the ball in their hand pretty much every play,” Garrett said. “... It’s too easily handed to them.”


His argument goes deeper than frustration. Garrett points to how defensive excellence often hides behind advanced data that casual viewers rarely track.

“I feel like we’re not taking into account with the things that we do. A lot of the numbers that we have, you have to go to like advanced metrics to see how good you [Parsons] are at what you do or I am or what I do. So, to the casual guy who’s just looking at the scoreboard, he’s like ‘Well, you know Sam Darnold threw for four touchdowns. He’s got to be MVP.’ It’s like, Micah had 10 pressures. He also lost three rushes all day. That’s incredible, but that’s not as easily seen as touchdowns, yards, catches, rushes and all that.”

Garrett’s case carries weight. He broke the single season sack record with 23 in 2025 and secured his second Defensive Player of the Year award. Few defenders have combined production and impact the way he has. If a defensive player is going to challenge the status quo, Garrett has built the résumé to do it.


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