Joe Burrow Named CBS Experts' Runaway MVP Pick for 2026 Season
Burrow tops the panel for a second straight year, banking on a healthy return after his 2024 line of 4,918 yards and 43 TDs.
A healthy Burrow makes Chase a WR1 ceiling play again.
- Burrow: 4,918 pass yds, 43 TD in 2024, 4th in MVP
- Chase's 6,837 career rec yds 2nd-most through 5 seasons
- Mahomes back from Dec ACL tear, Chiefs went 6-11
- Anderson Jr. led NFL in pressure rate (21%) in 2025
- JSN posted 360 PPR pts last season (2025)
Our expert panel didn't need a debate for the top award: Joe Burrow is the runaway MVP pick for 2026, landing at No. 1 for a second consecutive year. The logic is simple — go back to 2024, when Burrow led the league with 4,918 passing yards and 43 touchdowns and finished fourth in MVP voting, then remember he's already a two-time Comeback Player of the Year. His 2025 got derailed by injury, but a rebuilt Cincinnati defense could be the thing that finally pushes his candidacy over the top.
The through-line for the Bengals runs straight to Ja'Marr Chase, our voters' Offensive Player of the Year favorite. Chase took the receiving triple crown in 2024 with a healthy Burrow, and his 6,837 career receiving yards rank second-most ever through five seasons, trailing only Justin Jefferson. The pitch is identical to Burrow's: keep both healthy, add a better defense, and the volume takes care of itself.
The Rest Of The Ballot
On defense, Will Anderson Jr. drew overwhelming support after a 2025 that included 12 sacks, 93 pressures and a league-best 21% pressure rate. The rookie races split the room — Cardinals No. 3 overall pick Jordan Love (electric in his lone preseason cameo despite a high ankle sprain) edged the offensive side, while pass-rushers Ashton Bailey and Bain carried the defensive conversation over from draft season.
The most lopsided pick of all? Patrick Mahomes for Comeback Player of the Year. The three-time Super Bowl MVP is back from a December ACL tear and has been tracking toward Week 1 for months, even as Kansas City retools around a roster coming off a 6-11 mark — its worst since 2012. Penei Sewell ran away with Protector of the Year honors, and the Coach of the Year vote scattered, unsurprisingly, across a field heavy on first- and second-year head coaches.
The Fantasy Fallout
Awards buzz is roster gold when it's tied to health, and that's exactly the Bengals' story. Chase carries WR1 upside the moment Burrow is upright — remember what Jaxon Smith-Njigba did with a working quarterback last season (2025), posting 360 PPR points on his way to WR2 overall. If a Chase manager in your league is nervous about the 2025 injury fog, that's your window.
Buy low on Ja'Marr Chase before the box scores make it obvious. The path to his 2024 ceiling runs entirely through Burrow's availability, and both the panel and our model expect that path to reopen. Mahomes and Anderson are hold-and-monitor cases in their formats; Chase is the one to actively pursue right now.
