Week 9 of the NFL campaign is almost over, with only a stylistic clash between the high-octane Buffalo Bills offence and the stout-as-they-come Minnesota Vikings defence remaining on the slate.
At the conclusion of that game, the regular season will officially be halfway to its conclusion.
That's as good a time as any, and a large enough sample size from which to start pontificating about just who the players most likely to feature in award discussions are going to be.
Whether it be for output that looks set to re-write record books, or for the sheer ability to keep a side decimated by injury competitive, we count down five players charting a course to the NFL's most prized individual honour; the Most Valuable Player gong.
1. Joe Burrow
Unfortunately for Josh, something pretty special is exactly what voters are seeing from Joseph Lee Burrow.
While extraordinary production is not new from the Cincinnati Bengals' favourite son - he was arguably robbed of the award in 2024, courtesy of an all-time poor defence - it is the first time since the franchise's magical Super Bowl run a few seasons ago that Zac Taylor's side are playing complementary football.
That complementary football leads to wins, and wins make it easier for voters to justify giving their vote to a certain quarterback.
Off-season acquisitions Dexter Lawrence, Boye Mafe and to a lesser extent, Bryan Cook have rejuvenated the defensive side of the ball, allowing Burrow to let the game come to him more than he could in the cursed 2024 campaign.
As a result, his numbers are the best in the league.
Burrow is the only quarterback in the league to be averaging more than 300 yards per game, his completion percentage of 73 per cent is the best among passers with more than two starts on the season, and his 20 passing touchdowns also the most in the league, despite having played one less game than the other four quarterbacks inside the top five for that metric.
He's been balling, to put it plainly.
Chatter about his weapons is also unbecoming. Punditry rarely, if ever, disparaged Patrick Mahomes for throwing the rock to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce, nor Peyton Manning for finding Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne, Joe Montana for Jerry Rice's production, or Tom Brady for casts that included the likes of Randy Moss or Rob Gronkowski, at one time or another.
Joe Burrow has been the best player in pro football this season, and would likely find himself the league's MVP if votes were cast tomorrow.
