The 2021 NFL season is still a few months away, however, that hasn’t stopped people from predicting who’ll win each of the individual awards. Bovada has released odds on who’ll be next season’s Offensive Player of the Year. As it stands, Tennessee Titans RB Derrick Henry and Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes are early favorites as each player has +700 odds to win the award.
When it comes to Henry, no other running back in the league is putting up the numbers that he’s been producing. He put up 2,027 rushing yards in 2020 — the fifth-highest total of all-time, which actually led to him being named last season’s Offensive Player of the Year. In fact, no running back has more rushing yards than Henry’s 5,370 since 2017. The fact that the Titans have brought in WR Julio Jones from the Atlanta Falcons means that teams won’t be able to stack the box that much against Henry, which should open the floor for him even more. Considering how he’s one of the main components in Tennessee’s offense and a top-5 RB in the league, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Henry being named OPOY in the 2021 NFL season.
On the other hand, people would be even less surprised if Mahomes did it. After all, he already won the award back in 2018 — the same year that he was the league’s most valuable player. The Chiefs offense should be firing on all cylinders next season, which means Mahomes will likely put up some ridiculous numbers again. He ended the last campaign with 4,740 passing yards and 38 touchdowns to 6 interceptions.
2021 NFL Offensive Player of the Year Odds
Odds via Bovada as of Wednesday, July 21
- Derrick Henry (+700)
- Patrick Mahomes (+700)
- Christian McCaffrey (+1000)
- George Kittle (+1200)
- Josh Allen (+1500)
- Dalvin Cook (+1500)
- Nick Chubb (+1600)
- Aaron Rodgers (+1800)
- Alvin Kamara (+1800)
- Tom Brady (+1800)
- Davante Adams (+2000)
Complete odds list available at Bovada.lv.
McCaffrey Trying to Rebound From Injury
After an impressive showing in 2019, Carolina Panthers RB Christian McCaffrey (+1000) suited up for just three games in 2020 due to ankle and shoulder surgeries. Nevertheless, he’s had a lot of time off and looks to enter the 2021 NFL season at full strength. If that’s the case and he comes back look how he did two years ago, the rest of the NFL should be on notice.
McCaffrey finished the 2019 NFL season with 1,387 rushing and 1,005 passing yards — becoming just the third player in league history to record at least 1,000 of each in the same campaign. He also had a total of 19 touchdowns on the ground and through the air, proving his importance to the Panthers. As mentioned before, if those are the numbers he puts up in 2021, he’ll certainly give Mahomes and Henry a run for their money when it comes to the Offensive Player of the Year race.
2021 NFL Odds: Can Kittle Be the First Tight End to Be Named OPOY?
At +1200 odds, George Kittle has the chance to make history. A tight end has never won the Offensive Player of the Year award before. In fact, only two pass catchers have ever received the honor: New Orleans Saints WR Michael Thomas in 2019 and the legendary Jerry Rice, who did it twice about 30 years ago. Needless to say, the deck is stacked against the San Francisco 49er.
Injuries held Kittle to just eight games played in 2020, however, he was on pace to finish the season with 1,268 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Would that have been enough to win the award over Henry? Probably not, but it shows that Kittle does have the ability to put up over 1,000 yards annually. Still, he’d likely need to increase his touchdown count tenfold if he hopes to win the award over a quarterback or running back.
