No rookie has won the NFL’s MVP award since Jim Brown in 1957. Through five weeks of the 2024 season, Commanders rookie quarterbaclk Jayden Daniels is an MVP candidate.

It doesn’t matter that he’s a rookie. Recent history shows that the quarterbacks of the teams that earn a bye week in each conference become the finalists for the award. It’s happened every year since a late run at the single-season rushing record secured the 2012 MVP for Vikings running back Adrian Peterson.

And so, if the Commanders end up being the No. 1 seed in the NFC, either he or the quarterback of the No. 1 seed in the AFC will be the MVP.

We say it from time to time, because it’s true. After Thursday night’s game, Falcons quarterback Kirk Cousins entered the conversation. Vikings quarterback Sam Darnold is in it. So is Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud, and Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

Win the top seed in your conference, and you’ve got a great chance to win the MVP.

So, yes, Daniels is in the mix. What he does over the next 12 games will determine whether he prevails.