Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen (17) reacts after scoring a touchdown during the second half against the Jacksonville Jaguars in an AFC Wild Card Round game at EverBank Stadium.

After he was named a finalist for the NFL Most Valuable Player award for the fifth time this past season, Josh Allen is once again being evaluated as a leading MVP candidate at this early stage of the 2026 campaign.

Among 10 players named as early MVP candidates by ESPNs Seth Walder, Allen topped the list as he and the Bills begin another quest for the franchises first championship.

He's the best quarterback in the NFL, wrote Walder of Allen.

And if the Bills are the No.

1 seed in the AFC -- which is well within the cards -- it will be because Allen delivered an MVP-worthy performance.

Allen finished third in the voting for the 2025 MVP, receiving just two first-place votes.

In 2024, Allen was named MVP after receiving 27 first-place votes, edging the Baltimore Ravens Lamar Jackson, who finished with 22 first-place votes.

For the Bills quarterback to claim his second MVP during his age-30 season, he must be more efficient than he was a season ago.

What it will take for Allen to win MVP Allen is consistently the best running quarterback in the NFL, and was once again last season, at least by Pro Football References standards, which gave him a 91.3 rushing grade in 2025, ranked first among NFL QBs.

With that said, he took a slight step back as a passer this past year, particularly in terms of his ability to protect the football and himself.

Allen was sacked 40 times in 2025, which was a career high, while his 10 interceptions were four more than he recorded the year before.

At times, the Bills QB was reckless, which led to some highly volatile play that cost the Buffalo offense at times.

There was no greater example of that than the Bills divisional-round defeat at the hands of the Denver Broncos on Jan.

17.

During that game against Denver, Allen was intercepted twice and fumbled the ball three times, losing two of them.

He was also sacked three times.

It was a disastrous performance that ultimately led to Buffalos latest postseason demise.

Additionally, during the regular season, when the MVP is voted on, Allen committed two turnovers or more on three separate occasions, while he finished seven games with at least one giveaway.

The good news stemming from the 2025 campaign was that his EPA per drop back remained an impressive +.10.

If he can give that number a boost, somewhere close to the remarkable +.25 with which he finished 2024, he will be in prime position again to elevate himself to MVP-worthy status.

Last seasons MVP, Los Angeles Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford, finished the 2025 campaign with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns while completing 65% of his passes.

Allen recorded 3,668 passing yards, another 579 rushing yards and 39 total touchdowns while completing 69.3% of his passes.

The hope for Allen and the Bills will be that offseason additions such as wide receivers DJ Moore and Skyler Bell, along with others, will better equip their quarterback to put up the big-time numbers we have seen from him throughout his rise to stardom.

Alex Brasky is editor of Shout! magazine, along with serving as a contributor to Bills - ONSI.

He has been on the Bills beat the past nine seasons and recently joined Newsweek to expand his coverage beyond the NFL.

Alex has also previously covered the MLB, Pro Baseball Hall of Fame, PGA Tour and March Madness and earned first place for his spot news coverage in the New York Press Association's Better Newspaper contest.

Follow alexbrasky.

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