{"id":557,"date":"2026-05-26T19:09:51","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:09:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557"},"modified":"2026-05-26T19:09:51","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T19:09:51","slug":"kurtenbach-brock-purdy-might-be-the-nfls-most-disrespected-mvp-candidate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557","title":{"rendered":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n

I found myself in Las Vegas this past weekend. It was against my will, naturally.<\/p>\n

Read more Review: \u2018Pressure\u2019 goes behind the scenes of D-Day invasion<\/a><\/p>\n

But while navigating that neon wasteland of terrible life choices and overpriced, well, everything, I just might have stumbled across a sportsbook offering NFL MVP odds.<\/p>\n

When in Caesar\u2019s Rome, right?<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t actually put any of my hard-earned money on the table, but I was severely tempted.<\/p>\n

To be clear: It\u2019s illegal to gamble on sports here in the glorious state of California. So, please, consider this column a mere public service announcement for those of you living in or are soon to visit the less-than-enlightened corners of the country where that\u2019s not the case.<\/p>\n

Because right now, Vegas and those predatory betting apps are practically handing out free money. The market is just too distracted by shiny new toys to notice the vault is wide open:<\/p>\n

Brock Purdy is currently 20-to-1 to win NFL MVP.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s absurd. It\u2019s borderline insulting.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

And it won\u2019t last. By the end of September, expect these odds to get slashed in half, dropping all the way down to 10-to-1. In fact, that might happen before the first NFL Sunday of the year \u2014 one great game in Australia against the Rams on a weekday could be enough to wake everybody up to the new reality in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

So if you want to capitalize on the sheer, unadulterated disrespect being thrown at the San Francisco 49ers\u2019 quarterback, the window is closing fast.<\/p>\n

As it stands, Purdy currently has the exact same odds as Washington quarterback Jaden Daniels, whose team the same oddsmakers believe will win seven or eight games this season. Purdy is sitting with the 11th-best odds, and while he might, in fact, be the 11th-best quarterback in football, those two statements are incongruent.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s why the smart money is on the kid from Iowa State: MVP is a narrative-based award.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

It\u2019s just a beauty pageant for sportswriters \u2014 an exercise in who can sell the best story at the end of the year. And the narrative is perfectly aligned for Purdy this upcoming season.<\/p>\n

Because historically, Purdy\u2019s biggest MVP obstacle hasn\u2019t been opposing defenses. It\u2019s been his own loaded locker room.<\/p>\n

And while I do expect the Niners to be good this season, I don\u2019t foresee MVP-caliber play from anyone else on this roster.<\/p>\n

In the past, players like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and Deebo Samuel would steal the credit from the Niners\u2019 quarterbacks. Was it the signal caller, the head coach or the great skill players that was responsible for excellence? You know the order deduced by people outside the Bay.<\/p>\n

For instance, while Lamar Jackson was a worthy MVP in 2023, Purdy and McCaffrey finished fourth and fifth in voting \u2014 had just one of the two Niners consolidated the votes, it would have been a better race.<\/p>\n

But I don\u2019t expect diversification from the 49ers\u2019 offense. Not this year.<\/p>\n

Father Time \u2014 if not the electrical substation \u2014 is completely undefeated, and he\u2019s knocking loudly on the door in Santa Clara.<\/p>\n

Read more What tastes like a Korean pancake and is purple all over? An Oreo inspired by K-pop group BTS<\/a><\/p>\n

Who seriously expects McCaffrey and Kittle to play full seasons? Sorry, but that brutal reality removes them from MVP threat status.<\/p>\n

What about the new guys? Sure, Mike Evans is on the team now. But let\u2019s be real. At this stage in his illustrious career, Evans isn\u2019t the type of player who will siphon MVP votes away from his quarterback.<\/p>\n

The rest of the receiving corps \u2014 headlined by Ricky Pearsall and Christian Kirk \u2014 is solid but not top-tier. They won\u2019t be stealing national headlines from their quarterback. They are there to catch passes, not MVP votes.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not to say that Purdy won\u2019t have help. It just won\u2019t be headline help.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m bullish on the 49ers\u2019 offensive line going into this season. I might be the only one, but consider this a flag plant. They\u2019re going to keep the pocket clean. They\u2019ll pave the way \u2014 not just for Purdy, but also CMC, Jordan James, and Kaelon Black \u2014 all season long.<\/p>\n

But great offensive lines are taken for granted. They\u2019re just the boys in the boiler room, keeping the lights on, but they never get credit for team success, at least in things like MVP voting.<\/p>\n

Perhaps voters will penalize Purdy by giving the credit to head coach Kyle Shanahan, treating the Niners\u2019 quarterback like a mindless robot just pushing buttons on a dashboard.<\/p>\n

But Matt Stafford just won an MVP with Sean McVay calling plays, and Matt Ryan won an MVP a decade ago with Shanahan as his offensive coordinator.<\/p>\n

I think the lack of superstar weapons will override that Shanahan slander this year.<\/p>\n

You can\u2019t just point to the \u201cgenius\u201d head coach when the quarterback is the one ripping passes to every quadrant of the field, putting up points, week after week.<\/p>\n

The bottom line is incredibly simple: The 49ers are staring down the barrel of the toughest division in football, if not the toughest schedule (at least when it comes to travel).<\/p>\n

Despite that absolute meat grinder of a schedule, I can\u2019t help but project they win 11 or 12 games.<\/p>\n

(This level of optimism is jarring, and I\u2019m seeking counsel on it.)<\/p>\n

When they hit that mark without a full season from their traditional superstar skill players with household names, there\u2019s only one conclusion the voters can possibly reach.<\/p>\n

The easiest narrative for voters will be that Purdy put the team on his back.<\/p>\n

He won\u2019t be a game manager. He won\u2019t be a system guy. He\u2019ll be the undisputed king of the Bay Area. A worthy successor to Joe and Steve.<\/p>\n

Read more Chemical tank in Garden Grove at 92 degrees Tuesday a.m. as crews work to lower temperature<\/a><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not guaranteeing it will happen, but you can see the path, right?<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a scenario that makes a 20-to-1 bet incredibly valuable right now.<\/p>\n

You know, if you\u2019re into things like that\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The narrative for Brock Purdy will be too good to overlook this upcoming NFL season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":556,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-557","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\nKurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The narrative for Brock Purdy will be too good to overlook this upcoming NFL season.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Next City Digest\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"headline\":\"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557\"},\"wordCount\":1054,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp\",\"articleSection\":[\"Sports\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557\",\"name\":\"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/05\\\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp\",\"width\":1024,\"height\":682},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?p=557#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Next City Digest\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b\",\"name\":\"admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/nextcitydigest.com\\\/?author=1\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest","og_description":"The narrative for Brock Purdy will be too good to overlook this upcoming NFL season.","og_url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557","og_site_name":"Next City Digest","article_published_time":"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00","author":"admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"admin","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557"},"author":{"name":"admin","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"headline":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate","datePublished":"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557"},"wordCount":1054,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp","articleSection":["Sports"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557","name":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate - Next City Digest","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp","datePublished":"2026-05-26T19:09:51+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/4d49e348a14db824a09d6ff24caae469.webp","width":1024,"height":682},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=557#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Kurtenbach: Brock Purdy might be the NFL’s most disrespected MVP candidate"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/","name":"Next City Digest","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/#\/schema\/person\/13065d40d633843429ac57d4e5c06f9b","name":"admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/50b1ad2e498f523425ee0a8cc5180a210646db1622662a3d56cc405d3e0c346a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"admin"},"sameAs":["http:\/\/nextcitydigest.com"],"url":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?author=1"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/556"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}