Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger has criminally low odds to win NFL MVP in 2021

Ben Roethlisberger has never earned an MVP in his NFL career. Here’s why odds say the Steelers quarterback is very unlikely to do so in 2021. 

Ben Roethlisberger has accomplished many things throughout his impressive NFL career. In 17 years, the Steelers star quarterback has earned two Super Bowl titles and has been voted to six Pro Bowls. However, one thing he has never been able to do is to earn the Most Valuable Player award.

Big Ben probably came the closest to doing so back in 2014 when he recorded 4,952 yards to go with 32 touchdowns and 9 interceptions. He also averaged an impressive 8.1 yards per pass attempt en route to the second-best passer rating of his career at 103.3, according to Pro Football Reference.

Unfortunately, there was always at least one quarterback who outperformed him. In 2014, it was Aaron Rodgers who topped Ben in touchdown passes, yards per attempt, and quarterback rating while throwing just 5 interceptions in the season.

Now entering the 18th season of his storied NFL career, Ben Roethlisberger is no longer a legitimate MVP candidate. In fact, oddsmakers think so little of his chances that he is actually tied for just the 28th-best odds to bring home the award in 2021 at +10000, courtesy of WynnBET.

Remarkably, some of the players with better odds to become MVP this year include Jalen Hurts (+5000), Jameis Winston (+5000), Jimmy Garoppolo (+7500), Cam Newton (+7500), and Tua Tagovailoa (+7500).

Are these MVP odds fair for Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger?

If you are an optimist who believes that Ben Roethlisberger is really going to bounce back from the struggles he witnessed late in the season, then perhaps these odds could play in your favor. However, is it really fair for the aforementioned quarterbacks to have better MVP odds than Big Ben in 2021?

Oddsmakers know what they are doing, and they rarely lose money. Ben isn’t just listed at +10000 odds for no reason. Tied with him are players like Sam Darnold, Ryan Fitzpatrick, and Taysom Hill. A few years ago, this would have seemed highly disrespectful one of the best quarterbacks of the past generation. However, if he hasn’t earned an MVP in his first 17 seasons, his odds of doing so as a 39-year-old quarterback aren’t very good.

Still, there is always an outside chance of being in the running. Of the players WynnBET has listed at +10000 odds or worse, Roethlisberger might be the best bet. Though there are numerous questions about how his offensive line will perform in 2021, he has a few new toys to play with on offense in running back Najee Harris and tight end Pat Freiermuth. In addition, new offensive coordinator Matt Canada could give this offense a much-needed boost this year.

Perhaps Ben’s odds should be a little better than what they currently are, but the reality is that he just doesn’t have a very good shot at keeping pace with the top quarterbacks like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, or Josh Allen at this stage in his career.