National Football League

What it would take for CMC to win MVP; the Puka Nacua-Cooper Kupp relationship

Published Oct. 6, 2023 1:21 p.m. ET

Every week, FOX Sports NFL reporter Peter Schrager will answer five questions about topics throughout the league. They will range from must-see matchups to player breakouts; from whose time is up to who is next.

It's very hard for any non-QB to win MVP. What would it take for Christian McCaffrey to walk away with the award?

Some of my annual preseason predictions were way off and not worth mentioning here (hello, Giants over Cowboys for NFC Wildcard) — but one is looking pretty good. With 80:1 odds before the season started, Christian McCaffrey was my MVP pick on NFL Network's GMFB and in my Cheat Sheet column. My reasoning was simple — there were a bunch of high-end quarterbacks, they'd all neutralize each other and this was the year McCaffrey would stay healthy and put an all-time historic season together. Four weeks in, he's got a shot to do just that. What would it take? Here are my four criteria…

1. The 49ers need the No. 1 seed in NFC and the best record in NFL

2. McCaffrey needs 1,500 rushing yards and 1,000 receiving yards

C. He needs to score 20 total TDs

D. No QB can surpass 5,000 passing yards

That's where I stand on it. Right now, Allen, Hurts, and Tua have better odds. I'm sure Mahomes will figure into the conversation if the Chiefs continue to win.

But if San Francisco keeps running their offense through CMC and he maintains this torrid pace, he will find his way into the conversation and could be the first running bck to win the coveted award since 2012.

[Christian McCaffrey NFL MVP Odds and Props 2023]

What happened to the Giants? They had what seemed like a less talented group last year and pieced things together. This year, they've fallen apart.

I don't know. I was wrong about the Giants and I'll wear it. A 1-3 record and being outscored 64-3 in two nationally televised primetime games was not how I saw their September going. My fear for fans of Big Blue is that it doesn't get any easier from here on out. They travel to Miami this weekend, have Buffalo in primetime the following week, and they're still on the hook for Daniel Jones' contract for at least two years.

No Saquon. No Andrew Thomas. Still, no excuses. I have no answers as to what happened to the quarterback last Monday night in that 24-3 debacle or if the offensive line can fix things in time to salvage the season, but the clock is ticking. They've got to win one of these two to stay alive. The NFC is too good and the Giants' schedule is too hard to fall back four or five games in the standings.

We have another Game of the Year candidate Sunday night between the Cowboys and 49ers. What are you looking forward to most?

I love the Kyle Shanahan vs. Dan Quinn chess match. Quinn was the head coach and Shanahan famously the OC for the 2016 Falcons team that came oh so close to a Super Bowl ring. The dynamic, then, was of great respect and friendship. Shanahan took the 49ers HC job and Quinn eventually landed in Dallas as the DC.

Seven years have passed and the two have only squared off three times. Quinn got the first one 29-22 when he was still with Atlanta back in 2019. The last two 49ers-Cowboys playoff games have gone to Kyle. If Micah Parsons plays (and I think he will), I'd go as far as saying this will be San Francisco's toughest offensive test all season.

Yes, Philly is down the line, but Sam Howell just lit that defense up. Dallas comes in hungry and ready, and in Quinn's case, more than prepared for all the wrinkles Kyle has been fine-tuning since their time together in Flowery Branch, Georgia. No one has held San Francisco under 30 points this season. I think Dallas will. The question is whether their offense can put up enough to still get the win.

What's at stake for Dak Prescott, Cowboys against Brock Purdy, 49ers?

What do you anticipate from the Nathaniel Hackett Bowl between the Jets and Broncos?

It's not an old story. Those words were heard, resonated and felt around the Jets locker room. Those guys love Hackett and will no doubt want to do everything they can to get the last laugh. I'll add that Payton has never reached out — or tried to reach out — to Nathaniel Hackett since his controversial comments to USA TODAY in August. I'll add that Hackett has yet to take the bait and "clap" back either. But this one, to me, comes down to Breece Hall. He's no longer on a pitch count and Hall can be the game-breaker the Jets need. I think emotions will be high all week and even before the game, but then a game starts, and players aren't worried about what Sean Payton told a reporter eight weeks ago.

What's the Cooper Kupp/Puka Nacua relationship like?

It's great. Nacua has leaned on Kupp a lot since being drafted. I'm told that Nacua went as far as requesting access to "The Breakfast Club," the early-a.m. film-review sessions with Stafford and Kupp and was granted membership early on during the season. Now, how will it impact your fantasy team? I'd say Cooper Kupp goes back to the No. 1 role, Nacua slides into that Robert Woods role that Woods excelled in for years, and Tutu Atwell is their Brandin Cooks-style deep threat.

Peter Schrager is an NFL reporter for FOX Sports and a host of "Good Morning Football" on NFL Network. You can follow him on Twitter at @PSchrags.