NFL legend Barry Sanders floats drastic solution to give Saquon Barkley his flowers in NFL MVP race

Week 18's round of action is officially in the books, which means NFL MVP voters have all the possible evidence to make their decision regarding who will be crowned the league's Most Valuable Player for the year. For most of the second half of the season, the race has been between Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, though the likes of Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Sam Darnold have also been in the conversation.

Over the years, the NFL MVP race has been dominated by quarterbacks. Only 18 non-QBs have taken home the MVP in 65 years, with Adrian Peterson in 2012 being the last. This year, another running back has made a strong case to be considered as the league's MVP — Saquon Barkley. Given the Philadelphia Eagles star was just 101 yards shy of breaking Eric Dickerson's single-season rushing yards total, many in NFL circles believe Barkley should be under strong consideration for the award.

Former NFL MVP Barry Sanders is also in that club. On Tuesday, Sanders sided with Pat McAfee who said Barkley deserves at least one of the MVP or Offensive Player of the Year award.

"Pat McAfee is dead right," Sanders tweeted. "We rushed for 2,053 yards in 1997 and they split the MVP between Brett [Favre] and I. I hope they do that for Saquon and his line."

Sanders, of course, had to share the 1997 NFL MVP with Favre after the Green Bay Packers legend threw for 3,867 yards and 35 touchdowns that year. For his part, Sanders rushed for 2,056 yards, a total still good for fourth-highest in league history behind Eric Dickerson (2,105), Adrian Peterson (2,097), and Jamal Lewis (2,066). Derrick Henry is fifth on that list with 2,027 yards in 2020.

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Where Saquon Barkley stands in the NFL MVP race

For all intents and purposes, Vegas still has Josh Allen as the frontrunner in the MVP race. Lamar Jackson is a close second, with FanDuel odds having him at +320. Saquon Barkley comes in at number three at +7500, followed by Jared Goff (+15000), Joe Burrow (+30000), and Patrick Mahomes (+50000).

However, it's pertinent to note that Jackson made a much stronger case in the regular season finale against the Cleveland Browns, throwing for 217 yards, two touchdowns, and adding an additional 63 yards on the ground in a 35-10 win.