Could 49ers' Brock Purdy win MVP over Dolphins' Tua Tagovailoa?

As of Wednesday afternoon, OddsChecker listed Miami Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa as the betting favorite at +380 odds to earn NFL Most Valuable Player honors for the 2023 season. 

Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio believes Brock Purdy of the San Francisco 49ers could give Tagovailoa a battle for the award by early January. 

"Now, if it comes down to those two teams as the one seed[s], Tua is probably the MVP," Florio said during a Wednesday appearance on San Francisco sports radio station 95.7 The Game, per David Bonilla of 49ers WebZone. "But there's still a chance that Brock Purdy is going to get some serious consideration if he presides over this team, has good numbers, and the 49ers end up the one seed in the NFC. And right now, I would say they're the most likely team in the NFC to be the one seed."

Both the Dolphins and 49ers are 3-0, and Tagovailoa likely would be the league's MVP if the season ended today. According to ESPN stats, he finished Week 3 leading the NFL among qualified players with an 82.9 adjusted QBR, a passer rating of 121.9 and an average of 10.1 yards per pass attempt. He's second overall with eight touchdown passes and 1,024 yards through the air. 

To compare, Purdy is second with a 78.8 adjusted QBR and fourth with a 106.3 passer rating. He's thrown for 736 yards and only four touchdowns but also shares an offense with superstar running back Christian McCaffrey, who leads the NFL with 353 rushing yards. 

It remains to be seen if both Tagovailoa and Purdy will stay healthy through Week 18. Tagovailoa's injury history routinely generated headlines over the past 12 months, while Purdy has started only eight career regular-season games and needed surgery this past March to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.

Purdy thus far has shown that 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch made the right call by going with the 23-year-old over veteran Jimmy Garoppolo and the traded Trey Lance. The last pick of the 2022 NFL Draft seemingly has made a believer out of Florio. 

"If they could just stabilize the quarterback position and have that quarterback step up and make a big throw in a big spot, it's a Super Bowl championship for the San Francisco 49ers, and it could come as soon as this year," Florio explained during the segment.