Jim Nantz Names Who He Believes Should Be the NFL MVP This Season

It's early in the 2026 NFL season, but media members are already making cases for potential MVP candidates.

One somewhat surprising name that's popped up a couple times this past week is Kansas City Chiefs running back Kenneth Walker III. The reigning Super Bowl MVP with the Seattle Seahawks is off to a fiery start with the undefeated Chiefs. He already broke an NFL record by having 537 rushing yards in the first four weeks, the most in that span in 15 years.

CBS play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz is on the Walker bus for him winning MVP this season. He follows his broadcasting partner J.J. Watt's pick as the former player gave his reasoning a couple days prior. Nantz believes Walker is changing the offensive game plan of the Chiefs in a positive way.

"This guy to me is the MVP of the league right now at the quarter poll. It always gets back to the quarterbacks — they talk about [49ers' Brock] Purdy, they talk about Josh [Allen of Bills], they talk about [Chiefs'] Patrick Mahomes — which they've all been fine. They've been better than fine, but this guy has completely changed the look of Kansas City. It's never looked like this."

Mahomes is learning how to rely on the running game, and it's working in the team's favor. Through five games, Walker has rushed 665 yards for six touchdowns. No other Chiefs players have 100 rushing yards this season. Walker's also caught 14 passes for 95 yards and two touchdowns.

There's no question about whether or not Walker is making a huge impact on the Chiefs. But, will his performances be enough to allow him to win MVP at the end of the season? There's been 16 running backs who have won the MVP award, with the last time occurring in 2012 with Adrian Peterson winning the award.

Since then, there's been running backs in the conversation — take Derrick Henry's 2020 season with 2,027 yards and Saquon Barkley's 2024 season with 2,005 yards. Henry didn't place in the top three in votes, and Barkley didn't receive any first-place votes.

Walker would have to surpass and stand out even more so than Henry and Barkley did in recent seasons. And, he would have to outperform the best quarterbacks in the league. The MVP award has become a "quarterback's award" as a quarterback has won every year since Peterson in 2012. Walker may even be in the running against his own teammate Mahomes depending how the rest of the Chiefs' season goes.

Regardless of what happens with MVP voting at the end of the season, it's still a compliment to receive praise from analysts in the sport.