Browns: Wyatt Teller a more worthy MVP candidate than Myles Garrett

Both Wyatt Teller and Myles Garrett have been playing well for the 3 -1 Cleveland Browns but one is more deserving of MVP talk than the other.

Claiming credit for turnovers off of “pressures” is like Doug claiming the rock he threw knocked down an entire house. It’s a tall tale at best. Simply put, pressures are an assumptive stat that can’t be proven. An assumption of who’s responsible and an assumption that without that specific action, that the turnover was not going to happen. If you have to assume parts of an argument, it’s not one based in fact. It’s based on opinion. So when talking about MVP candidates, there’s no doubt that Wyatt Teller and not Myles Garrett is the more deserving candidate from the Browns.

This statement is courtesy of Nick Shook, who listed his top 10 MVP candidates and had Garrett at No.4 ad Teller at No. 10. In his article, Shook claims that Garrett caused “…multiple turnovers as a result of pressure in consecutive games this season,” and claimed that Garrett caused five total turnovers against both Dallas and Washington. That’s batty, especially since the entire Washington offensive line was getting beaten up, but apparently Garrett was the only one who is responsible for those turnovers? Pretty sure Dwayne Haskins sucked before and after he played the Browns.

No, assumptive stats like that are unprovable and thereby shouldn’t be considered stats. You cannot prove that without X-player being six feet from a quarterback that the quarterback wouldn’t have still thrown at that exact moment.

Moreover, Garrett takes plays off. Watch any Browns games and you’ll see Garrett getting stuffed by a tight end or off the field completely. Most notably in the last scoring drive by the Cowboys in Week 4, Garrett was on the sidelines. Too tired to play. The Cowboys scored and Garrett didn’t do anything to help stop it. How is that MVP play?

Now, let’s be clear, neither Garrett nor Teller are real MVP candidates. Nor is any of this meant as a shot at Garrett, who has played much better in Weeks 3 and 4 as opposed to the previous seven or eight games. He’s been very effective as a defensive end. This is merely a point about which position is more important. Garrett should be in the early conversation for Defensive Player of the Year award just off of his last two games alone.

It’s just absurd to think a player at Garrett’s position, who maybe only impacts four plays on defense per game, is going be the key cog for wins. Same for Teller. Teller is only as good as the other four men on the line of scrimmage, yet he does deserves more praise than Garrett.

So why?

Simple, if Garrett doesn’t make a play all game, the Browns are still likely to win. If Teller doesn’t make a play all game, the offense will literally be unable to function (same thing for any of the five linemen). The defense is a group but operates more on individual play than the offense. If one defensive tackle gets stuffed, the rest of the defense doesn’t fall apart. Yet, if one offensive lineman gets blown up off the snap, the play is very much dead.

Teller needs to produce at a more consistent rate than Garrett does for the duration of a game. Teller, through four games, is arguably the best interior linemen in the game. That gives him a little extra weight. Frankly, the entire Browns offensive line has been the real MVP’s, but you can’t award five men the “most valuable”. Of the five linemen, it’s been Teller who’s most impressive.

Neither man is a real MVP candidate, to be clear but the team has won without Garrett making plays. It’s hard to argue a man who doesn’t need to be involved in the outcome of a game is an MVP.

For the record, it’s Russell Wilson as the top MVP candidate and then Josh Allen. Everyone else is playing for third so far.