Super Bowl 56 MVP odds: Rams' Cooper Kupp ahead of Bengals' Joe Burrow entering conference championship Sunday

We say the same thing annually this time of year when betting on the Super Bowl MVP: You probably are throwing your money away if not backing a quarterback. Just like the regular-season MVP has become essentially a quarterback award, so has for the most part SB MVP. The three favorites entering conference championship Sunday to win Super Bowl 56 MVP are the Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes (+170), Rams' Matthew Stafford (+350) and 49ers' Jimmy Garoppolo (+850).

Really no surprise there as those are the quarterbacks of the three title favorites with Kansas City +130 to win the Super Bowl on Feb. 13 in Los Angeles, the Rams +210 and San Francisco at +450. Cincinnati is the +750 long shot and a 7-point dog Sunday in KC. The Bengals also would be dogs in the Super Bowl.

"If the Chiefs make it to the Super Bowl, you're not getting Mahomes at that price," said Adam Pullen, Assistant Director of Trading at Caesars Sportsbook. "He'd be the odds-on favorite like he was last year. Normally when someone like Mahomes or [Tom] Brady wins MVP, we do very well on the Super Bowl MVP futures. People want bang for their buck, and there's no value on quarterbacks once you get to the Super Bowl. But if you think the Chiefs are going to get there, you're not going to get a better price on Mahomes."

What this writer found interesting is that Rams receiver Cooper Kupp, who won the Triple Crown of receiving in the regular-season and probably wins Offensive Player of the Year, has shorter odds (+900) than does Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (+1000).

Obviously, oddsmakers give the Rams a much better chance of playing in the big game, but still. The last receiver to win Super Bowl MVP was the Patriots' Julian Edelman in SB LIII, a 13-3 snoozer won by New England over the Rams. Before that, a receiver hadn't won it since XLIII when Pittsburgh's Santonio Holmes did.

"It's tough to look past quarterbacks who have big games since quarterbacks are the most important position on the field," Pullen said. "But Kupp's numbers are just ridiculous. I think it'd be a great story for Kupp, he went to a small school and a lot of people have positive views on him based off what he's done. If Kupp and Stafford both put up their normal numbers, I wouldn't be surprised if Kupp ended up winning it."

Two years ago in Super Bowl LIV, Garoppolo might have won MVP honors had the Niners not collapsed in the fourth quarter and lost 31-20 to the Chiefs. Kansas City outscored San Francisco 21-0 in the fourth thanks to two Mahomes TD passes and a Damien Williams TD run. Many thought Williams should have won MVP but Mahomes did, throwing for 286 yards with two scores and two picks and a rushing TD. Garoppolo was 20-for-31 for 219 yards with a TD and two picks – the last with just over a minute left that clinched it for Kansas City.

Garoppolo is the only quarterback of the four who most likely will not be back with their team next season. The Niners traded multiple first-round picks to move up to No. 3 in the 2021 draft to take Trey Lance, and it's hard to see them sitting him another season barring Jimmy G winning the Super Bowl.

No tight end has won Super Bowl MVP honors, but Kansas City's Travis Kelce is +2000 sixth favorite along with teammate Tyreek Hill and Niners receiver/hybrid back Deebo Samuel. Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald is next at +3000.

Caesars Sportsbook Super Bowl 56 MVP favorites

• Patrick Mahomes +170
• Matthew Stafford +350
• Jimmy Garoppolo +850
• Cooper Kupp +900
• Joe Burrow +1000
• Travis Kelce +2000
• Tyreek Hill +2000
• Deebo Samuel +2000

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