ESPN's NFL MVP poll: Ryan, Rodgers on the rise

— -- We have one more week of games to add to the data pool before it's time to declare a 2016 NFL MVP. Although, does it really matter? The current leader in our poll is a guy who missed the first four games of the season.

What difference is one more going to make?

Methodology: Each of our 13 panelists nominated their top five candidates.?First-place votes are worth five points, second-place votes worth four, third-place?votes worth three, fourth-place votes worth two and fifth-place votes worth one.

Previous polls: Week 16 |? Week 15 |? Week 14 | Week 13

1. Tom Brady, QB | New England Patriots

Case for Carr: Oakland's?12-3 record and the fact that the defense hasn't played as well as it had hoped to are the cases for Carr, whose fourth-quarter performances have pulled the Raiders out of the fire more than once. We'll get a chance to see just how valuable Carr was, as the Raiders have to play without him the rest of the way following his season-ending leg injury.

Case against Carr:?His numbers don't stack up with those of the other quarterbacks on this list, and he won't get another chance to burnish them before the end of the season. But if you can give this award to a guy who missed four games, surely you can give it to a guy who missed one.