NFL Network analyst joins the Jared Goff for MVP bandwagon

In June, Judy Battista of NFL Network named him a dark horse. Just this week, John Breech of CBS Sports offered him winning the award as a bold prediction for this season. It's hard to call it a full bandwagon for Lions quarterback Jared Goff as a candidate for NFL MVP this year, but said bandwagon is slowly filling up.

It's prediction week everywhere that covers the NFL this week, and NFL Network's "Good Morning Football" is no different. The four co-hosts offered their candidates for league MVP on Wednesday, and Akbar Gbajabiamila had Goff as his.

"We do know that the NFL MVP often lands in the hands of the quarterback of the team with the best record....There are exceptions...but typically, if you're the quarterback leading the top team with impressive stats, you're on the fast track to MVP."

Gbajabiamila went on to name names the quarterback MVP formula worked for: "best record, standout stats." He continued...

"Now, let's turn our attention to a quarterback who's coming off one of the best seasons of his career. Heading into a season with a 'structural' advantage no other quarterback enjoys."

Gbajabiamila was of course talking about the Lions only have three outdoor games this season, and one (at San Francisco on Week 17) will not be a bad weather game. He went on to outline the talent and coaching situation around Goff, in calling the Lions' offense a new edition of "The Greatest Show on Turf."

After Gbajabiamila finally reveals his choice of Goff, he and his co-hosts broke into a "Ja-red Goff" chant.

Is the Jared Goff MVP hype about to become too much?

Entering the season, Goff has everything that is required to win league MVP. The Lions are the favorites to win the NFC North, and they could be the No. 1 seed in the conference. If the team is that successful, it's automatic that he will have MVP-caliber stats. So Gbajabiamila's prediction isn't that much of a stretch, at least within the idea the Lions meet high expectations this year.

The "Goff for MVP" bandwagon is growing a bit as the season nears. As for whatever hype that may be building becoming too much, we know the team's culture, with Goff as a key part of it, won't allow that to happen. But is nice to see national analysts not going to the general default of dismissing Goff as a candidate for a high level award.