Why Trent Williams is the 49ers' real MVP despite Brock Purdy vs. Christian McCaffrey debate

As the 2023 NFL season draws to a close, it's looking more and more likely that a member of the 49ers is going to take home the NFL's MVP award. The only question is, which one?

At present, Brock Purdy is the MVP favorite. The 49ers quarterback entered Week 16 leading the NFL in most of the major passing categories, including passing touchdowns and passer rating. In a year where quarterbacks have been inconsistent and injured, Purdy's consistently strong play is what is drawing voters to him.

However, many are looking at Christian McCaffrey for the award as well. The team's star running back is leading the league in rushing yards and is among the NFL's best dual-threat backs. He has been a major weapon for Purdy and, arguably, the steadiest player at a position where there aren't many true three-down stalwarts still playing.

Indeed, choosing which of those players is the most valuable won't be an easy decision for voters. That's part of the reason that the two stand a reasonable chance of being named co-MVPs.

MORE: Could Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey join short list of NFL's co-MVP winners?

But the irony of this whole situation? The 49ers' true MVP might not even be Purdy or McCaffrey. Both are excellent players at the top of their games, but the team's starting left tackle Trent Williams may have the best claim to the award.

Williams has long been the league's best blindside blocker and he is putting together another epic season. He has been terrific blocking for Purdy and McCaffrey, and the running back acknowledged that he would give the award to Williams if not Purdy in a recent interview with Tom Brady.

And Brady seemed on board with Williams as a potential candidate — even if he doesn't believe he would ultimately win it.

"I watch big Trent there blocking for everybody," Brady said. "Not saying that Trent’s gonna take the MVP away, but if there was an award given to the offensive linemen Trent would be the one to get it in my opinion because of what he does up front. He’s pretty unbelievable."

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So, can you build a compelling MVP case for Trent Williams? A quick dive into his numbers showcases just how important he is to the success of the 49ers.

Trent Williams stats

Williams has easily been one of the best blockers in the NFL — if not the best. He has excelled while playing one of the NFL's most important but underrated positions, left tackle, and hasn't surrendered a sack over 700 snaps played.

Williams is 35 years old, but he still plays with the speed and power of a man in his prime. He routinely makes big blocks in space and is a force when pulling and running out in front of McCaffrey on toss plays.

Williams also has excellent footwork and creativity. Like on this play, when he managed to get to the right spot and have the power needed to throw one Cardinals defender into another and take both out of the play.

49ers Trent Williams casually using a Cardinals defender to block another Cardinals defender pic.twitter.com/Gui48pg02A

— Brad (@Graham_SFN) December 19, 2023

And when Williams is asked to stay in and hold his own in pass protection, very little gets by him.

Because of this, Williams has posted excellent grades as both a run- and pass-blocker, according to Pro Football Focus. That has allowed him to grade out at 85.8. That's the second-best overall mark among offensive tackles; the only player ahead of him — Penei Sewell of the Lions — has largely played on the right side of the offensive line this season.

So, Williams still ranks as the best pure left tackle in the NFL, and his numbers back it up, as you can see below, per PFF.

If there's one gripe with Williams' MVP case it's that his nine penalties are less than ideal. Per PFF, that's tied for the ninth-most penalties committed by an NFL player.

Even so, it must be noted that part of the reason for Williams' penalties is that the 49ers leave him alone so often in protection. That's because their offensive line contains a few players who are green, unproven starters, so Williams has to act as the unit's anchor.

In fact, Williams is the only one of the 49ers' starting linemen who ranks above average on PFF's grading scale. Backup Jon Feliciano, who has started five games this season, is the only other one to earn higher-water marks.

Here's a look at the PFF grades for the offensive linemen who have played at least 30 percent of the team's snaps this season.

As such, it's easy to understand why the 49ers have lived with Williams' occasional penalty. He keeps the left side of the line clean and provides what looks like an average unit on paper a boost that brings it to above-average — and perhaps elite on the left side.

Williams' success in elevating that unit has played a major part in the 49ers' offensive prowess, and one only needs to look at how the team fared while he was out of the lineup to see how important he is to the blocking unit and offense as a whole.

MORE: Latest betting odds for NFL MVP, with Brock Purdy as the favorite

The 49ers without Trent Williams

Williams suffered an ankle injury in the 49ers' Week 6 game against the Browns. While he was able to play through pain to finish that game out, he needed to miss the next two games because of his injury.

How exactly did the 49ers do with him out of the lineup? It wasn't too pretty.

San Francisco struggled to consistently move the ball and score with Williams out of the lineup. The team scored just 17 points in each contest he couldn't play, which was well down from their season average of 30.4.

And when looking at the splits in games with Williams versus the two without him, the difference is stark.

It is worth noting that the team's sample size without Williams is small. Deebo Samuel was also out for each of those games, so it wasn't exclusively Williams' absence that caused that downturn.

Still, when looking at both Purdy and McCaffrey's stats in the games without Williams, it's abundantly clear that his presence was missed.

Christian McCaffrey's stats with and without Trent Williams

McCaffrey's three lowest rushing totals of the year came in the game when Williams got hurt and the subsequent two that he missed.

In the two contests that Williams missed, McCaffrey was the main engine that drove the San Francisco offense. He scored all four of the team's touchdowns in that span, two on the ground and two through the air, but his yardage totals still lagged compared to his performance without Williams, especially as a runner.

Below is a look at McCaffrey's per-game splits with and without Williams.

So, while McCaffrey still managed to produce without Williams, he clearly couldn't reach his peak without his best blocker.

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Brock Purdy's stats with and without Trent Williams

Much like McCaffrey, Purdy's ceiling was capped without Williams out of the lineup. He still racked up some yardage, but he posted his only two multi-interception games of the year with Williams unavailable.

And in the three-game stretch during which Williams was hurt and then didn't play, Purdy only logged three touchdowns.

Below is a look at his per-game splits with and without Williams.

So, unlike McCaffrey, Purdy actually generated more yardage with Williams out of the lineup. He just wasn't nearly as efficient and turned the ball over five times more frequently in those spots.

The downturn for McCaffrey and Purdy in these situations is enough to make people ponder whether Williams is the most valuable player in this offense. Again, it's a small sample size and Deebo Samuel was out, so it's hard to evaluate how much of the team's struggles were strictly tied to Williams missing each game.

But it at least clarifies that Williams should be in the MVP conversation.

Could Trent Williams win MVP?

Unfortunately, Williams won't have a shot to win MVP. An offensive lineman has never won the award, and only quarterbacks and running backs have taken home the NFL's highest on-field honor since Lawrence Taylor won it in 1986.

Perhaps someday the mindset of voters will change to include a more diverse array of candidates by position. But more likely, the scope of the MVP will remain narrow.

After all, only quarterbacks have won the award for a decade, as Adrian Peterson was the last running back to win in 2012.

If Derrick Henry can't be named MVP after a 2,000-yard season and Tyreek Hill can't even crack the conversation in 2023 as he tries to become the first 2,000-yard receiver in NFL history, it will be next to impossible for Williams — or any other offensive lineman, for that matter — to be named MVP.

But that doesn't matter to Williams. He doesn't want to be in the MVP discussion anyway, as he told reporters in mid-December. He just wants somebody on his team to take it home.

Trent Williams doesn't want to hear any MVP talk about himself 😅 pic.twitter.com/sQ6v9KpPOo

— 49ers on NBCS (@NBCS49ers) December 18, 2023

“My job is to try to continue to help them have success and who cares, as long as we can bring that trophy back to Santa Clara,” Williams said when asked about the Purdy vs. McCaffrey MVP debate, per NBC Sports Bay Area. “That’s all I’m worried about.”