In football, MVP awards usually go to the best offensive player. That’s no secret.
In the NFL, the last 10 AP MVP award winners have been quarterbacks. The last time a defender won the award was Lawrence Taylor back in 1986. Then in college football, the last time a defender won the award was Charles Woodson back in 1997. Since then, college football’s MVP award has gone to either a quarterback, running back or wide receiver.
Since I’ve been covering high school football for the Laredo Morning Times, which I am on Season 6 now, every All-City MVP award winner has been an offensive player. However, this year, a defender could easily win the award.
The Alexander Bulldogs are one of the better teams in the Gateway City. And a big reason why is senior pass rusher Jorge Alvarado.
Alvarado has been a game wrecker this season. He’s taken his game to another level, which is saying something because he was a chaos monster last year.
The senior was the All-City Defensive Player of the Year last season as a junior as he recorded 48 total tackles, 15.5 tackles for loss, eight sacks, 12 quarterback hurries and an interception. Yet this year, with three regular-season games left, he’s already matched last year’s totals or has surpassed them.
Through seven games, Alvarado has recorded 50 total tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 7.5 sacks, 46 quarterback hurries, six pass deflections and two forced fumbles. He’s been a game-wrecker all year long.
The crazy thing about Alvarado’s performance this season has been he regularly faces double or even triple teams by opposing offenses.
With such dominance comes more attention. Alvarado has proven he can wreck and blow up games on a dime, and opponents realize that. That’s why opponents don’t make it easy on him. That’s why opponents do everything in their power to slow him down no matter how they do it – with double teams or even committing holding penalties. Opposing teams have even done some extracurricular activities against him such as him hitting after the play is dead to slow him down. However, none of that has affected him as he continues to be such a dominant force.
What makes Alvarado so special is his work ethic. Alexander head coach Edwin Garcia raved about it during the offseason as he called the pass rusher a player “full potential.” And with how he has played, he’s definitely scratching his ceiling.
“He has a bunch of upside,” Garcia told LMT back in May. “He is a guy full of potential.”
Alvarado has been so dominant this season that he his even up for Midseason South Texas MVP by SBLive. Alvarado, United quarterback Atzel Chavez and LBJ athlete AB Huerta are the only three Laredo players up for the award.
Now, Alexander has another potential All-City MVP candidate in running back Gael Rodriguez, who is having a solid season, too. Rodriguez has rushed for 781 yards and nine touchdowns through seven games. He’s arguably Laredo’s best running back. However, what makes Alvarado a potentially stronger candidate for the All-City MVP award is that he is truly the team’s vocal leader.
Look on the sidelines and you’ll see Alvarado encouraging his teammates when he’s not out on the field causing havoc. He’s always trying to keep the intensity high until the end of each game. He’s always setting the tone for the Bulldogs. That’s a quality, along with his solid play, that makes him a strong candidate for this year’s All-City MVP honor.
In football, MVP awards usually go to the best offensive player. That’s no secret. However, if Alvarado continues to dominant the way he has been and leads Alexander to a potential District 30-6A title at the end of the season, he could easily walk away with this year’s All-City MVP award and be the first defender to do so in years.
Additional settings for Safari Browser.
