We are halfway through the NFL season, and of course, as always, we have been gifted with surprises and early season disasters as well. But we are going to take a look at some of the Most Valuable Player candidates halfway through the season today, the beloved who are playing exceptionally well and deserving of some MVP conversation amongst the best players in the league this season.

Peyton Manning, let’s start with the apparent. 34 year old Manning has been phenomenal this season, putting up remarkable numbers, yet again. With 15 TD, only 2 int’s, a whopping 2,184 yards and a 2nd ranked 101.4 QB Rating. Including 4 games throwing over 300 yards with as his wide outs. Manning is a marvelous QB and has been for 13 seasons in the NFL, his 4 MVPs may be looking at a counterpart with a ridiculous 5th.

Tom Brady, One Mr. Tom Brady isn’t ready to let his division fall away yet at the feet of the heralded New York Jets, the fan friendly Miami Dolphins, or anyone else who wants to knock the Pats off their throne. Brady is still putting teams to shame, he has always been one of the most accurate QBs in the league and this year, he’s doing it again. A 65% passer, a top end QB rating of 96.6, including 3 games completing 70% of his passes, with 12 TDs and only 4 picks is a fine 3:1 ratio, which is an elevated standard. The team many thought was ready to start a rebuilding process this season, just may win 12 games…and make a strong run.

Philip Rivers, Let’s think outside the box for a quick moment here. We all know the Chargers are struggling this season, but are we going to put this on Philip Rivers? 15 TD, 65% passing, and 2649 yards in the air? Which by the way, he is on pace for 5200+ yards, which would crush Dan Marino’s 26 year old record. If MVP, is based on production of an individual player (it is in fact an individual award for great play), Rivers should be considered a possible winner thus far.

Adrian Peterson, Running the ball with force and speed Adrian Peterson is having a stand out season. Midway through, he has 776 yards rushing, which is 1st in the league, 6 TD which is 4th in the league, and averaging 4.7 a carry. #28 in purple is picking up his game, from last year. The 25 year old AP seems to have cleaned up the fumbling issue that plagued him as well (0 in 2010), let’s see if he can continue to keep that vice like grip on the pigskin.

Chris Johnson, The Titans have been playing very well, with a better than expected 5-3 start, Chris Johnson (that other #28 in blue and white) has been spectacular. His speed is relentless, rushing for 721 yards and 8 TD versus some of the better teams in the NFL. Including 125 vs the well-built run defense of the Giants.

Arian Foster, Who? The undrafted RB is having a great season. No one expected this from him, except maybe Arian himself. 737 yards, 7 TD on a normally pass happy team? He plays hard and catches the ball well out of the backfield, with 28 receptions. Foster is a player to watch for, on pace for 1600+ yards, which would be a single season record for the Houston Texans franchise.