ESPN's NFL MVP Poll: Carr still at the top

— -- This is the time of year when MVP candidates are made. The V stands for "valuable," and there's nothing more valuable than stepping your game up a notch to lead your team to wins in December. (Except, of course, doing the same thing in January, but MVP is a regular-season award.)

As our panel of 12 experts reassessed the top candidates after Week 13's action, how did things change? Who helped himself? Who moved up? Who dropped out?

With four weeks to go, this is the way we see the NFL's MVP race.

Methodology: Each of our 12 panelists nominated their top five candidates. First-place votes were worth five points, second-place votes worth four, third-place votes worth three, fourth-place votes worth two and fifth-place worth one.

1. Derek Carr, QB | Oakland Raiders