Credit: David J. Phillip/Associated Press
For the second time in his seven-year NFL career, Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens has been awarded the highest honour in the National Football League - the NFL MVP award for the 2023-2024 season.
The Ravens quarterback has earned his second career MVP award at just 27 years of age, becoming the youngest quarterback in NFL history, since the merger, to win his second MVP award, beating out Kansas City Chiefs superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes by just nine months.
Jackson was the landslide victor, receiving 49 out of 50 first-place votes for the award, beating out fellow quarterbacks Dak Prescott, Brock Purdy, Josh Allen and running back Christian McCaffrey. Jackson was one vote short of winning his second unanimous MVP, however, FTNFantasy’s Aaron Schatz had the Ravens quarterback at third behind Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen and Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Jackson would have become the NFL’s first player in history to have won two unanimous MVP awards. However, he still has the honour of boasting about being one of two unanimous MVPs in league history, next to NFL legend Tom Brady.
At the award ceremony, instead of taking all the credit, Jackson celebrated his newly signed deal with the Ravens and gave the credit for the award to his teammates.
“I want to thank my organization, the Baltimore Ravens, for finally getting the deal done,” said Jackson, who signed a five-year, $260 million contract nine months ago. “My offence [and] offensive line, I can’t thank them enough for what they’ve done. I’m not out there blocking and catching the ball and doing everything. It’s a team thing for these awards.
Credit: Nick Wass/Associated Press
Jackson joins the elite company as the ninth player to win multiple MVP awards in the Super Bowl era. He joins Peyton Manning (five), Aaron Rodgers (four), Tom Brady (three), Brett Favre (three), Patrick Mahomes (two), Joe Montana (two) and Steve Young (two). However, he is the only one out of all of these first-ballot Hall of Famers not to win a Super Bowl - yet.
Jackson is a one-of-a-kind quarterback. His dual-threat capabilities with his cannon arm and running back-like rushing skills make him one of if not the best utility-knife quarterback in league history. He is the fastest quarterback in history to reach 5,000 rushing yards while also holding the record for the most rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback with 1,206. Lamar is also on track to break Michael Vick’s record for the most all-time rushing yards by a quarterback, sitting only 851 yards behind Vick’s 6,109. It took Vick 13 seasons to accomplish this feat, while Jackson only just wrapped up his seventh.
This year’s campaign saw Jackson deliver career highs in completion percentage with 67.2% and yards with 3,678. Altogether, he threw for 24 touchdowns with seven interceptions. Jackson finished 11th in the league for touchdown passes and 15th in the league for total passing yards, making him the first quarterback in NFL history to win the MVP while ranking outside the top 10 in both of those categories.
However, it wasn't necessarily Jackson’s stats that won him the MVP award this year. He was the best player by far on the most dominant team in the NFL this season, leading the Ravens to the NFL’s top record of 13-4. He was able to rack up 10 victories against teams that finished with a winning record this season, the most by a quarterback in a single season since the early 2000s. He also led the Ravens to the best record in the NFL this season without a 1,000-yard receiver or a 1,000-yard rusher, further proving his dominance as a dual-threat quarterback.
Credit: Patrick Smith/Getty Images
Despite the Ravens’ regular season dominance, their playoff struggles remain a prominent issue. Jackson is 2-4 in six playoff starts with the Ravens and has thrown as many touchdowns (six) as he has interceptions in the playoffs - a massive dropoff from his career regular season differential of 124 touchdowns to 45 interceptions.
Fans expected that 2024 would be the year the Ravens would finally make it to the Super Bowl. The Ravens finished first in the AFC North and first across the entire AFC conference. Being the first seed, they skipped the Wildcard playoff round and went straight to the Divisional round. They blew out C.J. Stroud and the Houston Texans in the Divisional round 34-10 and moved on to face Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the AFC Championship. They would ultimately fall to the Chiefs in this game in a 17-10 loss, largely in part to their offensive struggles.
Lamar addressed the doubters in his MVP acceptance speech last night.
“I still have stuff to prove to the naysayers. But I need the naysayers to keep going [and] keep adding fuel to that fire for me to keep being Lamar Jackson.”
Jackson will look to return with his newfound MVP confidence next season alongside the stacked Ravens roster, with the goal of silencing the naysayers, getting back to the playoffs and winning that sought-after ring that would cement his legacy as one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
Edited By: Josh Reidelbach
Share This Post On
0 comments
Leave a comment
You need to login to leave a comment. Log-in
