With the NFL regular season wrapped up in early January, there are debates on who should be the league’s most valuable player. There are two prime candidates: Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen. Both have made compelling arguments for one of the most prestigious awards the NFL hands out at the conclusion of each regular season, but who should be given the MVP trophy will be debated in this week’s edition of Point/Counterpoint with Sam Calhoun and Jake Loomis.
Jake Loomis: Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson is the most valuable player in the NFL because he is arguably the best player on the Baltimore Ravens. Jackson’s ability with his legs allows the Ravens to have three types of plays while other teams can only have two. They can run the ball with Derrick Henry, they can pass with Jackson, or they can run with Jackson after he settles into the pocket. Teams often use a quarterback to spy on Jackson, but this does not work as the franchise star escapes every time, providing that he is too fast for the opposing defense. To put it in simpler terms, he is a running back in a quarterback’s body.
In another life, Jackson would have been a running back, but as the years have gone on his passing has gotten better, turning him into a true dual-threat quarterback. Over this year Jackson turned in 4000 yards through the air while throwing for 41 touchdowns to only 4 interceptions; which doesn’t even mention what he did with his legs this year. On the ground, the quarterback totaled just shy of 1000 yards which would be a good season for any running back, while also providing four scores throughout the season with his legs.
Despite the playoffs not going how the Ravens had originally hoped, Jackson was the Most Valuable Player this regular season and should be the top candidate to win the award at the NFL Honors in February.
Sam Calhoun: Josh Allen
After losing star receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabe Davis, as well as their starting center, the Bills were expected to be in contention for a Super Bowl, but significantly weaker than last year’s team. Allen is a major reason why the Bills will be playing in the AFC Championship on Sunday and why they cruised through the AFC East. Jackson had his most impressive season in the air, setting career highs in passing yards, completions, passing touchdowns and passer rating. While Jackson may have a better completion percentage than him, Allen had fewer turnovers and had better overall ball security. His interception went from 3.1 percent in 2023 to 1.2 percent in 2024. That stat alone can tell you that he might have had his most consistent season since entering the league in 2018. According to Next Gen Stats, Allen finished the year with 133.3 expected points. The narrative for box score watchers will be that Jackson had a better year statistically. I’m not arguing that because there is no argument against that, except that Allen had three times as many rushing touchdowns as Jackson.
However, the Ravens brought in help for Jackson, including superstar running back Derrick Henry from the Tennessee Titans. Henry has drastically changed the Ravens’ offense, ranking second in the NFL in rushing yards (1,921) and finished the year in a three-way tie for most rushing touchdowns with 16. Outside of Henry, the Ravens provided more weapons for the NFL’s reigning MVP this season, including wide receiver Zay Flowers, who made the Pro Bowl and had over 1,000 receiving yards. No one on the Bills achieved that feat, with Khalil Shakir leading the way with 821 receiving yards. Jackson has an advantage head-to-head, with the Ravens stomping the Bills 35-10 in Week 4. I don’t expect there to be a 2003 situation of a tie like there was with Steve McNair and Peyton Manning. I don’t believe in recency bias, but it’s hard to avoid the fact that Allen has been better as of recently.
The Bills, behind strong performances from their MVP candidate, took down both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions. In December, Allen became the first player in NFL history with at least 18 total touchdowns and one or fewer turnovers in a calendar month. Despite his overall stats, Jackson did not finish as strong. He has two of his worst four games of the season in losses in rivalry showdowns with the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Philadelphia Eagles. The rest of their schedule down the stretch was a lot easier, with the Ravens taking down the New York Giants, the Steelers, the Houston Texans and the Cleveland Browns.
Overall, I believe that Allen did more with less and was better against top competition, separating himself from Jackson as the league’s MVP.
Josh Allen is the MVP fir his team and fans. He is the Best! My grandkids enjoy watching him play.