The 2024 NFL MVP will be announced on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025, but who should actually win the MVP race?

There are two front runners in the MVP race: Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, but Allen should win the award. 

The main argument among NFL fans is that Jackson has better statistics than Allen. While this is debatable, if the MVP is based on stats, then Joe Burrow should be the winner. In fact, Burrow has 800 more passing yards than Jackson and over 1,000 more than Allen, with more touchdowns than them, but he isn’t in most fans’ top two. 

In addition, Dak Prescott had better stats than Jackson when Jackson won this award last year. Prescott had 838 more yards and 12 more touchdowns with only 2 more interceptions than Jackson, according to Courtney Cronin.

Allen came in second in MVP voting last year despite having 628 more yards and 5 more touchdowns than Jackson. The only reason fans say Allen lost to Jackson last year was because Allen had 12 more interceptions than Jackson.

However, Allen has cut his interceptions all the way down to 6 this year. In other words, Allen got rid of the one thing that lost him the MVP last season, yet fans keep saying Jackson should win. 

One argument that should be looked at is how the team performed around the quarterbacks. In other words, how much did the quarterback account for, how irreplaceable is he, and how much help did he have?

It’s clear that Allen had to overcome more adversity to succeed than Jackson, whether it was winning games or accruing statistics.

Saint Paul’s senior, Vincent Cruise, values this argument. “This was a rebuilding year for the bills. They lost their top two receivers,” stated Cruise, who believes Allen deserves the award this year because Allen had a worse supporting cast.

Allen had the 40th and 76th receivers this year in receiving yards. In contrast, he had the 13th and 49th-ranked wide receivers last year, according to espn.com. This proves the decline in receiver talent.

Allen had no receivers over 1,000 yards. On the other hand, Jackson had one receiver with over 1,000 receiving yards, Zay Flowers, and Derrick Henry, who amassed 1,921 rushing yards.

Defensively, the Ravens had the 10th-best defense, while the Bills had the 17th-best defense, according to foxsports.com. In addition, the Ravens had the 2nd ranked offensive line, according to ESPN analyst Ben Rolfe.

In addition, the Baltimore Ravens had 6 players nominated for the All-Pro Team selection: Lamar Jackson, Marlon Humphrey, Roquan Smith, Patrick Ricard, Derrick Henry, and Kyle Hamilton. In contrast, Allen is the only player selected from the Bills for the All-Pro Team selection. 

Furthermore, Ravens had 9 Pro Bowlers: Zay Flowers, Kyle Hamilton, Derrick Henery, Marlon Humphrey, Tyler Linderbaum, Nnamid Madubuike, Patrick Richard, Roquan Smith, and Lamar Jackson. Conversely, the Bills only had 2 Pro Bowlers: Josh Allen and Dion Dawkins. 

It’s unclear whether the voters will value playoff success or whether they stick to the regular season when deciding who deserves MVP, but it is worth noting that Allen was able to beat Lamar Jackson’s Ravens in the playoffs despite playing on a less talented team.

Another noteworthy stat is the Ravens’ record with Henry rushing for fewer than 100 yards. The Ravens went 3-5 with Henry under 100 rushing yards; however, when Bills running back James Cook was under 100 rushing yards, the Bills went 8-4, according to espn.com. This shows that Allen was able to overcome a lack of running game and still win, whereas the Ravens had a losing record when Lamar Jackson couldn’t get Derrick Henry going.

Jackson is praised as the best scrambler. “Lamar should win MVP because he was able to put up the most yards on the ground, from a quarterback, even with the number 2 back,” argued Saint Paul’s sophomore Ben Sikes.

However, Allen was even better at rushing. Allen had 12 rushing touchdowns, which is 3 times more than Jackson’s 4. On top of that, Allen was sacked only 14 times compared to Jackson’s 23 despite Jackson having the superior offensive line.

The NFL MVP award is chosen each year by a panel of 50 sportswriters who are selected by the Associated Press. Ryan Brill and Ryan Weisman wrote, “They would go on to say these sportswriters don’t necessarily go off stats, they go off film and who the players and coaches vote for the All-Pro Team.”

While Jackson beat Allen in the All-Pro Team voting, Peter King would state, “Listen, this isn’t a stat award. Everybody’s got stats these days. Jared Goff has stats. Joe Burrow has stats. Sam Darnold has stats. Obviously, all these players have stats.” Therefore, Jackson should not necessarily win MVP because of his stats.

In addition, Ralph Ventre argued that in 2023, Allen accounted for 15 more total touchdowns than Jackson, but the latter won the MVP award after carrying the Ravens to 14 wins and the No. 1 seed.

Such a result is in line with King’s explanation and points to an Allen victory this time around. The question is, King asked, was ‘did the other voters remain consistent, or were they awestruck by statistics?’”

For these reasons, Josh Allen should be announced as the NFL MVP on Thursday, Feb. 6, 2025.

Featured Image Photo Credit: Alec White buffalobills.com