“Josh Allen’s MVP Would Be Like Charles Barkley’s MVP”: Ryan Clark On How the “Voters Get Fatigued” Voting For Patrick Mahomes & Lamar Jackson

Josh Allen has been in the MVP driver’s seat for the last few weeks, but he’s starting to lose control. Lamar Jackson’s otherworldly statistical performances and Patrick Mahomes making lemonade out of lemons have started to infringe on Allen’s MVP candidacy. Yet, Ryan Clark believes that voters may experience fatigue when frequently choosing the same players.

While appearing on ESPN’s First Take, former Steelers Pro Bowl safety Ryan Clark even likened it to an infamous MVP race in the NBA back in the early 1990s.

“Josh Allen’s MVP would be like Charles Barkley’s MVP. Because I think right now what happens with people like Patrick Mahomes, with people like Lamar Jackson, is we get fatigued. And I think the voters get fatigued.”

Clark believes that this could result in the MVP becoming a “narrative-driven award”.

“Every time you see the numbers put up on the screen, you can clearly look at those numbers and say that guy is having a better season than Josh Allen.”

"Josh Allen's MVP would be like Charles Barkley's MVP."

—@Realrclark25 👀 pic.twitter.com/15b1sFbWCh

— First Take (@FirstTake) December 27, 2024

In that 1992-1993 season when Charles Barkley won the MVP, he was largely viewed as the best player that season. Michael Jordan had won the previous two MVPs and Finals MVPs, and Barkley’s Phoenix Suns had a 62-20 record, best in the NBA. He bested MJ in rebounding, blocks, and field goal percentage.

He had a legitimate case even if we can acknowledge that MJ was still the best player in the world. Voters were so tired of Black Jesus that he actually finished 3rd that year, behind Hakeem Olajuwon as well. Even Chuck himself acknowledges that MJ was the best in the world—but that year, Sir Charles was the cream of the crop in the regular season.

Josh Allen can’t even make the same claims as Barkley could, though. The only category in which Allen (11) leads Lamar Jackson (4) or Patrick Mahomes (2) is rushing TDs, and his Bills’ strength of schedule and strength of victory are both far below that of Lamar and the Ravens. Lamar leads Allen in every statistical category, and Mahomes has more wins than him.

https://twitter.com/leppo410/status/1872405781162684497

At any rate, Josh Allen remains the favorite to win the 2024 NFL MVP award. As of this writing, he sits atop the odds board with -200 odds—though they were at -1,000 just a couple of weeks ago. Lamar Jackson is hot on his heels with +160 odds, and Patrick Mahomes is way back in 6th, with +10,000 odds.