Rashod Bateman believes his quarterback, Lamar Jackson, deserves the MVP award over Josh Allen. While this might seem like a biased opinion, particularly among Bills Mafia, Bateman can support his claim with stats and the high level of play Jackson has consistently showcased on the field this season.
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Rashod joined Shannon Sharpe and Chad Johnson on their show Nightcap. Johnson asked him straight up why he thinks Lamar should win MVP, and the star wide receiver didn’t shy away from staking his claims. He started by saying he’s confused about the parameters of the voting nowadays — whether it’s based on stats or film, nobody knows. But in both cases, as Rashod mentioned, Jackson has dominated.
“I mean the stats are there. You turn on the film and he jumps out, it ain’t even just about the numbers… At this point, you can’t deny that Lamar Jackson is on the field no matter who’s on the team. I ain’t the judge but I definitely think it’s MV3 year.”
Rashod does make some good points. Lamar’s style of play is visually appealing. The way he maneuvers through defenses with quick stop-starts and a bevy of juke and spin moves are incredible to watch in real-time. It’s also been essential to the Ravens’ success, not just this year, but in years past.
And the stats are there. He’s thrown for over 4,000 yards while maintaining the best touchdown-to-interception ratio of all time at 41-4. Lamar also added another 915 yards on the ground while averaging 6.6 yards per carry, which was the best in the league. It’s hard to deny that he deserves to win the award.
The only issue is that there’s another QB who also has great stats and film. It’s Allen. And he’s done it with fewer resources at his disposal when you compare the Bills-Ravens rosters. It may feel unfair, but there’s no denying that Derrick Henry has alleviated a lot of the pressure off Lamar this season. It’s allowed him to play more freely and achieve these crazy stats. But there’s another layer to consider.
Henry is holding Lamar back
While Saquon Barkley was crossing 2,000 yards and drama swirled, as fans wanted him to break Eric Dickerson’s long-held record, Henry quietly put up 1,921 rushing yards this season. It’s the second most he’s ever had in his career, and the highest since 2020.
The same goes for touchdowns, as Henry finished with 16 tied for the second most in his career. If just five or six of those scores go to Lamar, we could be having a whole different discussion.
Instead, it’s Allen who leads all sportsbooks with the best odds to win the award, despite not having a player like Henry in his ranks to score a few touchdowns in the QB’s place. He’s actually starting to pull ahead. As time passes, it seems people are beginning to recognize that Allen had less to work with and is more deserving of the award.
Let’s make one thing clear, though: both of these players had amazing seasons. So often in MVP talks, we have to detract from others to prop up another. Both accounted for 40 touchdowns and over 4,000 yards of offense — Lamar even crossed 5k.
It’s an exciting race that we should enjoy rather than argue about. After all, this isn’t a fan vote. None of us have the power to select the winner. It’s okay to say they both had incredible seasons and whoever wins, wins. At the end of the day, it’s out of our control.
