“The Writers Wanted to Be Nice to Josh Allen”: Bomani Jones Explains Why Lamar Jackson Wasn’t Named the MVP

Last year, we had one of the tightest MVP races in NFL history. Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen ended up edging out Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson, but the voting betrayed how even the race truly was.

Allen won 27 of the 50 first-place votes, while Jackson earned 23. It was a two-horse race. But Allen’s 27 votes were the second-fewest (Matt Ryan, 2016) by a winner since 2005. Jackson’s 23 votes were the most by an MVP runner-up… ever—apart from the 1982 strike-shortened season.

Allen has finished top five in MVP voting in three of the last four years, so people certainly felt for the likable QB, who has also dealt with more than his share of playoff heartbreak. As Bomani Jones broke it down, this was essentially a case of NFL writers wanting to spread the love. How else can you explain two different players winning MVP and First-Team All-Pro at the same position?

“The only reason [Lamar’s] not a three-time MVP, is because the writers wanted to be nice to Josh Allen. That is the only reasonable explanation for how it is that Lamar Jackson could be First-Team All-Pro, and Josh Allen win the MVP, and they play the same position,” Jones explained.

“It was the most participation trophy type thing ever. Like, everybody deserves to win every now and then. Like, you can’t give employee of the month to the same person every month, even though every month it’s the same person doing the job.”

It’s hard to argue with Jones’ “participation trophy” argument. Allen is a media darling. They love him. Just last year, they celebrated him for throwing an interception on a long ball, calling it a smart move that was basically a punt. Okay buddy. If we look at the impact and the stats, it’s pretty clear who deserved it.

Allen had one more win and rushed for eight more TDs, but apart from that, it’s a pretty one-sided comparison, no? Even when they met in the regular season in Week 4, Jackson whooped Allen’s Bills 35-10. In that one, Jackson rushed for 54 yards and a TD against Allen’s 21 yards and no TDs.

The Ravens QB completed 72 percent of his passes for 156 yards and two more TDs, while Allen completed 55 percent of his passes for 180 yards and no scores.

Jackson has been fighting against the grain for his whole career. Teams wanted to turn him into a receiver when he first declared for the NFL Draft back in 2018. But he stayed the course and will go down as one of the greats. Jones believes he will be enshrined in Canton at the Pro Football Hall of Fame, though the QB needs a few more feathers on his cap before that.

“I think that Lamar Jackson may ultimately end up with his historical legacy being, he might be the last black quarterback of his ilk, to truly have to fight to play quarterback. Of course, there is more left for Lamar to do,” the analyst said.

“He is going to make it to the Hall of Fame. I don’t think he’s a Hall of Famer necessarily right now at this moment. But two-time MVP, three-time First-Team All-Pro quarterback. I feel pretty confident that he is going to go to the Hall of Fame.”

Jackson certainly already has an HOF-level resume. Pro Football Reference’s “HOF Monitor Score” is a metric designed to estimate a player’s chances of making the HOF based on “AV, Pro Bowls, All-Pros, championships, and various stat milestones.”

Jackson has an 81.4 score, which is higher than HOFers like Warren Moon, Troy Aikman, and Jim Kelly. LJ has also won two MVPs (though, as we’ve seen, it should be three), making him one of just 11 players in NFL history to do so. Seven of those are already in the Hall.

One (Tom Brady) is eligible in 2028 and is the most obvious first-ballot guy ever. The others, apart from Jackson, are Patrick Mahomes and Aaron Rodgers, both first-ballot players as well.

Lamar Jackson is already in Hall of Fame company, but no doubt, he will not be satisfied with his legacy until he finds more playoff success.