Lamar Jackson is the NFL’s 2023 regular season MVP.
Not officially, mind you. But it’s coming. It’s just a matter of counting the votes.
Jackson has slowly risen up the betting odds throughout a campaign that’s seen him push the Baltimore Ravens to the NFL’s best record. He’d officially taken over the unofficial lead in Week 16 after he helped dismantle the San Francisco 49ers and the previous betting favorite, Brock Purdy. And then, for an encore, he stared down the Miami Dolphins, their 11-4 record and their top 10 defense and treated them like a junior varsity squad.
The 2019 MVP threw for 255 yards and three touchdowns … on 14 first half passes alone. He finished the day with 321 yards and five touchdowns on just 22 dropbacks — a perfect 158.3 passer rating — in a 56-19 rout over the team that was, record-wise, the Ravens’ closest competition in the AFC.
And he did it with big plays, gorgeous throws and other star turns befitting an MVP.
OBJ DOING OBJ THINGS!
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/KMNdsQUM34
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 31, 2023
Yes, that’s a phenomenal catch by Beckham Jr. That ball doesn’t move once it hits his mitts and he has the body control to leave no doubt about whether he got both feet in bounds (the Dolphins doubted this anyway and were docked a timeout following a lost challenge). But that’s a throw placed perfectly 33 yards from the line of scrimmage, placed where only the Ravens’ wideout could get it.
And Jackson threw it like this:
He’s barely stepping into this throw; it’s coming off his back leg, one-footed. And it’s perfect, because that’s the kind of uber-athlete nonsense Jackson can put together on any given snap.
This is what Jackson does. His 2023 has been predicated on finding big spots in big moments. His overall numbers are merely top 10, Pro Bowl stuff (223 passing yards per game, 19 touchdowns in 15 games coming into Week 17). But there’s no statistic that accurately measures the value he brings to Baltimore’s offense.
Jackson can crush opponents on the ground, obviously. His 52.4 rushing yards per game and 5.5 yards per carry are both his lowest since his rookie 2018 season, but still pretty dang good. But his rise as an MVP candidate has been built on a more confident passing game, spurred by a solid core of wideouts and tight ends even without Mark Andrews in the lineup.
ISAIAH LIKELY. Incredible catch and run for the @Ravens TD!
📺: #MIAvsBAL on CBS
📱: Stream on #NFLPlus https://t.co/sFjqko01pD pic.twitter.com/Bw7Fh2EBwX— NFL (@NFL) December 31, 2023
It’s clear Jackson feels more comfortable with his 2023 depth chart than he had in years past. Zay Flowers has provided the kind of reliable presence he hasn’t had at the top of his depth chart since Hollywood Brown was traded. Beckham has been less consistent but capable of reclaiming flashes of his former self. Even oft-injured Rashod Bateman was able to get into the mix Sunday with four catches and 54 yards (even after a tough drop on what should have been a 30-plus yard gain on the first play of the Ravens’ day).
This has all been the launch pad for an MVP season. Jackson’s completion percentage is at a personal best and his adjusted yards per attempt (8.1) are the second-highest of his career behind only that 2019 campaign. Whatever counting stats he lacked were backfilled in Week 17.
SEVENTY-FIVE YARD TOUCHDOWN FOR ZAY FLOWERS!!!!!
Tune in on CBS! pic.twitter.com/1rxQdgbKGf
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) December 31, 2023
There’s still work to be done. Jackson has the Ravens on pace to skip the Wild Card round, which is great. He’ll have to prove he’s different in order to shake the stigma he wilts in the postseason, however. He’s 1-3 in the playoffs, where his career passer rating drops from 96.8 to 68.3. Case Keenum’s postseason passer rating, for comparison, was 73.5.
But that’s a different story entirely. The Jackson we’ve seen in the regular season has been the engine behind the league’s best team and the lifeblood of a top five offense that’s scored at least four touchdowns in the majority of its games so far. On Sunday, that meant wrapping up a Dolphins team with a gaudy record into a neat package and shipping it back to Florida. And in the process, it wrapped up Jackson’s second MVP award as well.
