This year’s NFL MVP conversation was a divisive one, with many feeling another player than the one who won was more deserving of the trophy this year. Despite Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson being voted first-team All-Pro in 2024, Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen was the one who was selected to take home the hardware by the same voters.
Even Allen was shocked, saying after the win, “I was pretty surprised, given what we know about how the voting goes. Lamar was very deserving of this as well.”
The All-Pro QB typically gets the MVP award and this year, Jackson had 30 of the 50 first-place votes in that voting with Allen getting just 18.
This is Allen’s first MVP award, while Jackson has two already, from the 2019 and 2023 seasons. One Ravens legend came to Jackson’s defense, saying Allen’s lack of winning the award in the past had something to do with the selection.
“I get it,” Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden said, via TMZ. “Cause [Josh] is a great quarterback, he hadn’t won one, Lamar had two. And they’re like, ‘Let’s just give him one.'”
The offensive lineman believes the voters had the wrong approach and says they didn’t give the correct player the honor.
“But that’s the wrong reason. But it’s all good. What are you going to do? But they made the wrong choice. But that’s all good,” Ogden said.
Jackson finished the season with more passing yards (4,172 vs. 3,731), rushing yards (915 vs. 531) and total touchdowns (45 vs. 41) than Allen and while they both had incredible seasons, Odgen thinks the numbers speak for themselves. He made it clear he means no shade toward Allen and is just backing up his former team’s QB.
“I don’t want it to sound like I’m hating on Josh because the brother is a tremendous quarterback,” he said. “But he didn’t have the year Lamar had.”
He told Jackson to “keep doing what you do, brother.”
