Lamar Jackson of the Baltimore Ravens receives the NFL’s second Most Valuable Player Award.
Lamar Jackson, the Baltimore Ravens’ quarterback, has won his second NFL Most Valuable Player award.
Jackson, 27, is the fourth player to win two MVP awards before turning 28.
Associated Press
Fri 9 Feb 2024 04:23 GMT
Lamar Jackson received nearly universal support for his second AP NFL Most Valuable Player award, which was announced at NFL Honors on Thursday night.
Baltimore’s All-Pro quarterback won 49 of 50 first-place votes from a national panel of voters that included NFL reporters, past players, and coaches.
Jackson led the Ravens (14-5) to the NFL’s best regular-season record, but they were defeated by the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game. Jackson, 27, is the fourth player to earn his second MVP before turning 28, after Patrick Mahomes (27), Brett Favre (27), and Jim Brown (22).
Christian McCaffrey, the 49ers’ running back, won the AP Offensive Player of the Year title outright. Myles Garrett, an edge rusher for the Cleveland Browns, defeated TJ Watt for the AP Defensive Player of the Year award. CJ Stroud, the Houston Texans quarterback, easily won the AP Offensive Rookie of the Year title. Stroud’s teammate, defensive end Will Anderson Jr, won the AP Defensive Rookie of the Year title, beating out Jalen Carter and Kobie Turner by two first-place votes.
The Browns won four honors. Quarterback Joe Flacco, who came off the bench to lead Cleveland to the playoffs, won the AP Comeback Player of the Year award. Kevin Stefanski edged Houston coach DeMeco Ryans for the AP Coach of the Year award by one first place vote. Jim Schwartz, the defensive coordinator, won the AP Assistant Coach of the Year award after leading the league’s top-ranked team.
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen received the other first-place vote and ended fifth overall in voting. Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott finished second with 152 points. McCaffrey came in third with 147 points, while teammate Brock Purdy finished fourth with 97.
Jackson threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns and ran for 821 yards and five scores as he led Baltimore to a record 10 wins over winning teams. He helped the Ravens defeat Houston in the divisional stage, but struggled in a 17-10 loss to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game.
McCaffrey, San Francisco’s All-Pro running back, garnered 39 of 50 first-place votes for OPOY and scored 222 points, outscoring Dolphins wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
Garrett, Cleveland’s All-Pro edge rusher, garnered 23 first-place votes and 165 points, while Watt received 19 and 140 points for DPOY.
Stroud won 48 of 50 first-place votes for OROY, while Los Angeles Rams wide receiver Puka Nacua received the remaining two.
Anderson and Stroud are the fourth pair of teammates to win both the offensive and defensive rookie awards in the same season. Last year, Garrett Wilson and Sauce Gardner swept the accolades for the New York Jets.
Flacco beat out Bills safety Damar Hamlin and Buccaneers quarterback Baker Mayfield for the comeback award. He received 13 first-place votes, 26 second-place votes and eight thirds to finish with 151 points.
Hamlin returned to the NFL this season after collapsing on the field and needing to be resuscitated following a cardiac arrest on 2 January 2023. He played in five regular-season games. Hamlin received 21 first-place votes but appeared on 42 of 50 ballots while Flacco was on 47. He got seven second-place votes and 14 thirds for 140 points.
Mayfield, who bounced around from the Browns to the Panthers to the Rams last season, started every game for Tampa Bay and led them to the second round of the playoffs. He got 10 first-place votes and finished with 93 points.
Flacco, the 39-year-old former Super Bowl MVP, was home in New Jersey with his family when Cleveland called him in November. He went 4-1 in five starts and passed for over 300 yards in four straight games with 13 touchdowns.
Others receiving first-place votes were: Dolphins quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (4), Rams QB Matthew Stafford (1) and 49ers QB Brock Purdy (1).
Stefanski led the Browns to their third playoff appearance since 1999 despite losing quarterback Deshaun Watson, star running back Nick Chubb and right tackle Jack Conklin to season-ending injuries and starting five QBs.
Ryans helped the Houston Texans go from worst to first in the AFC South. The Texans routed the Browns 41-14 in a wild-card playoff game, but voting was completed before the postseason.
Stefanski and Ryans both earned 165 points in a weighted point system. But Stefanski had 21 first-place votes to Ryans’ 20. Stefanski had 18 second-place votes and six third-place votes. Ryans got 21 second-place votes and two thirds. Detroit’s Dan Campbell finished third. He got three first-place votes. San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan (3), Baltimore’s John Harbaugh (2) and the Rams’ Sean McVay (1) also got first-place votes.
Schwartz received 25 first-place votes and finished with 160 points, easily outpacing Baltimore Ravens defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald.
Hill received seven first-place votes and finished with 139 points. Cowboys wide receiver CeeDee Lamb came in third with 45 points, including one first-place vote. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson got three first-place votes, finishing fourth.
McCaffrey, a unanimous choice for All-Pro, led the NFL with 1,459 yards rushing and had 14 rushing TDs for the NFC champion 49ers. He also had 564 yards receiving for seven scores.
Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons finished third for DPOY with 89 points, including seven first-place votes. Cornerback DaRon Bland, Parson’s teammate, got the other first-place vote and came in fifth behind Raiders edge Maxx Crosby.
Watt, who won the award in 2021, led the NFL with 19 sacks. But Garrett had the better all-around season for the NFL’s top-ranked defense.
Despite constant double-teams, Garrett had 14 sacks, 30 quarterback hits, 17 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles and forced offensive coordinators to avoid his side of the field.
Bland set an NFL record with five interception returns for a touchdown but was named on only six ballots. He got two second-place votes and three for third to go with the one first.
Stroud, the No 2 overall pick, threw for 4,108 yards, 23 touchdowns, five interceptions and had a passer rating of 100.8, third-best by a rookie. He helped the Texans go from worst to first place in the AFC South and led them to a playoff win in the wild-card round.
Stroud led the league in passing yards per game (273.9) and had the best touchdown-interception ratio at 4.6, becoming just the third player in NFL history to finish first in both categories, joining Joe Montana (1989) and Tom Brady (2007).
Nacua set a rookie record with 105 receptions and 1,486 yards receiving yards. Lions tight end Sam LaPorta finished third.
This was the second year of AP’s weight point system. For MVP, first-place votes are worth 10 points, second-place votes are five points, third-place votes are three, fourth-place votes are two and fifth-place votes are one.
For all other awards, first-place votes are worth five points, second-place votes are three and third-place votes are one.
