Derrick Henry’s success shouldn’t diminish Lamar Jackson’s case for MVP

The five-time Pro Bowl running back believes his quarterback is the ‘best player in the league.’

Voters submitted their MVP ballots on Monday, but the debate between the league’s top quarterbacks will rage on, perhaps even after the winner is revealed.

Now that the Bengals have officially been eliminated from playoff contention, Joe Burrow is probably out of the running. That leaves Lamar Jackson and Josh Allen, who have spent most of the season as the top-two favorites for the award.

Both are well-deserving after sensational seasons with gaudy stats, but there can only be one. In the eyes of Ravens’ running back Derrick Henry, his quarterback’s ability to elevate his teammates makes him the league’s most valuable teammate:

He’s] the best player in this league, and I feel like if anyone plays with him, he’s a benefit to any player. I’m happy and glad to be able to play beside him. [He’s] a future [Pro Football] Hall of Famer, and he makes everything different for everybody. He’s a dynamic player. You have to respect his arm and his legs. With [No.] 8, you always have a chance.

The backfield pairing of Jackson and Henry has exceeded expectations; their 2,836 combined rushing yards are the most by a quarterback and running back tandem in a single season in NFL history by more than 200 yards. Henry became the first player with multiple seasons of more than 1,800 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns, as well as the first player to rush for more than 1,900 yards in two different seasons.

Jackson has been one of the main reasons why. More than half of Henry’s rushing yards this season (1,012) have come before contact, a career-high and second-most in the NFL this year. Jackson’s gravity, both as a passer and a runner, has opened up space for Henry and even helped set up more winnable 1-on-1 matchups at the second level.

Even though Jackson’s stats dwarfs Allen’s in every major metric besides rushing touchdowns (12-4) and total turnovers (8-9), he has him beat in passing yards (4,172-3,731), touchdowns (41-28), and total touchdowns (45-40), not to mention owning the fourth-highest passer rating in NFL history.

Allen’s advocates argue that the Bills offense doesn’t have a future Hall of Famer sharing the backfield with Allen. Henry argued that his quarterback shouldn’t miss out on an award for playing with a great running back.

“You can put anybody by Lamar, and they’re going to have a hell of a year,” Henry said. “That’s just the type of player he is. My success shouldn’t knock his or vice versa. Lamar is the main reason why I came here – to play with a Hall of Fame [-caliber] quarterback, MVP-caliber quarterback.

“I feel like he’s the best player in the league, and it’s only going to get better from here,” continued Henry. “I don’t feel like what I’ve done should hurt him. I feel like he’s helped me even more.”

A quick glance at the Ravens’ rushing statistics since 2018 support Henry’s point. Baltimore has always had an elite run game with Jackson under center, even in 2021 when J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Justice Hill all suffered season-ending injuries. Instead, past-their-prime veterans like Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman had some of the most efficient years of their career. Furthermore, the efficiency of Dobbins and Edwards dropped drastically once they stopped playing with Jackson.

Allen’s supporters tend to disregard his own supporting cast, which includes Pro Bowl running back James Cook in the Bills’ backfield. The third-year pro is an integral piece of Buffalo’s offense with more than 1,000 rushing yards in each of the last two seasons. This year, Cook is tied with Henry for the league lead in rushing touchdowns, despite Allen’s frequent scores on QB sneaks.

Should Cook’s accomplishments take away from Allen’s MVP case? If so, Henry’s success isn’t relevant to Jackson’s argument.