NFL writer Albert Breer surveyed 20 league executives to create a mid-season awards list. Reigning NFL Most Valuable Player and Baltimore Ravens superstar, Lamar Jackson claimed the midseason MVP award, garnering 12 of 20 votes.
Another quarterback, Josh Allen of the Buffalo Bills, came in second with three votes.
Breer provided the following synopsis via Sports Illustrated:
It’s really hard to quantify what his value has become to the Ravens. As a passer, going into Week 10, he was third in the NFL in yards passing (2,379), second in yards per attempt (9.3), second in touchdown passes (20), 10th in completion percentage (68.2%) and first in passer rating (120.7).
He’s worked his tail off, and the result is not just an uptick in those numbers, but also better chemistry with young weapons such as Zay Flowers and Isaiah Likely.
And he’s still effective enough as a runner to allow the Ravens to run an offense that differs more from the average NFL scheme than any other. At 538 yards and 5.9 yards per carry, a third 1,000-yard season could be in the offing.
Simply put, there are few teams constructed more around a single player. He, in turn, has made that setup sing—and proved to be more than worth the trouble to install.
Thursday night, when Jackson was once again dominant, he improved his passer rating to 123.2 and extended his league lead in that category. His opponent in midweek, Joe Burrow of the Cincinnati Bengals, is the next closest at 108.1.
In throwing a perfect passer rating game at Denver last Sunday, Jackson tied the NFL career record. All the stats tell the same story—he’s by far the best pure passer in the league.
While simultaneously being the best rushing QB in the entire league.
In September, Michael Vick debuted his three-part documentary, “Evolution of the Black Quarterback,” on Amazon Prime.
This season, Lamar is writing the very next chapter of that story. Jackson is potentially on his way to becoming the most efficient and most productive quarterback in history.
He’s evolving beyond his status as the best “dual-threat quarterback,” a phrase that is much more often applied to black quarterbacks than white quarterbacks and thus sometimes has a racial connotation.
Jackson is showing signs of becoming the best quarterback, regardless of skin color.
Just like coach John Harbaugh claims to be foresaw in the preseason.