Lamar Jackson named 2023 NFL MVP
Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the 2023 NFL MVP. He previously won the award in 2019. Jackson was among five finalists for the prestigious honor, including Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott, Bills quarterback Josh Allen, 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy and 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey.
In the 2023 campaign, Jackson tallied a career-high 3,678 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions. Jackson completed 307-of-his-457 (67.2%) pass attempts this season, as well.
As usual, Jackson’s game wasn’t limited to the air raid. The former Heisman Trophy winner also exploded for 821 yards and five scores in the ground game. Jackson averaged 5.5 yards per carry. For reference, Justin Fields had the second-most rushing yards as a quarterback. He finished the season with nearly 200 less rushing yards.
Jackson’s fantastic individual play translated into team success. The Baltimore Ravens finished with a 13-4 record and won the AFC North for the first time since 2019. The Ravens handily defeated the Houston Texans 34-10 in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs.
However, Baltimore fell against the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship. Jackson averaged 212 rushing yards per game in the playoffs while adding 154 rushing yards. Jackson’s 154 rushing yards are the fifth-most in the NFL Playoffs this season, including running backs.
Lamar Jackson receives outside praise
Ahead of the AFC Championship, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh heaped praise on his standout quarterback.
“He’s hard to tackle. To me, the greatest compliment would be being hard to tackle,” Harbaugh said. “I can think back to when I was a kid, I read the Woody Hayes book. Woody Hayes talked about, ‘You could tell what a great running back looked like carrying the ball by how many tackles people miss trying to tackle him.’
“I think that’s true for wide receivers [with] run after the catch. It’s true for quarterbacks on scrambles. Patrick Mahomes is one of the best at making tacklers miss. Lamar’s unique that way. He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, obviously, [that] anybody’s ever seen.”
Lamar Jackson is only the 11th player ever to win the NFL MVP Award multiple times. He is one of three active players who have won the award more than once, joining Aaron Rodgers and Patrick Mahomes. Ahead of their AFC Championship matchup, Mahomes praised Jackson.
“All you want to do in this league is get better year in and year out, and you’ve seen that from Lamar,” Mahomes said. “It’s hard when you win the MVP that first season to strive to be even better, and he’s done that. That’s why he’s probably going to win the MVP here in a couple days, and it’s someone that I hate going up against because I know that he’s going to make plays all over the field.”