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The NFL announced the top five finalists for the NFL MVP award for the 2024 season on Thursday. This award recognizes not only the best athletes of the 2024 season, but also those who added the most value to their individual teams. Those finals are Josh Allen, Saquon Barkley, Joe Burrow, Jared Goff, and Lamar Jackson.
NFL MVP is a controversial award among many fans of the league. The main source of that controversy is that NFL MVP is dominated by the quarterback position. It is easy to see how we got here with the award. The quarterback position is arguably the most important position in any professional sports, so it stands to reason that the winner will often be a quarterback. However, it is also frustrating that deserving skill-position players face incredibly steep odds for winning the award.
In practice, the NFL MVP award almost always goes to a quarterback whereas the Offensive Player of the Year award feels earmarked for the best skill-position players.
There are some exceptions.
For example, nine non-quarterbacks have won NFL MVP since 1990. All of those winners were running backs, and most of them occurred during the 1990s and early 2000s when the NFL was much more run-centric.
On the other hand, 12 quarterbacks have won Offensive Player of the Year since 1990.
Quarterbacks dominate the top five once again in 2024, and for good reason. This year's NFL MVP finalists have all had incredible 2024 seasons. Each player deserves discussion for this award based on their merits from the regular season. However, only one can win.
Below we will rank the NFL MVP finalists in order based on who is most deserving to win the award.
1. Lamar Jackson – QB – Baltimore Ravens
It is incredibly difficult to choose between Jackson and Allen for NFL MVP. Now is an especially difficult time to make that choice, as Josh Allen recently beat Lamar Jackson in the playoffs. However, the MVP voters cast their ballots before that game, so we can't let it cloud our thinking.
Jackson's resume is simply too good to ignore this season. He passed for 4,172 yards with 41 touchdowns and a mere four interceptions. A couple of those interceptions were incredibly fluky as well. Lamar also added 915 rushing yards and four touchdowns as a rusher.
The only accounting stats that Allen beat Jackson in were rushing touchdowns (12 vs. 4) and rushing first downs (52 vs. 47).
Jackson also managed this production with the presence of Derrick Henry, who commanded 325 carries by himself. There was nobody on the Bills who took that many touches away from Allen, yet Jackson still comes out on top of most accounting stats.
The Bills may be a better team than the Ravens, but Lamar is certainly deserving of this award over Josh Allen.
2. Josh Allen – QB – Buffalo Bills
If this were almost any other year, Allen would be at the top of the list.
Allen led the Bills to the AFC Championship Game after a dominating regular season. He passed for 3,731 yards with 28 touchdowns and only six interceptions. Allen also had a whopping 12 rushing touchdowns and 52 first downs rushing. The Bills have been unstoppable when using the “tush push” with Josh Allen.
Ultimately, Jackson had a better season as a passer and had comparable rushing stats despite competing with Derrick Henry.
That doesn't take away from Allen's impressive season, but somebody had to come in second place.
3. Joe Burrow – QB – Cincinnati Bengals
Burrow and Barkley are in a tier of their own.
Burrow had a phenomenal 2024 campaign that did not get the praise it deserved because of Cincinnati's horrible defense.
Burrow passed for 4,918 yards with 43 touchdowns and only nine interceptions. It was undeniably his best season in the NFL. Unfortunately, it all amounted to nothing.
Cincinnati missed the playoffs with a 9-8 record. Burrow and friends did all they could on offense, but could not overcome the struggles of their defense.
NFL MVP may be an individual award, but it does not look good on Burrow's resume that he could not will his team to teh postseason.
4. Saquon Barkley – RB – Philadelphia Eagles
Barkley is the only skill-position player in the mix for this year's NFL MVP award.
Barkley immediately took his game to another level after joining the Eagles. He rushed 345 times for 2,005 yards and 13 TDs. The Eagles famously sat Barkley before the playoffs, eliminating his chance to try and break the NFL's single-season rushing record.
Barkley is now one of the most important players on the Eagles. It certainly helps his case that the Eagles continued winning without Jalen Hurts during the final stretch of the regular season.
Unfortunately, the deck is stacked against Barkley as a non-quarterback.
5. Jared Goff – QB – Detroit Lions
There is no doubt that Jared Goff has been instrumental in Detroit's recent success. When Goff is on, the Lions have one of the league's best offenses. Goff can also drag the team down if goes on a streak of turning the ball over.
Goff had the best season of his career in 2024. He threw for 4,629 yards with 37 touchdowns and only 12 interceptions when including playoffs. He played poorly in his final two games of the season, throwing five interceptions in those contests.
Goff is the clear choice for the last position on this ranking. Goff is the perfect example for why the NFL MVP should be viewed as an individual award and not a team award. The Lions have a star-studded roster on offense, feature one of the league's best o-lines and plenty of playmakers. Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Jameson Williams, and Sam LaPorta all play a big role on offense for Detroit.
I am not arguing that Goff is merely a product of his environment, he has already proven that is not true. That said, Goff is undeniably the beneficiary of an incredible supporting cast.
Goff simply isn't in the same tier as the rest of the players on this list.
