NFL: Ranking every MVP winner in league history based on pro career

Ranking every MVP winner in NFL history: 45. Lamar Jackson

Stats: 

• 7,085 passing yards
• 2,906 rushing yards

It’s quite possible that Lamar Jackson was the unlikeliest MVP winner of all time. Considering that Jackson was viewed as a player who might be better off if he switched positions coming out of the 2018 NFL Draft, it’s almost unthinkable that he’s now an MVP winner.

Still, despite the hardware, Jackson checks in fairly low on our list for a variety of reasons. For starters, Jackson is still in the infancy stages of his career. Also, while he’s listed as a quarterback, Jackson has one glaring flaw in his game, he can’t pass.

On its face, that statement would seem erroneous. In two of his three seasons in the league, Jackson has completed at least 64% of his passes. Still, when it comes down to it, Jackson simply can’t hit wide-open targets down the field or just a few yards away. He continually over or underthrows his targets. Also, in two of his three seasons, Jackson has thrown for less than 200 yards per game.

With the run first signal-caller under center, the Baltimore Ravens has continually donned the league’s worst passing attack. There’s still plenty to love about Jackson though. He’s already in the conversation for the best running quarterback of all time. No signal-caller, outside of Jackson of course, has rushed for over a thousand yards in back-to-back seasons before he did. He’s roughly halfway there to Michael Vick’s rushing record with 6,109 with 2,906.

Jackson can be nearly unstoppable to deal with when he tucks it and runs it. But as for the rest of his game? He has a lot to work on.