Josh Allen’s Case for the 2024 NFL MVP
Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen has been putting together a great season. The six-foot-five, 237-pound passer has thrown for 2,281 yards and 17 touchdowns while completing 63.5 percent of his passes. He’s also done damage to defenses on the ground, rushing for 261 yards and four touchdowns while achieving first downs on 27 of his 55 rushing attempts. According to DraftKings, Allen is +350 to win the MVP, behind Lamar Jackson at +100 and ahead of Patrick Mahomes at +750. This illustrious individual award has been escaping Allen’s grasp ever since he ascended to elite status back in 2020. This article will detail Allen’s case to win the 2024 MVP.
Allen’s Individual Case for MVP
In Mahomes’ first season without Tyreek Hill, who had four Pro Bowls while playing with him, he won the MVP. Comparatively, Allen is going through the same scenario in 2024 in his first season without Stefon Diggs. Through six weeks, Keon Coleman and Mack Hollins had severe drop issues, while Curtis Samuel and Marquez Valdes-Scantling barely saw the field, which led to the team trading for Amari Cooper. Though Cooper has helped this offense break free, he’s only played in two of the Bills’ nine games. Despite having a whole new cast of targets to throw to, excluding Khalil Shakir, Dalton Kincaid, and Dawson Knox, Allen has played arguably the best football of his career. The 28-year-old passer is on pace for his fewest interceptions thrown in his career, which was a huge reason that he didn’t win the award last year, and he has an 85% chance to host the wild card and 14% chance at a bye week, according to the New York Times. This matters because every quarterback winning the MVP has won the division, with the exception of Peyton Manning in 2008 and Johnny Unitas in 1967.
Allen’s Case Against Jackson
Jackson has a very strong case to win the award for the second consecutive year and third time overall. The Ravens’ signal-caller has a statistical lead over Allen both through the air and on the ground; Jackson leads the league in passer rating and passing touchdowns while rushing for more yards than Allen as well. That’s a steep hill to climb for Allen; however, Jackson’s numbers aren’t the only thing that the voters will look at. After all, Derrick Henry is the favorite to win Offensive Player of the Year. Also, Jackson’s current cast of pass-catchers looks to be better than Allen’s; newly acquired Diontae Johnson will join the crew with Zay Flowers, Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely, and Rashod Bateman. Also, if Jackson fails to win the AFC North, which he is currently trailing in, or if voter fatigue sets in, it could prove advantageous for Allen.
Allen’s Case Against Mahomes
Mahomes played his best game of the season in a Week Nine overtime win versus the Buccaneers, but before that, he had been struggling immensely while still scraping together wins. Undoubtedly, the main reason that Mahomes is still top three in MVP odds is his exceptional track record. The 29-year-old has won the award twice but is currently throwing to his worst group of receivers since he’s been in the league. Rashee Rice, Mahomes’ top wide receiver, suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week Four, causing the new top targets to be 35-year-old Travis Kelce, rookie Xavier Worthy and journeyman JuJu Smith-Schuster. They acquired DeAndre Hopkins at the trade deadline to help out the receiving corps, but the group is still far from ideal. Since the Chiefs are 9-0 with such a bad supporting cast for Mahomes, that’s why he’s still in the running to win the MVP. Allen will have a chance to bridge the gap between himself and Mahomes in their Week 11 matchup.
