Lamar Jackson isn’t just this season’s NFL MVP. He is the MVP of an idea. – Andscape

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Star Black quarterbacks are no longer the exception – they are the rule. Throughout the football season, this series will examine the importance and influence of Black quarterbacks from the grassroots to the NFL.

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BALTIMORE – The Baltimore Ravens won the AFC North for the second straight year with a 35-10 win over the Cleveland Browns on Saturday. Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson, the most dynamic quarterback of his generation, made one final compelling argument, earning the league’s second MVP award and third overall.

Jackson filled the record book. He became the first player in NFL history to reach 4,000 passing yards and 900 rushing yards in the same season. Those 4,000 passing yards surpassed Jackson’s total of 3,678 from last season, when he was voted league MVP in a virtual landslide.

And there’s more: Since starting Sunday, Jackson led the NFL in passer rating, yards per pass attempt, passing touchdown percentage and touchdown-to-interception ratio. He has a quarterback rating above 100 in 13 games this year and has thrown three or more touchdowns in six games.

If it sounds like I’m rooting for Jackson to get a third MVP, then I am.

The most compelling argument for Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen seems to be that Jackson has already won two MVP awards and Allen has never won. I really don’t mind if Allen gets the award because Jackson’s importance goes beyond numbers. Jackson was a unique force that allowed the Josh Allens of the world to break out of the box that has limited athleticism at the quarterback position for decades. The box was wiped out, thanks in large part to Jackson.

Allen can be daring because Jackson is dynamic. Over the long evolution of the quarterback position, Jackson has normalized athleticism. He has made athleticism at the quarterback position more than a luxury item, but an imperative component of success. In doing so, he has created a living catwalk for future generations of young athletes who want to play the position.

Not only has this saved the careers of young black athletes who were once routinely redirected to the receiving corps or the defensive secondary. Jackson freed young white quarterbacks from the stifling constraints and norms that defined the position.

Last week against the Houston Texans, Jackson broke Michael Vick’s rushing yards record as a quarterback. While Vick was considered a rookie in the NFL, Jackson forced systematic and sweeping changes at the position. This alone has earned Jackson a multi-season MVP award.

But back to this season.

Allen was great, no question. In fact, the biggest argument for his rise to MVP honors — aside from the fact that Jackson has two awards and Allen has none — is that he did more with less this season.

The Bills released key receivers Stefon Diggs and Gabriel Davis and replaced them with lesser-known but competent pass-catchers. This has allowed Allen to drive the Bills’ bus the way he sees fit without having to worry about assuaging his ego. Allen took over the games – in fact, after his performance against the then-undefeated Kansas City Chiefs on November 18, Allen appeared to have locked up the MVP race.

But then Lamar Jackson remained Lamar Jackson with precise passing and dynamic, strategic running. He achieved the fourth-highest single-season passer rating in NFL history. The fact that Jackson won two MVP awards without winning a championship is a testament to how powerful his influence was.

The truth is that Jackson had one of the best regular seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. But Jackson’s numbers may not be enough to catapult him past Allen, who has emerged as something of a sentimental candidate for league MVP honors this season.

So be it.

In 2021 and 2022, Allen nearly reached the 4,000 passing/800 rushing milestone. He missed 37 rushing yards in 2021 and 38 yards in 2022. The reality is that Allen and Jackson have bigger fish to fry. None of them have won or even played for a Super Bowl championship. Although Jackson led Baltimore to a playoff victory last season, the devastating home loss to Kansas City in the AFC Championship Game defined the Ravens’ offseason and current season.

While Jackson and Allen compete for the MVP award, the player they have in common – Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes – is undisputed with three Super Bowl championships. And Mahomes didn’t even make the All-Pro team this season. This shows what awards are worth.

During last year’s playoffs, the Chiefs – playing without home field advantage for the first time in forever – marched into Buffalo and defeated the Bills.

A week later, Kansas City stormed into Baltimore and defeated the Ravens.

The general consensus is that Jackson would trade another MVP award for a chance at the Super Bowl. I don’t know, but Jackson has been solely focused on winning a championship all season.

For all the praise he receives, for all my talk about what an innovator he was, Jackson knows he will be defined by his playoff failures and playoff successes. After Saturday’s game, Jackson was asked about his record numbers this season.

“I’m focused on the Wild Card Game,” Jackson said, but he was also grateful for the numbers he put together. “I’m not going to lie to you, I’m okay with what’s going on today. I’m cool, don’t get me wrong, but my mind is on something else.”

Something different reaches the Super Bowl.

Win or lose, Jackson’s impact is so much greater than stats and a single-season performance or even a third MVP award. After Saturday’s game, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said this.

“Four thousand one hundred and seventy-two yards passing, 41 touchdown passes,” Harbaugh said. “How many interceptions? Four? Okay, that’s pretty incredible. What else needs to be said? Not only that, the guy is also a competitor. He’s a fighter.”

Since the Ravens traded up to draft Jackson, Harbaugh has been one of the quarterback’s biggest supporters and fiercest defenders, and for good reason. After Harbaugh inserted Jackson into the starting lineup for the injured Joe Flacco in 2018, the Ravens never looked back. Jackson helped turn the team’s fortunes around by leading the Ravens to the division title and becoming the youngest NFL quarterback to ever start a playoff game.

In those early days when Jackson was learning to play the position, Harbaugh was protective and sensitive to the coded language designed to diminish Jackson’s ability to play the position with both mental and physical acuity. In those early days, Harbaugh and I had a series of side conversations about what he saw as the media’s condescending attitude toward Jackson and the notion, promoted by more than a few critics, that Jackson was a quarterback playing running back.

What makes Jackson’s performance so impressive this season is that he excelled in the very areas that were considered his weaknesses. He played out of the pocket – the holy grail for purists – and was “accurate,” the new code word for intelligent.

Jackson continues to be an inspiration even as he remains hidden. We really don’t know much about Lamar Jackson. We know that aspiring young quarterbacks of every ethnicity and at every level of competition view mobility as a way of life. There was a mold and Jackson smashed it.

“He is simply unique. “There’s nobody like Lamar Jackson,” Harbaugh said.

If Allen wins this year’s MVP, the award will be well-deserved. But let’s be clear: Allen may win the award, but Jackson is the MVP of an idea whose time has clearly come.