The Baltimore Ravens (9-3) haven't played a football game in more than a week, and they won't do so until next Sunday when they host the visiting Los Angeles Rams (6-6) for a Week 14 matchup. Even enjoying a week off, Lamar Jackson had to see his MVP odds crater because of... reasons?
Oddsmakers around the nation decided that with Lamar Jackson off the schedule and a bunch of players out there playing football it made sense to throw some disrespect Lamar's way by dropping his odds at winning the 2023 MVP award.
Entering Week 14, there has been a change at the top of the race for the Most Valuable Player award, as it's now a pair of players leading it with none of them named "Lamar Jackson."
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and San Francisco 49ers cinderella Brock Purdy are the two men with tied odds atop the race for the MVP award, per Fanduel latest odds update.
Jalen Hurts has been reasonably knocked off the No. 1 position basically because he played and lost a game last weekend, something Lamar Jackson did not. Hell, he didn't even play, let alone lose!
Now, Hurts is third in the race with the second-best odds to win the award trailing Prescott and Purdy both tied for first. Lamar, you ask? He's tied with Miami Dolphins oft-injured phenom Tua Tagovailoa for the fourth-best odds to clinch the MVP award.
Being fourth in the pecking order isn't bad, mind you, but what makes little to no sense is to have Lamar ranked behind the likes of Jalen Hurts and Dak Prescott while boasting a better record and clearly having much less help than his fellow quarterbacks around the nation.
Hurts lost a game easily last weekend, Prescott has only been good for a minute, and Purdy is operating the most loaded offense in the NFL by a good mile. Lamar, however? Not saying he's doing it all by himself, but you can compare the tools he's got available to make things work when put side-by-side with some teams out there.
If disrespect fuels Jackson's beast, however, you bet he will be contending for the MVP award when all is said and done. And hey, it's not that he hasn't won it before.