Stephen A. Smith Disgusted That Someone (Gasp!) Dared Not Choose Lamar Jackson For MVP

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson got 49 out of the possible 50 first place votes to win the NFL MVP Award in a landslide.

But that’s not good enough for Stephen A. Smith.

On today’s edition of "First Take," the panel discussed the result of the NFL Honors ceremony on Thursday. For the second time in his six-year career, Jackson took home the NFL’s most prestigious award based on individual performance. 

While 49 of the 50 sports writers responsible for determining the award believed Jackson was the one most deserving, one writer gave Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen a first place vote. 

That fact enraged Smith quite intensely, and he lambasted the writer in question - FTNFantasy's Aaron Schatz - who voted for Allen.

"That was a stupid homer vote by that individual, probably scared to go back in the locker room if he had voted against Josh Allen. That compromises everything, "Smith said. "You have to be objective when you have a vote. And that writer -- I don't know who the hell it was -- but that's an embarrassment."

What exactly did this Josh Allen-voter compromise when he decided not to vote for Jackson?

If I remember correctly, there is no one MVP candidate in any given year that must be chosen over his peers. Usually, when you vote on anything, you rarely ever get people to all choose the same thing. That’s why there’s only been two unanimous MVP award-winners in NFL history - Tom Brady in 2010, and Jackson in 2019.

So, if you get 50 NFL experts in one room to choose from five candidates on who should get the award, you’re bound to get some varying answers. 

Those answers are determined by qualified individuals examining the players’ performances in the season, and then basing a subjective opinion on those facts. There’s nothing objective about a vote, despite what Smith seems to think.

In case you were wondering, Schatz is a highly qualified voter. He created the DVOA statistic, a metric many of the best writers in the industry use to measure how good teams are.

This guy knows his NFL stuff, so naturally he gave a solid reason why he voted for Allen.

"There's no question that by nearly every advanced metric you could look at, Josh Allen and Dak Prescott had better seasons than Lamar Jackson, he said in a statement. "I looked at all this data. I tried to make the case for Lamar Jackson. I tried very hard to convince myself that I felt he was the guy. And I just could not do it."

Lamar Jackson won the 2024 NFL MVP Award. Shouldn't that be enough for Stephen A. Smith?

Now do I agree with Schatz? Not really. Jackson had the better completion percentage, more passing touchdowns, and more rushing yards. Furthermore, Jackson was the quarterback of the best regular season team in the league, which (right or wrong) gives you a huge advantage in the MVP conversation.

But again, this incredibly qualified guy is entitled to make his own decision, for whatever reason he sees fit. Schatz didn’t compromise anything in the voting process, he made a choice he thought was best at that moment.

The only thing that’s embarrassing in this situation is Smith claiming that Schatz should be ashamed of himself for using his expertise to make an informed decision that was different than everyone else.