NFL execs have Lamar Jackson, Derrick Henry winning end-of-season awards

The Baltimore Ravens aren’t just collecting regular season wins, they’re also collecting midseason recognition from NFL Executives. 

Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer polled 20 general managers, assistant general managers, vice presidents and pro scouting directors on who they think will win each end-of-year award. Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson were voted on as midseason winners for Offensive Player of the Year and MVP, respectively. And there shouldn’t be much debate here. Just look at what Jackson did to the Cincinnati Bengals on Thursday night. 

Jackson is amidst the best season of his NFL career – and he’s already got two MVP awards – but more on that later. You have to give the Ravens credit. 

While they’re defense has been suspect all season, when you have two of the most dangerous players in their respective positions on the same team, you can get away with having a subpar defense; just ask the Kansas City Chiefs. 

It shouldn’t be a surprise both were frontrunners for their respective awards, so let's dive a little more into why they will remain frontrunners by season’s end. 

Lamar Jackson for MVP is all but locked up barring any crazy drama to end the 2024 season

This season has been one of Jackson’s best. Not just because of his numbers, but how he’s developed as a real passing threat. 

Coming into the league everyone knew he was a threat running the ball. But despite winning a Heisman trophy, people still questioned whether he could be a true quarterback, even drawing some pundits to say he was a running back that could throw. 

Now that’s just insulting. 

This season, probably more than any season prior, Jackson is showing just how good of a passing quarterback he is. He’s currently top 5 in total passing yards with 2,669 and tied with Joe Burrow for the most passing touchdowns with 24. He’s also tied for the second fewest interceptions this year. 

Jackson’s wide receivers haven’t helped him at times with inopportune drops, but what Jackson’s been able to do passing the ball this year is simply exciting. That alone deserves MVP. And when you look at his 538 rushing yards, that’s just icing on the cake. 

And doing that with the NFL’s leading rusher is simply unfair to the rest of the NFL. 

Derrick Henry is making the rest of the NFL his playground and execs are taking note

The first week of the NFL season has us all puzzled why Derrick Henry landed in Baltimore. Someone of his talent in an offense that was built around a dual threat maestro in Jackson just didn’t make sense. 

And not sooner did we question and criticize the Ravens, did Todd Monken show us he was ready to unleash Derrick Henry. 

What makes what Henry’s doing in Baltimore so ridiculous is neither player is dropping off from what they’re capable of because the other is going off. Lamar Jackson is on track of putting up the best numbers of his NFL career.

Henry is en route to having a career high in rushing yards. Through 10 weeks in 2020 when he rushed for 2,027 yards, he had 1,079. This season, he’s already at 1,120 yards. 

The Ravens are doing unheard of things with their offense. They undoubtedly should sweep the top two awards for offensive players this season.