Controversial MVP Voter Explains Lamar Jackson Decision

This year's MVP race was the closest in decades, with Buffalo Bills quarterback Josh Allen winning the award by just 21 points over Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson.

With the race being so close, fans wanted to see exactly how each voter cast their ballot. So, when the AP released each voter's ballot, one immediately stuck out.

Jim Miller, a former NFL quarterback who now hosts SiriusXM's "Movin' the Chains," bizarrely placed Jackson at No. 4 on his ballot, behind Allen, Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley and Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. He was the only voter to have Jackson outside his top two, and this isn't his first controversial vote involving the star quarterback.

On Friday's show, Miller briefly explained why he had Jackson in fourth, but mostly focused on the reaction to his vote rather than the vote himself.

“A lot of people loved Lamar,” Miller said. “Certainly I voted a certain way. A lot of people didn’t like their take on that. And I had my five.”

Oddly, Miller more so focused on how he almost voted for Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes - who wasn't even a finalist - first in his MVP voting than where he placed Jackson. He ultimately placed Mahomes at fifth, but said he would've been comfortable placing the three-time Super Bowl MVP at No. 1.

“At the end of the day, this is a team sport, and he has won more than anybody. He’s 15-2 on the year, and I had to refrain myself, but I would’ve slept very nicely with him being the MVP for my vote. ... So I sleep very good with how I voted. A lot of people didn’t like it because Lamar is quite a player.”

As Miller noted, though, Allen still would've won even if he had placed Jackson higher, so it didn't end up impacting the overall ranking.

Miller definitely had the most-controversial ballot of any voter, but he was far from the only one to raise some eyebrows.

Back in January, Jackson earned first-team All-Pro honors with 30 votes to Allen's 18, while Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow received the remaining two. When MVP ballots came out, though, Allen had 27 first-place votes to Jackson's 23. So, even if both of Burrow's All-Pro votes went to Allen for MVP, that means a minimum of seven voters split their votes between the two categories.

A couple of those voters have come forward. ESPN's Dan Orlovsky said on "Get Up" Friday morning that he thought Jackson was "probably the best player in football this year," but voted for Allen because the latter had a weaker supporting cast. The Ringer's Lindsay Jones echoed a similar sentiment, describing Allen as the "defining, and yes, most valuable, character of the regular season."

It's definitely a bizarre situation, but given both players' outstanding performances this season, it's understandable Allen won. Placing Jackson fourth, though? Yeah, that's definitely out there.

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