Pro Bowl Confidential: Lamar Jackson, T.J. Watt MVP favorites among fellow Pro Bowlers

The NFL Pro Bowl Games may have looked like it was all fun and games, but really … it was.

The top players once again faced off in low-stakes competitions to see who would be awarded bragging rights for the year, from skills competitions to Tug-of-War to flag football (spoiler: the NFC took it with an overall score of 64-59).

The precursor to Super Bowl week was also an opportunity for FOX Sports’ NFC South reporter Greg Auman to gift fans with the fourth edition of the Pro Bowl Confidential, a quick and fun survey featuring anonymous answers from players on topics ranging from football to travel to pop culture.

This year, 35 players participated (the highest yet) and provided their answers to evergreen questions. One question players are asked each year is: Who’s your MVP? And, while many of the Pro-Bowlers were in agreement on the 2023-24 offensive MVP, the defensive answer had a bit more variety.

Check out the result below, along with Auman’s thoughts!

Question: Who’s your offensive MVP?

Answer: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson (by a landslide)

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Auman: This is the third year we’ve asked players for their MVP picks, and Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson had the most dominant showing of any player in those three seasons. After leading Baltimore to the AFC Championship Game, he was the choice for 21 of the 35 players, often framed as “it’s got to be Lamar” or “easy one: Lamar.”

The only other players to land multiple votes were 49ers running back Christian McCaffrey (4), Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (3) and 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy (2), with five others getting single votes: Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett, Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott and Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud.

The tally:

Lamar Jackson, Ravens: 21
Christian McCaffrey, 49ers: 4
Patrick Mahomes, Chiefs: 3
Brock Purdy, 49ers: 2
Josh Allen, Bills: 1
Myles Garrett, Browns: 1
Jalen Hurts, Eagles: 1
Dak Prescott, Cowboys: 1
C.J. Stroud, Texans: 1

Question: Who’s your defensive MVP?

Answer: Steelers edge rusher T.J. Watt (by a hair)

Auman: We frame that initial question as simply “who’s your pick for league MVP,” but inevitably it’s generally an offensive player, if not a quarterback, so we follow by asking for a defensive MVP. This yielded our closest finish yet — the first seven responses went to different players, and because one player wanted to split his vote between two players, it set up a flurry of lead changes late between Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland (who had five pick-sixes in 2023) and Steelers pass-rusher T.J. Watt (who led the NFL with 19 sacks).

Watt ended up winning with six votes, edging out Bland by a half-vote. Browns pass-rusher Myles Garrett took third with 3.5 votes, then Cowboys pass-rusher Micah Parsons with three and Raiders pass-rusher Maxx Crosby and Ravens defensive lineman Justin Madubuike with two each.

The tally:

T.J. Watt, Steelers: 6
DaRon Bland, Cowboys: 5.5
Myles Garrett, Browns: 3.5
Micah Parsons, Cowboys: 3
Maxx Crosby, Raiders: 2
Justin Madubuike, Ravens: 2
Josh Allen, Jaguars: 1
Jessie Bates, Falcons: 1
Nick Bosa, 49ers: 1
Aaron Donald, Rams: 1
Kyle Hamilton, Ravens: 1
Aidan Hutchinson, Lions: 1
Roquan Smith, Ravens: 1
Antoine Winfield, Bucs: 1

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