Ravens' Lamar Jackson, 49ers' Brock Purdy Lead Peter King's Top 5 NFL MVP Rankings

The NFL MVP race was tightly contested throughout the 2023 season, but Baltimore Ravens star quarterback Lamar Jackson separated himself from the pack in the eyes of at least one NFL expert.

Peter King of NBC Sports revealed his MVP ballot on Monday, with Jackson topping the list of five players.

"Lamar Jackson, Brock Purdy, Josh Allen, Dak Prescott, Tyreek Hill were 1 through 5 for MVP," King stated.

Jackson, who won his first NFL MVP award in his second year in the league in 2019, had another dominant campaign as he led the Ravens to the best record in the league this season at 13-4.

The 27-year-old threw for a career-high 3,678 yards with 24 touchdowns against just seven interceptions. His 67.2 completion percentage was also the best mark of his career. He added a team-high 821 rushing yards with five more scores on the ground.

Purdy was also viewed as a leading candidate for MVP after his stellar season for the San Francisco 49ers in which he led the league with a 113.0 quarterback rating, ranked third with 31 passing touchdowns and fifth with 4,280 passing yards. However, he lost to Jackson and the Ravens in a head-to-head matchup in Week 16.

In Saturday's AFC Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans, Jackson threw for 152 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 100 yards and two more scores.

The Ravens will be playing in the AFC Championship Game for the first time since their last Super Bowl win in 2012. Jackson will look to put forth another strong performance when 2022 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs visit Baltimore on Sunday.