AFC East MVPs: Who Is the MVP of the Buffalo Bills?

Fred Jackson is the Bills' Most Valuable Player, at least right now.

That may change in 2012 with the addition of defensive end Mario Williams, as well as the outside factors of Jackson's age and his recovery from a broken leg. But his impact on the team over the past three seasons especially is worthy of praise.

Choosing a Bills MVP was by far the hardest of any of the AFC East teams, with a lot of talent on the roster but not many that can be considered the driving force behind the team's success.

Perhaps the $96 million man will have something to say about that in 2012, but for now, the 31-year-old back is the guy that means the most to the team.

Reliability

This has been a consistent theme among the AFC East MVPs. Up until last year, Jackson was about as reliable as they come.

However, he broke his leg nine games into the season and was put on injured reserve. The Bills season, which had begun to stumble at that point, tripped over its own two feet as they went 1-5 without Jackson in the lineup.

Before last year, though, Jackson had played all 16 games in each year from 2008-2010. 

Lately, he has become a workhorse for the team, totaling 912 touches (combined receptions and carries) in the past four seasons. 

Value

It's not just his ability to run inside and outside the tackles; it's so much more than that.

In fact, he lined up as a wide receiver on the key play at the end of the game against the Patriots.

And beyond his versatility, his football I.Q. is superb. In fact, it was that very football I.Q. which helped him make the play. Per NESN.com:

"

"The way they play, the way they blitz to empty [formations], it was something [Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick] and I saw. Anytime we line up out there and we point away from a linebacker, this one over here blitzes and leaves that gap open." ...By Jackson's description, Mayo was the blitzer who the Bills saw coming, and Jackson ran a slant toward Mayo's vacant zone

"

Which is plain to see just from looking at how the play broke down.

But it's more than just his abilities as a pass-catcher. He is a superb blitz protector as well.

In a critical third-down situation earlier on in the same game against the Patriots, Jackson stays in the backfield in pass protection. Immediately at the snap, he moves up to help the offensive linemen, but he isn't too eager to make contact.

That's because he's looking for who to block. When he identifies where help is needed, he lunges into action to block out a blitzing linebacker Rob Ninkovich.

His support in protection allows quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick the necessary time to make the read and get the ball to Donald Jones for a first down.

Production

I mentioned earlier that Jackson has become a workhorse, but with good reason.

In the past four seasons, Jackson has combined for 4,839 yards from scrimmage and 20 total touchdowns. His 4.6 yards per carry is well above respectable and ranks him in the top 20 among backs with over 300 carries since 2008.

If Jackson had kept up his pace from the first 10 games of 2011, he would have finished with 2,202 yards from scrimmage and would have led the league over Ravens running back Ray Rice (2,068 yards from scrimmage).

After extending Jackson through 2014, the Bills have high hopes that Jackson can recover quickly from his broken leg and return to the kind of production that helped him earn that extension.

Erik Frenz is the AFC East lead blogger for Bleacher Report. Be sure to follow Erik on Twitter and "like" the AFC East blog on Facebook to keep up with all the updates.