2023 Detroit Lions awards: Most Valuable Player

Vote on the Detroit Lions’ most valuable player for the 2023 season.

We’ve come to the end of our 2023 Pride of Detroit, and it’s time to give out the biggest award of them all: Most Valuable Player. Ask any five people, and they’ll likely give you five different definition of “MVP,” and we didn’t explicitly define it for our staff. Just asked, quite simply: Who was the Detroit Lions’ Most Valuable Player for the 2023 season.

Before we get into our answers, a reminder of all the previous awards, which you can still vote on. Voting will continue through the rest of the week, and we’ll reveal the winners next Monday.

• Breakout Player of the Year
• Special Teams Player of the Year
• Coach of the Year
• Rookie of the Year
• Game of the Year
• Offensive Player of the Year
• Defensive Player of the Year
• Play of the Year

Now onto our MVP candidates. Don’t forget to vote in the poll at the bottom of the page.

2023 Detroit Lions Most Valuable Player

Jeremy Reisman: Jared Goff

I take this award quite literally, and there is no one more valuable to the team than the quarterback, Jared Goff. When he struggles, the team struggles. When he thrives, the team thrives. And for most of 2023, Goff thrived. He finished second in passing yards, seventh in yards per attempt, and ninth in passer rating.

More importantly, when the game was on the line, Dan Campbell put the ball in Goff’s hands—not a kicker’s foot, and Goff made Campbell look good on most occasions; be it Goff taking over in Tampa when the run game faltered, outdueling Justin Herbert in Los Angeles, leading a game-“winning” drive in Dallas, or sealing the first playoff win in 30 years against his arch nemesis.

Meko Scott: Amon-Ra St. Brown

See my response for picking him OPOY.

John Whiticar: Penei Sewell

This is a tough award to give given how integral so many players are to this team. Yet when I think about the 2023 season, what stands out as the key reason for their success is the offensive line. The blocking facilitated an impressive passing under Jared Goff and a dominant rushing attack with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. Frank Ragnow deserves all the flowers for his elite performance amid injuries, but Penei Sewell gets my vote for MVP. He kept the offensive line afloat when Taylor Decker missed time with injury, and his play has him on a Hall of Fame trajectory. It’s rare to call an offensive lineman a game-changer, but Sewell is certainly one.

Morgan Cannon: Penei Sewell

Am I a little biased towards the big guys? Maybe, but Sewell was the best player at his position all season and was a fixture in offensive coordinator Ben Johnson’s offense.

I constantly think about that series in the Conference Title game where Sewell was in motion and lining up all over the place. Most coordinators don’t build offenses around their tackles, but Sewell isn’t most tackles.

And he is still only 23 years-old. Sheesh.

Hamza Baccouche: Penei Sewell

He was the definition of a professional, a football guy, and a rock at right tackle. Everything this Lions offense did went through him. He enabled the success of Jared Goff, Jahmyr Gibbs, David Montgomery, and so many more. No matter how much love we give Penei, it won’t do justice to what he brings to this team.

Erik Schlitt: Penei Sewell

Penei Sewel is just 23 years old, but he is a team captain, a two-time Pro Bowler, and an All-Pro. He breaks down the team huddle before the game and he dominates during the action. Sewell was named PFF’s best offensive lineman in the NFL during the regular season, then carried that over to the playoffs, where he was once again the best offensive lineman to play in the postseason. He’s headed into the final year of his rookie contract, will surely get his fifth-year contract option picked up, and when the Lions do pay him an extraordinary amount of money in a contract extension, it won’t matter what the total amount is… he’ll be worth it.

Brandon Knapp: Jared Goff

I was not a big fan of Jared Goff when the Lions traded for him. 2021 he had a good half of the season, but I still didn’t believe in him. 2022 he improved and again, had a solid half of the season, but I still needed to see a full season from Goff. Now he did have a little spat of poor play, but overall he was the MVP on the team this year. He helped lead the offense and with his play, and he took the team all the way to the NFC Championship game. If Goff wasn’t at quarterback this season, I am not sure the team gets that far. He had a lot more impact in games that people noticed. Pay the man!

Ryan Mathews: Frank Ragnow

The man in the middle was the most valuable player for the Detroit Lions. Not only is Ragnow one of the easiest players to root for given his toughness and determination to play through adversity, but he was Pro Football Focus’ No. 1 graded center (88.1) in the NFL, and he posted the best run-blocking grade (90.1) of any player at his position with at least 500 snaps. We give Goff a ton of credit for developing his game and becoming better at diagnosing defenses at the line of scrimmage, but it isn’t any coincidence that his improvement in that area has coincided with him lining up under Frank.