NEW ORLEANS — When Josh Allen fell to the Buffalo Bills with the seventh pick of the 2018 NFL Draft, he was no sure thing. That’s why he didn’t go with the first pick or even in the top five.

Allen was an inaccurate quarterback coming out of the University of Wyoming, and didn’t dominate the competition in the Mountain West Conference. But he had a skill set, including a phenomenal arm, that made him an exciting high-end prospect. If he developed his talent, his ceiling was becoming the NFL’s best quarterback.

Allen became everything the Bills could have dreamed of. And now Allen is an MVP, beating out Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson to win his first NFL MVP award, which was given out at Thursday’s NFL Honors show. He’s the third Bills player to win the award, joining Thurman Thomas in 1991 and O.J. Simpson in 1973.

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“Feels good,” Allen said backstage after receiving his award. “I feel like my teammates wanted this for me than I did, but I’m honored.”

The vote was very close. Allen got 27 first-place votes and Jackson got the other 23. The AP voting system has five players on each MVP ballot with weighted points for each spot, and Allen had 383 points to 362 for Jackson.

It was supposed to be a bit of a transition season for the Bills after they let go some high-priced veterans and traded receiver Stefon Diggs. Instead, Allen elevated his play and the Bills went 13-4. The Bills didn’t make a Super Bowl, which is still a hole in Allen’s résumé. But he has an MVP to his credit now.

The MVP race this season was notable because it was actually a race. It had been a long time since there any intrigue about who would win heading into the announcement.

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The last time an MVP race was decided by fewer than 15 first-place votes was 2012, when Adrian Peterson beat out Peyton Manning. The last time it was decided by fewer than 10 votes was 2005, when Shaun Alexander got just 19 of 50 votes, with Manning getting 13 and Tom Brady picking up 10. For nearly two decades, every MVP was well known long before it was official.

This season was different. Allen took a lead during his great season, but there was a lot of support for Jackson in the final few weeks. Saquon Barkley also had supporters, though it has become very hard for any non-quarterback to get MVP votes. The intrigue grew when Jackson was named first-team All-Pro quarterback by the same 50 voters who select MVP. The last time the first-team All-Pro quarterback and NFL MVP were different players was 1987, when John Elway won MVP but Joe Montana was the All-Pro QB (in 2003 Steve McNair was co-MVP with Peyton Manning but was not a first-team All-Pro).

For Allen to win MVP over Jackson, it would take a reversal of a 37-year voting trend.

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“I was pretty surprised.” Allen said. “Given what we known about how typically the voting goes, and Lamar was very deserving of this award as well.”

Both players had great seasons. Jackson had mostly better statistics. Allen got credit for elevating a lesser supporting cast.

Jackson: 4,172 passing yards, 41 TD, 4 INT, 119.6 passer rating, 915 rushing yards, 4 rushing TD

Allen: 3,731 passing yards, 28 TD, 6 INT, 101.4 passer rating, 531 rushing yards, 12 rushing TD

It was a very tough race to call, especially with Barkley being somewhat in the mix with a 2,000-yard rushing season.

Allen’s MVP hype took off after a loss. Against the Los Angeles Rams in Week 14, Allen had three passing touchdowns and three rushing touchdowns. He became the first player in NFL regular-season history with three passing and three rushing touchdowns in a game.

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The Bills lost 44-42, but that game vaulted Allen into the favorite position to win MVP.

Allen didn’t have better numbers than Jackson, but voters apparently put a lot of weight into how he elevated everyone around him. A common argument for Allen’s MVP candidacy down the stretch was that Jackson had better teammates. Perhaps there was some voter fatigue involved, considering Jackson already had two MVPs and Allen didn’t have any, but the end result was Allen winning the award even after the same voting panel selected Jackson as the best quarterback in the NFL for the All-Pro team.

Like Jackson, Allen’s legacy won’t be complete until he makes a Super Bowl with the Bills. It has been difficult with Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs in the middle of a dynasty. But there’s no doubting Allen’s greatness as a player. He has become a fantastic dual-threat quarterback, able to make plays with his elite arm talent or by scrambling when everything breaks down.

Allen has carried the Bills offense for years, and he finally has an MVP award to show for it.