When the acquired from the for the, they thought they were getting a decent insurance policy in the event starting quarterback went down with yet another injury. They didn't think they were trading for a fringe MVP candidate who would revive their playoff chances mid-season by emerging as a top-five quarterback, but it turns out, that's what they actually got. It's been 15 weeks and Ryan Tannehill is in the MVP conversation in the year 2019.Welcome to our Week 15 MVP check-in where five NFL writers here at CBS Sports -- Will Brinson, John Breech, Jared Dubin, Ryan Wilson, and Sean Wagner-McGough (hi, that's me) -- all ranked their top-five MVP candidates to this point in the season. For the first time all year, Tannehill Yan Gomes Jersey made an appearance. Four of our five voters included him on their ballots. The acclaim is well deserved. When Tannehill took over as the starter in Week 7, the Titans were 2-4. With Tannehill under center, the Titans have gone 6-1. At 8-5, they're very much alive in both the AFC South (with two matchups with the still looming) and the . As Warren Sharp pointed out, That leads the league. For the sake of comparison, consider the are averaging 0.73 points per minute of po se sion with MVP frontrunner . With Tannehill, the Titans have a more efficient scoring offense than the Ravens.And that makes sense because statistically, Tannehill is playing like a top-five quarterback. He ranks second in completion percentage (73.4), second in touchdown percentage (7.4), first in yards per attempt (9.8), first in pa ser rating (118.5), and sixth in DVOA (). He's done all of that even though , per Football Outsiders' metrics. The manner in which he's done all of this is impre sive too. Tannehill is bombing the ball downfield. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, . The degree of difficulty has also been high. He's not just throwing to wide-open receivers downfield. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, 20.2 percent of his pa ses have been thrown into tight windows -- only six quarterbacks have thrown into tight windows at a higher clip. Despite the fact that he's throwing downfield into tight windows frequently, he's been remarkably accurate. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, he leads the league in completion percentage above expectation. A few moments from the Titans' win over the on Sunday stick out as examples of what Tannehill has been doing so well since he was handed the reins. First, there was his touch pa s deep down the sideline to with a defender trailing in coverage. NFL Game Pa s There was his touchdown bomb to A.J. Brown that was perfectly placed 50 yards downfield despite Tannehill getting crunched in his own end zone as he released the ball. NFL Game Pa s There was his 39-yard dart up the seam in between two defenders. NFL Game Pa s But my favorite play was his final touchdown pa s to , because it was the ultimate heat check. Off play-action and moving to his right, Tannehill spotted Smith leaking out to the left. Without even bothering to set his feet, he threw up a touch pa s that Smith was able to corral for a put-away score. It's my favorite play because it highlights Joe Carter Jersey everything that's going right for the Titans on offense right now: play-action, a confident throw downfield by Tannehill, and a pa s-catcher going up and making a play on the ball -- his receivers deserve credit for continually coming down with his downfield throws. NFL Game Pa s Tannehill was so good on Sunday that he managed to turn a bad play (an interception) into a career highlight (a hit-stick tackle out of nowhere).The Ryan Tannehill tackle is even better on the All 22. Sean Wagner-McGough (@seanjwagner) There's , as For The Win's Steven Ruiz examined earlier this week. Tannehill probably won't play at a top-five level for the remainder of his career. But that's OK. He's more than good enough to start for a team -- -- next year. More importantly, he's good enough to push the Titans into the postseason this year.At 8-5, the Titans are tied with the Texans atop the AFC South. How their two remaining matchups with Houston unfold will determine the outcome of the division. trailing the fifth-seeded by one game (plus the head-to-head tiebreaker) and the sixth-seeded by a tiebreaker. According to simulations conducted by SportsLine's Stephen Oh, the Titans have a 53.7 percent chance of making the playoffs. The playoffs are realistically within reach.But ... Tannehill does not have a realistic shot of unseating Jackson, who remains very much the frontrunner for MVP. At this point, appears to be the only candidate with a slim chance of usurping Jackson in the final three weeks of the season, but even still, that appears to be unlikely. Jackson's lead over Wilson continues to widen after the Ravens defeated the Bills behind Jackson's three touchdown pa ses and the failed to score an offensive touchdown in a primetime lo s to the . Total Yards Total TDs INTs + Fumbles QBR Record Wilson 3,734 29 12 70.8 (4th) 10-3 Jackson 3,694 35 12 79.8 (1st) 11-2 Below, you'll find our collective MVP ballot that was pieced together by adding up all five of our individual ballots. A first-place vote was worth five points, a second-place vote was worth four points, and so on. Cleveland Indians Blank Jersey Further down below, you'll find all five of our individual ballots, including brief explainers so you know why we voted the way we did -- and also so you know who to yell at. MVP leaderboard after Week 14 1. Lamar Jackson -- 25 points 2. Ru sell Wilson -- 17 points 3. Ryan Tannehill -- 11 points 4. -- 10 points 5. -- 5.5 points T-6. -- 3 points T-6. -- 3 points 8. -- 0.5 points So much for Watson's surge. Last week, . This week, he falls to fifth place, losing 10.5 points along the way. It's also worth noting that has fallen off the list entirely after he picked up four points last week. Finally, Jackson's lead has grown from five to six to eight points over the past three weeks.Onto the individual ballots. Lamar JacksonRyan TannehillKirk CousinsRu sell WilsonDeshaun WatsonThis award is OVER. Throw in the damn towel already. Lamar Jackson is your 2019 NFL MVP -- there's no way anyone is catching him at this point, not even with three weeks left in the season. The second most valuable player in my mind right now is Tannehill, who has played his tail off for the Titans and has them surging towards a playoff berth. Sorry, but Ru sell Wilson hasn't been that great over the last four weeks. I do expect a huge bounceback against the though. Cousins has his team surging towards a division title matchup against the . Deshaun is probably here by default, but he's had a great season that shouldn't be diminished by one or two games. Lamar JacksonRu sell WilsonPatrick MahomesDeshaun WatsonMichael ThomasJackson just keeps rolling, throwing for three touchdowns against one of the NFL's best defenses. Wilson is not playing particularly well over the past few weeks and that has allowed Jackson to widen his lead in this race. It's going to take a lot to take this award away from him at this point. Mahomes was good but not great against the , but the egg Watson laid against the led me to flip-flop them in my rankings. And Michael Thomas' team lost, but it's pretty clear at this point that he is one of the small handful of best players in the NFL. Lamar JacksonRu sell WilsonRyan TannehillMichael ThomasDeshaun Watson/Dalvin CookWith three weeks left to play, I don't want to say that Lamar Jackson has the award wrapped up, but it feels kind of like he has the award wrapped up. In Week 14, Jackson threw for three touchdowns against a Bills defense that was only surrendering an average of 0.75 touchdown pa ses per game this season. Not only does Jackson now lead the NFL in touchdown pa ses, but he also became just the second quarterback in NFL history hit the 1,000-yard rushing mark. As for the rest of this list, Ru sell Wilson is the only one who even remotely has a hope of catching Jackson. With the Seahawks playing the in Week 17, Wilson will get a chance to leave a lasting impre sion on voters. In my third Josh Tomlin Jersey spot, I added Tannehill, because he's arguably been the top quarterback in the NFL since Week 7. In seven starts this season, not only has Tannehill gone 6-1, but he's put together a QB rating of 118.5, which leads the entire NFL. On Thomas' end, he's still on pace to set the NFL single-season record for most catches in a season after a huge game against the 49ers (11 catches, 134 yards, 1 TD). In my final spot, I'm splitting my vote, because I was told not to split my vote, and I don't like following rules. Lamar JacksonPatrick MahomesRu sell WilsonRyan TannehillDeshaun WatsonJackson wasn't great against the Bills but he was plenty good enough to maintain his sizable lead on our MVP ballot. Mahomes' gutsy effort against the Patriots moves him up our list. Meanwhile, Wilson hasn't been nearly as dominant in recent weeks, though you could argue he's the primary reason the Seahawks are still a playoff team. Tannehill makes his first appearance on this list and there may not be a more deserving Eddie Robinson Jersey player; he's 6-1 as the Titans starter and in that time he's thrown 15 TDs, 4 INTs, completed 73.4 percent of his throws, has a pa ser rating of 118.5 and rushed for three more scores. Finally, Watson and the Texans were embarra sed at home by the Broncos but he still accounted for three Houston touchdowns. Lamar JacksonRu sell WilsonPatrick MahomesRyan TannehillDeshaun WatsonNo change at the top of my ballot. Jackson did enough against the Bills to retain his lead over Wilson after the Seahawks failed to score an offensive touchdown. It wasn't nece sarily Wilson's fault, but a performance like that makes it impo sible for him to jump over Jackson. I was tempted to move Mahomes up to No. 2 after he helped the beat the Patriots in Foxborough, but his injury absence early this season makes it difficult to do so. Wilson has been more valuable than Mahomes over the course of the entire season. Tannehill doesn't deserve a chance to actually win the award, but he does deserve some love after he transformed the Titans' season. Finally, Watson falls after an inept performance against the Broncos -- most of his stats were accumulated with the game already out of reach.