Depending on who’s talking (or Tweeting) at any given time, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is either a running back who benefits solely from his unworldly legs and the scheme around him, or a built-in-the-lab super freak who is destined to shatter every passing and running record in the book — eventually forcing the United States government to formally change the name of “Sunday” to “Lamarday.”
Let’s tone down the volume a little bit and take an honest look at what he is going into his third full season as a starting quarterback.
It’s easy to suggest that Jackson’s defining trait is his athleticism, and it’s a reasonable argument. His legs, arm strength, agility and stop-and-start suddenness are all plus-to-elite traits, and he can honestly beat a team with any of them. He is a flat-out talented guy, who would be paid handsomely to be a professional football player, even if that is all he had at his disposal.
But it’s not.
For me, what separates Jackson from other mobile quarterbacks is his awareness.
How many times are you watching a game and you can see a pass rusher barreling down on a quarterback from behind and you are just salivating at what’s about to happen? Now, how many times have you seen that happen to Jackson, and he slips away at the last second? Or he’s running in traffic and makes an immediate cut to open space? Or he’s scrambling out of the pocket and flips a pass downfield that makes you feel certain parts of your body pucker up, right until the point it lands softly in a receiver’s hands?
That is all awareness.
When things get particularly chaotic, Jackson seems to be the one who always has an escape plan. That’s not from having a third eye or some magic “Space Jam” potion. It comes from his innate ability to understand where all 22 players on the field are at a given time. It’s understanding that his receiver has leverage to the inside or outside based on the position of the man covering him, or another player shading one direction or another.
When Jackson was struggling a bit in the first half of the 2020 season, I thought he was showing indecision at times. Those designed rollouts seems belabored, as Jackson would hesitate too long before throwing or passing, often running out of real estate at the sideline and throwing it away or taking a minimum game. It appeared that when he returned from his battle with COVID-19, he appeared to trust his instincts again and play loose and natural. That coincided with the Ravens turning their season around and rallying to a playoff birth.
Now that unworldly athleticism is where I believe a good bit of the Jackson controversy begins. Critics point to it as the only reason Jackson is any good, and that he will eventually lose that edge and his productivity will fall off a cliff. They also suggest that he is more open to injury with his style of play, and that his will be a short career.
Here’s the thing: His athleticism absolutely helps him as a player. It helps him run. It helps open up passing lanes. And it changes how defenses have to play in order to defend him. Patrick Mahomes benefits by having a cannon attached to his shoulder, and remarkable core strength and agility to throw from any number of angles. Tom Brady is gifted with cerebral processing skills and accuracy abilities that provide him a natural edge over all comers. Aaron Rodgers has a good bit of all these things.
NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah and Bucky Brooks often discuss on their “Move the Sticks” podcast how quarterbacks are either “trucks or trailers.” They either pull the team, or get pulled by the team. Those who are trucks, in my opinion, are the ones with those unique gifts that allow them to steal a couple games a year for their team when something else isn’t working. Others, the trailers, can win games when everything else goes right, but often falter when the load falls on them.
Jackson is a truck. He often escapes poor line play with his gifts, and has had success throwing to what many consider to have been a sub-par receiving crew. He also rallies the team behind him — think of the 4-5 team he took over in 2018, only to finish the season 10-6, or the exciting “Poopgate” game against Cleveland last year. He is a difference-maker.
And, yeah, he can throw.
Sometime over the next two seasons, Jackson will have compiled enough pass attempts to qualify for the all-time rankings. According to Pro Football Reference, Jackson’s current 102.6 passer rating would place him fourth all time, sandwiched between Rodgers and Russell Wilson. That threshold to qualify, by the way, is 1,500 attempts. You can say that Jackson does not throw as much as others, or that he benefits from his aforementioned skills, or what have you. Throwing 1,500 passes is throwing 1,500 passes, and his first 947 have been very good.
Have there been some ugly games? Some ugly throws? Some missed opportunities? Yes. Yes. Yes. Now, be honest. Have there been some ridiculously good throws? Some pinpoint tosses on the run? Some plays that you know he was probably the only human being on this spinning globe to complete?
Also: Yes. Yes. Yes.
As a passer, what Jackson has sometimes lacked is consistency. Don’t say he can’t throw. That’s lazy and window-licking stupid. Don’t say he has poor judgement. He has thrown for 68 touchdowns and only 18 interceptions in his career. But it’s fair to say that he hasn’t always shown consistency.
And, guess what? That is an area he can improve with more repetitions. It’s often been said that you can’t change accuracy at this level. I’m not sure that I believe it, as tightened fundamentals can always help, but let’s give people that argument for now.
Well, Jackson’s problem isn’t accuracy. We’ve seen him be accurate. He hasn’t always been consistent with his footwork, arm slot or follow through, however.
Think about a basketball player shooting free throws or having a clear look on a jumper. Look at how every part of the “ceremony” is the same, from the way he or she dribbles, spins the ball pre-shot and releases it in the same way every single time. That’s because consistency wins. Oh, there are off-balance and contested shots that happen during the course of the game, and the same goes for passing the ball in football. But when all is calm, and when things are clean, their shots look the same way.
That’s what Jackson needs to improve on going forward, and I think he will. By all accounts, he is a hard worker.
Having an upgraded offensive line and receiving corps will undoubtedly assist Jackson. Those things help every single quarterback who has ever been alive, by the way. How did Mahomes look in the Super Bowl last year with a porous line? The Chiefs believe they fixed that, right? How did Josh Allen look after the Bills upgraded his receivers? He almost won MVP after two wobbly years to begin his career.
Those things help a quarterback.
And steps in improving his consistency will help, as well.
The Ravens have a stud quarterback. Not tomorrow, but today. He’s already a star. And that star might shine even brighter with new tools and a continued push to improving his consistency. The Ravens will need him to step up in those obvious passing downs and take advantage of the revamped line and receiving crew at his disposal in order to get to the Promised Land.
He can do that by solidifying his throwing consistency through repetition.
I feel he will. He’s made me a believer.
