Baltimore Ravens should avoid Lamar Jackson in year one

The Baltimore Ravens got a steal with Lamar Jackson late in the first round of the NFL Draft this year. He should avoid the field in year one though.

Joe Flacco is the Baltimore Ravens starting quarterback — for now. No matter what you think about him, that’s probably something most people can agree on. With the addition of Lamar Jackson though, his time seems to be running out. It’s clear this will be Jackson’s team soon enough. However, that time shouldn’t come in 2018.

I want to start off by saying I love Lamar Jackson’s game. Personally, I believe he was a top-2 QB in the draft. That being said, if he’s not the starting quarterback in Week 1, Jackson (barring anything drastic) should stay off the field.

If the Ravens decide they want to let Jackson learn for some time — throwing him into the fire midseason is a bad decision. Jeff Fisher did so with Jared Goff and the results were ugly. Now, Goff rebounded nicely with Sean McVay in season two, but those first seven games of his career will never go away. Luckily it appears they didn’t hurt his development.

The Ravens brought in Robert Griffin III this offseason, and he can absolutely be a serviceable backup. He can also help Flacco teach the rookie the ropes.

Jackson has all the tools to be a superstar. Despite a lot of analysts trying to discredit him before the draft, he has the arm strength and accuracy to succeed in the NFL. He also possess incredible speed and has the size (6-3) of a quarterback. There’s no real reason to doubt the Louisville product.

With all that being said, he’s just 21 and could definitely benefit from learning for a year.

In fact, I felt the perfect scenario going into the draft for Jackson would be the New England Patriots. He could learn under Tom Brady for two-ish years and take over from there. The Ravens and Flacco aren’t exactly New England and Brady, but they still have plenty of wisdom to share.

I’ve always been a fan of giving a quarterback time to develop before throwing him into the starting role. I don’t believe it’s always necessary though. Some quarterbacks are NFL-ready immediately. There’s every chance Jackson is one of those players. However, randomly giving him the starting role in week five or whatever is almost never the right move.

The Baltimore Ravens are in a unique situation. They aren’t in the most competitive division and came out of last season with a 9-7 record. Their roster is also fringe-heavy with a lot of players that can be considered question marks.

Due to that, there’s been talks of Jackson not only playing quarterback, but moving to other positions as well. This is an absolute no-no. There’s an argument for Jackson starting the season at quarterback. There’s no good defense to playing him at other positions. Especially because the long-term goal is still to have him as the franchise quarterback.

Playing Jackson at other positions just because he’s a super-athlete can lead to plenty of problems. The most obvious being this is just begging for injuries. If Jackson gets hurt at quarterback it would be painful, but at least he’s in position. An injury occurring while he’s running a special play at receiver or running back just 100 percent isn’t worth it.

Next: NFL 2018: Top Rookie of the Year candidate for each team

Teams have attempted to move a quarterback to another position in the past. They’ve also thrown their quarterbacks into other positions for certain plays (just watch the Super Bowl). Using the future of your position in spots just to get him on the field is a terrible move though.

The Baltimore Ravens have their franchise quarterback in Lamar Jackson. Don’t ruin that already by trying to get cute.