NFL Notebook, Week 15: Lamar Jackson, rebuild candidates, mock draft and more
By Zach Cohen
Lamar’s Longevity
Every year, one player takes the NFL by storm. This year, it was Hurricane Lamar that tore through teams.
I don’t need to recap Jackson’s historic, MVP-worthy season. Instead, I’m curious about what Jackson does next, and again, I’m not talking about leading Baltimore to the Super Bowl. I’m talking about 2020 and beyond. What’s Jackson’s encore?
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Hypothetically, the Ravens can keep letting Jackson run all over poor defenses. Of course, the NFL is practical, not hypothetical. The more Jackson runs, the more he gets hit. Jackson’s propensity to run causes for an increase in hits.
As a passer, Jackson has been kept relatively safe, as the Ravens’ offensive line has allowed the second-fewest quarterback hits and fifth-fewest sacks. He also the ninth-best completion percentage in the league. Jackson has shown to be a good, not a great passer.
Still, that’s not who Jackson is. Jackson is a run-first quarterback, plain and simple. All this means is that, as all run-first quarterbacks experience, Jackson must either improve as a passer or his body will start to give up on him. Cam Newton, Colin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III were all successful run-first quarterbacks who saw injuries negatively impact their careers.
Newton tried to stop running, but injuries eventually caught up with him. (Subpar offensive line play was a factor, too.) Unfortunately for Jackson, the only comparable quarterback is Michael Vick, who was in prison for the two seasons following his record-breaking rushing campaign. Even so, Vick still dealt with injuries in his post-Atlanta seasons.
I’ll give kudos to Jackson for adding 7-10 pounds prior to the season, though it begs the eternal question: Will it be enough? For Jackson, there’s no proven way to prolong his career if he plans on staying ultra-involved in the Ravens’ running game. For the sake of excitement and for Jackson’s career, I hope he finds a way to balance his arm with his legs.