QB Louisville
AVERAGE RATING (GIL BRANDT):
5.3
OVERALL RATING (RON WOLF):
7.5
DELTA:
+2.2
MEANING:
A player you win because of
JEDI KNIGHT
MAJOR FACTORS:
| Personal/Behavior ★★★★★★★★ 5 | Competitiveness/Toughness ★★★★★★★★ 6 |
| Athletic Ability ★★★★★★★★ 8 | Mental/Learning ★★★★★★★★ 2 |
| Strength/Explosion ★★★★★★★★ 7 | Injury/Durability ★★★★★★★★ 8 |
GAMES STUDIED:
2017: Purdue, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Florida State
ABOUT:
Lamar Jackson is a 3-yr. starting quarterback for the Louisville Cardinals. While at Louisville, Jackson amassed big numbers in both the passing and running game, compiling over 3,000 yards and 1,400 yards in each respectively. Jackson also was the ACC Player of the Year, Consensus All-American, and Heisman Trophy winner of 2016.
SCOUTING:
Jackson is a very athletic quarterback. His speed and elusiveness are elite, able to outrun the quickest of defensive backs. Jackson’s athleticism allows him to evade defenders inside the pocket and make plays with his legs outside of it.
The best trait of Jackson is his running ability. He is like a 2nd running back, able to be a dual threat quarterback causing the defense to put extra resources to prevent huge plays because of his superb running skills. Jackson is a home run hitter, making gigantic plays out of plays that other players would only get 10 yards out of. He is a very explosive player with the ball in his hands, and will give defenses headaches with his legs.
Unfortunately this is not the whole story for Jackson. While he is very explosive running the ball, he doesn’t slide our run out of bounds which speaks to his competitiveness and toughness, however will give him injured at the next level. His lack of size and small build, will expose him to many injuries, and prevent him from using his greatest trait, his legs. While we are talking about his legs, lets talk about another concern. Jackson often relies too heavily on his legs, trusting in himself to save his team instead of finding a WR downfield for a bigger play. Whenever plays break down, he immediately reverts to running instead of scrambling. This also speaks to his arrogance and selfishness. Jackson routinely trusts himself over his teammates, calling his own number on crucial downs and distances. Lastly, lets talk about what quarterbacks actually do, throw the football. Jackson’s accuracy is spotty at best, and his deep ball is awful. His arm strength is great, but he frequently overthrows his receivers with that strength.
CHARACTER:
Jackson has no off-the-field issues, however, on the field as I mentioned above his diva nature is concerning. When it matters most he is consistently trusting himself instead of throwing the ball which quarterbacks should be doing.
INJURIES:
None
NFL COMPARSION:
Watching Jackson it is hard not to compare him to Michael Vick. Both quarterbacks rely heavily on their running ability. They also have video game speed and quickness, making explosive plays out of nothing. They are very frustrating for defenses with their ability to run and pass. Lamar like Vick are both diva’s and are somewhat selfish players. Their arms are also below your average quarterbacks, extremely strong, but not very accurate.
SUMMARY:
Lamar Jackson is a very athletic dual threat quarterback, able to destroy defense with his running ability. His arm strength is fantastic, but his accuracy takes away any positives of that trait. At the NFL level Jackson will have difficultly making throws with his inaccuracy, and will struggle to keep drives alive. When defenses pressure him he will revert to running the ball instead of finding a WR, and at the next level his speed will be less noticeable which will result in less and less explosive plays, the plays that he relies on. Lastly, his diva style of play, will cause his team to be tied to his success of failure, his team will win or lose solely on his play. In my opinion, Jackson is your classic boom or bust player. He could turn into an amazing NFL player, using not only his arm but his legs as well, being an extremely dynamic player, or he could be a complete bust, without any accurate passing and defenses keying on him, he could easy flounder and be out of the league in 3 years. It seems there is more risk than reward for Jackson.
PROJECTION:
Lamar Jackson is a very polarizing quarterback. People will love him for what he can do with his legs and will be wowed with his explosive play. People will also dislike him for being a untraditional quarterback, who is very inaccurate and inconsistent with his passing game. For NFL teams the recent selections of Russell Wilson, Dak Prescott, and DeShaun Watson will persuade them to be more forgiving to Jackson and he will probably be a late 1st round pick in the draft. To me he is outside the top 5 in this year’s class and is more like a 2nd or 3rd round pick than a 1st.
