It’s 3rd and 2. 13:07 is left on the clock. The Ravens are down 24-10. Lamar Jackson is set up five yards behind the offensive line. Two yards behind him is Running Back Mark Ingram. There are three Tight Ends lined up to the right of the offensive line in a blocking stance. One receiver is split out wide outside the numbers. It is a pretty clear running situation. Jackson says, “Hike!” He receives the ball, fakes the handoff to his running back, and starts running to his right. His attempt to reach the first down marker seems unlikely. Three defensive players run to meet him in front of the line. If the Ravens don’t get a first down they might as well kiss their chances to win this game goodbye. But looking at Jackson you wouldn’t know that. He’s got swagger—a natural calm, which seems strange given the situation. One of the incoming defensive players meets Jackson a yard before the first down marker. Jackson quickly puts all of his weight on his right foot in an attempt to slow his run. The defender flies in front of him. Jackson stands there for a split second, stopped—a pause in the hectic game. He then takes two quick steps. Extending the ball with his arm, he reaches the first down marker.
This play may seem like a relatively inconsequential occurrence in the middle of a week 4 game. But it is so much more. It speaks to the quarterback position as a whole, and how Lamar Jackson is changing it. In general, great quarterbacks are not the best runners. On the football reference website, they use a statistic called AV (average value) that attempts to find players’ values using a numerical value. Of the top 10 highest AV players, six are quarterbacks. Of those six quarterbacks, the one with the most rushing yards is 1000 by Tom Brady. To put this in perspective, Lamar Jackson has started 11 regular-season games in the NFL, and he has rushed for 933 yards. (Need stats of one or two more AV QBs).
Lamar Jackson’s superior athletic ability allows us to see something we’ve never seen before. Not only is Lamar one of the most athletic players at his position, but he is also one of the most athletic players in the NFL. Normally a player of his athleticism is pushed to play wide receiver or cornerback, but he stuck with QB. Frequently throughout his college career, people questioned his ability to throw the football at the level needed to play in the NFL. Last year he did not sway any doubters. In his starts in 2018, he averaged 159.1 passing yards a game, which would’ve been good enough for 34th in the NFL (there are 32 NFL teams). It didn’t seem like he would improve enough on his passing to become even a competition NFL quarterback. In 2018, he relied on his ability to run and averaged 79.1 rushing yards per game, which would’ve been good enough for 6th in the NFL – for running backs!
However, this was a new year and there was a new Lamar Jackson. In his first game, he threw for 5 touchdowns and 324 passing yards. But it didn’t stop there. Through his first four games, he averaged 277.5 yards a game– good enough for 13th in the league, ahead of people like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. His ability to pass has created the ideal “dual-threat quarterback”. Sure, there have been players that have fallen into this category before, but nobody at this level. In any given game, Jackson could throw for 300 yards or rush for 100. While he still has a long way to go, Lamar Jackson has caused changes that could affect the NFL for years to come. •
