Lamar Jackson strongly doubts defenses will figure him out

doubledragon

When told that people think defenses will figure him out this season, Lamar Jackson says, " I strongly doubt it."

Does Lamar Jackson think defenses will figure him out in 2021? 'I strongly doubt it'

Aside from discussions regarding a new contract, offseason talk for Lamar Jackson has centered around lining up more under center and improving his deep ball to better balance the Baltimore Ravens offense.

A transcendent talent whose fleet feet have carried him to accomplishments no quarterback has ever realized, Jackson has been able to confound defenses whether improvement in the passing game is needed or not.

Now the conversation has turned to a recent report that some within the league believe 2021 will be the year in which defenses figure out how to stop Jackson.

With a grin and ample confidence, Jackson politely disagreed with that narrative on Tuesday.

“I’m gonna keep playing football and we’re gonna see. But I doubt it, dude. I doubt it. I strongly doubt it. Gonna play ball,” Jackson told reporters.

Only one quarterback before Jackson had ever reached 1,000 yards rushing in a season. Jackson did it for a second season in a row last year and that was after the Ravens signal-caller won the 2019 AP NFL Most Valuable Player. Therefore, opposing defensive coordinators had an entire offseason to figure out how to halt Jackson following his breakout second season.

As great and fast as Jackson is, figuring him out isn’t always going to matter.

Jackson has been slowed and even stopped in individual games, but he’s emerged for three seasons now with impressive bodies of work.

Now, his focus is on bettering his all-around game and reports on that are positive.

"I've always thought that he's always taken his approach to his technique more serious than a lot of people thought," left tackle Ronnie Stanley said, via the team website. "So, I definitely see all the improvement he's made in his passing game, and whatever it is – footwork, arm-angle, whatever – but I know he's taken the steps to take his game to another level."

Since he came into the league, Jackson has been followed by critics that say he’s really just a running back, that his small frame will wilt under all the carries and on and on.

Over the past two years, he’s compiled 76 total touchdowns (62 passing, 14 rushing). Perhaps this will finally be the year in which the doubters catch up to Jackson, but his past two seasons in particular, at the very least, lean to giving Jackson the benefit of the doubt that he will continue to be phenomenal rather than figured out.

“My fourth year, I know what I’m doing a lot more than I did before. So it just make my job a lot easier,” Jackson said. “And these guys are working hard, they working their butt off in this hot sun. This humid heat. We’re just gonna keep grinding, we know the sky’s the limit.”

doubledragon

Interesting article on the criticizing of Lamar Jackson.

Once again, we are criticizing Lamar Jackson for the wrong things

Before we get rolling on this, let’s just get it out in the open: Lamar Jackson is not a perfect quarterback. There are things he needs to work on as a pure passer before he can be seen as a top-five player in that department, as opposed to an overall offensive weapon, and the only quarterback in NFL history with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons. Jackson isn’t great when throwing to middle of the field closed (MOFC) coverage, he can be erratic to either side of the field at times, he regressed as a pocket passer in 2020 (in part because the pockets were not as well-defined), and there are obvious instances in which he’s left schematic meat on the bone while insinuating that his passing game is too predictable.

The Lamar Jackson Reading Room, and missed opportunities in the Ravens’ passing game

That said, there’s something about Jackson that brings out the stupid in some people. There was the famous case of former Panthers and Colts general manager Bill Polian saying before Jackson was selected by the Ravens in the first round of the 2018 draft that Jackson should switch to receiver. There was all kinds of garbage about Jackson’s inability to win from the pocket when he was doing just that. There’s been an ongoing Greatest Hits of What Lamar Jackson Can’t Do, even and especially when he Does It.

A few years later… well, we have not gotten any smarter. Now, the thing appears to be that Lamar can’t throw eleventy bazillion passes per game, and save his team from the mulch.

We’re not picking on ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler here — he’s simply repeating what he’s hearing from other NFL teams when they’re looking to poke holes in Lamar’s game. But the very idea that it’s a debit for a quarterback to “fail” when he’s asked to throw more than 50 passes per game is absolutely ridiculous.

With Pro Football Reference’s Stathead tool, we are able to go through NFL history and tell you just exactly how many times a quarterback has thrown 50 or more passes in a game, and what the results were. From 1950 through 2021, there have been 661 instances in which a quarterback has attempted at least 50 passes in a professional football game. Of those 661 games, 142 ended in wins for the quarterback throwing at least 50 passes, 511 ended in losses, and eight ended in ties. That amounts to a winning percentage of .215, which is not exactly awesome.

So maybe let’s get a bit smarter about this. In his career, also per Pro Football Reference, Jackson has never thrown an interception when trailing with four minutes or fewer in a game. In those instances, he’s completed 24 of 34 passes for 344 yards and a passer rating of 132.5. In instances in which the Ravens have trailed with two minutes or less left in a game, Jackson has a passer rating of 142.9. And last season, per Sports Info Solutions, Jackson completed 18 of 31 passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, no interceptions, and a passer rating of 101.4 when the Ravens were trailing by three points or more in the fourth quarter.

So, what is it that we’re trying to accomplish with this cherry-picked concept? Are we doing more than simply trying to find another reason to criticize Lamar Jackson for something else we wouldn’t expect other quarterbacks to do? Because unless you’re Tom Brady, who’s managed to come out on the winning side of 19 different games in which he attempted 50 or more passes (an amazing 13.3% of all “quarterback wins” in such circumstances), this particular ding is very much out of left field. Jackson has thrown more than 50 passes just once in his NFL career — Baltimore’s playoff loss to the Titans at the end of their 2019 season. That’s the only chance he’s been given in the league’s most run-dominant offense.

So, Lamar Jackson isn’t Tom Brady. Is that what we’re bagging on him for at this point?

2dueces

Defenses figured him out in his first playoff game. Baltimore and Jackson play well downhill but struggle when behind. Same old story every year and it’s worth repeating once a year. The Ravens will beat bad teams. They’ll win their share again good teams but until he can prove that he can beat elite teams his ceiling is one and done in the playoffs. Titans game last year was an anomaly. The refused to admit that they couldn’t run against Baltimore and continued to be defeated.

perkdog

Umm hate to break it to ya Lamar but they kinda figured you out last year. These guys that talk stupid annoy me, I mean it’s fine to tout yourself as a great player ect.. but nonsensical statements like this I think these guys are better off keeping their traps shut

keets

I have vivid memories of games between the Cleveland Browns and Pittsburgh Steelers. the principle RB for Cleveland was future HOFer Leroy Kelly, Pittsburgh had a future two-time Super Bowl winning LB named Andy Russell. I wish I had a dollar for each time I heard the PA announcer say "Kelly the ball carrier, tackled by Russell" which made a clear point --- Russell was shadowing Kelly. defenses in the past had routinely done "shadowing" and should do it with Lamar Jackson.