An NFL scout told Bob McGinn Football that NFL defensive coordinators will be "scared to death" to face Louisville QB Lamar Jackson.
"The dynamic athletic ability doesn’t even need to be talked about," the scout said. "What he doesn’t get enough credit for is the type of passer he is and the (pro-style) system he runs. When he’s in the pocket he stays in the pocket." Another evaluator who dished on Jackson with McGinn doesn't see matters in quite the same light when it comes to the signal-caller's standing as a passer, telling him that "[h]e’s a one-read guy, his accuracy is inconsistent and he holds the ball forever." NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported earlier on Monday that Jackson had an official predraft visit with the Patriots two weeks ago and that New England was "intrigued and impressed." Jackson is heading toward a likely top-20 selection on Thursday.
Source: Bob McGinn Football
Apr 23 - 3:09 PM
Being the best open field runner with the ball does not equate to best athlete in the draft. Enough with the hyperbole.Jackson is arguably the best overall athlete in the entire draft
He did say "arguably".Being the best open field runner with the ball does not equate to best athlete in the draft. Enough with the hyperbole.
"Well, do you want to have the full argument, or were you thinking of taking a course?"Let’s have an argument!
NFL Media's Tom Pelissero interviewed one anonymous Offensive Cooradintor who said Louisville's Lamar Jackson "will not be able to play (quarterback) in this league, mark my words."
"When he throws, he hopes," the coordinator concluded. Pelissero's piece is outstanding, and you should check it out. Jackson checks in as the fifth quarterback. "They had a progression-based offense. You can see it. But then, when you talk to him, he can't verbalize it for you," a quarterback coach added, anonymously.
Source: NFL.com
Apr 25 - 10:01 AM
Around the NFL's Jeremy Bergman reports Lousville QB Lamar Jackson would "love" to play for the Patriots.
Jackson also added he would "love for any team to trade up" and select him. He has visited with the Patriots twice in the draft process including a private workout with OC Josh McDaniels and an official visit in Foxborough. The Patriots have picks No. 23 and 31 making it likely they would have to trade up to select Lamar Jackson. Given Tom Brady's age and the Patriots' quarterback depth we believe it's likely the Patriots make a move up the board come draft day to select one of the top five quarterbacks.
Source: Jeremy Bergman on Twitter
Apr 25 - 1:33 PM
Agree 100%. He reminds me of RGIII, not Vick, and we saw how RGIII played out.Even though he weighed 215, I still think a lot of teams will worry about his spindly frame / legs. We've seen that this body type has not held up well in the NFL.
According to NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, the Patriots' interest in Louisville QB Lamar Jackson is "legit."
Jackson had two separate workouts with the Patriots this draft season, holding a private one in South Florida with OC Josh McDaniels and then visiting the organization on a top-30 visit in Foxboro. The Patriots, holding pick Nos. 23 and 31 in the first round, probably aren't going to have the desired firepower to move up to the top 10 of the draft, so they could be eyeing second-tier passers like Jackson and Mason Rudolph in the second half of the first round. Still, New England would probably have to come up some to take Jackson.
Related: Patriots
Source: Ian Rapoport on Twitter
Apr 25 - 1:22 PM
Ravens traded up with the Eagles to select Louisville QB Lamar Jackson with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2018 NFL draft.
The Ravens gave up the No. 52 and No. 125 picks as well as a 2019 second-rounder to land their quarterback of the future. It's a fitting sendoff for GM Ozzie Newsome, who is stepping down after this year. Jackson (6’2/216) followed his Heisman-winning sophomore year with a prolific 2017, averaging 6.9 yards per carry with 18 rushing TDs and tacking nearly three percentage points onto his completion rate (56.2 to 59.1) despite having 8.6% of his passes dropped, most among this year’s top QB prospects. Jackson’s ball location is inconsistent, but he offers highlight-reel playmaking ability as a runner and plus-armed passer with underrated pocket management and a pro-style background in Bobby Petrino’s offense. As a game-breaking dual threat, Jackson will need a commitment from his coaching staff to build its offense around him rather than change Jackson’s game to fit "their scheme." This is the first time since 1999 that five quarterbacks have gone in the first round.
Related: Eagles
Apr 26 - 11:37 PM
Good morning, Baltimore: The Baltimore Ravens just philosophically and schematically committed to a new offense. I don't know how long Joe Flacco is going to be involved or not, but the fact that the Ravens traded up to draftLamar Jackson and they have Robert Griffin IIImeans they're going in a different direction. It's a completely different type of football and that whole building has to embrace it.
Ravens coach John Harbaugh defended first-round QB Lamar Jackson's accuracy.
"The thing I was impressed with is I thought he was accurate," Harbaugh told reporters at rookie camp. "That’s something I think people were questioning. To see him out here throwing naturally I thought was a big plus." Jackson fell to the last pick of the first round over accuracy concerns. The Ravens have liked what they've seen from him in the early offseason stages. Jackson will develop behind Joe Flacco this year, but may see time in run packages.
Source: ESPN
May 5 - 4:17 PM
What does this tell us?Joe Flaccos contract
Flaccos base salary rises by $6.5 million in 2019 when he will be 34 years old. His total cap hit in 2019 would be $26 million which is close to what Garoppolo will be making or Kirk Cousins and more than Matt Ryan will in 2019 for recent big QB contracts to compare it to.
Well if you start adding it all up Flacco's days are numbered. His pay does not match his performance and the Ravens are moving in another direction. They can save a lot of money by moving on with a QB on a rookie contract which will allow them to spend more in other ways in the meantime.What does this tell us?
Heading into the draft, few prospects were more divisive than Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson. ESPN analyst and Hall of Fame general manager Bill Polian famously opined that he would be better off switching to receiver in the NFL even though he had never taken a snap at the position.
Jackson, who threw for 9,043 yards and 69 touchdowns to 27 interceptions in college, ran a complicated scheme for Bobby Petrino—a strain of the Erhardt-Perkins offense that the Patriots prefer. Despite that, some NFL evaluators questioned his upside at quarterback, which brought to mind many of the old dog whistles we've heard about other black signal-caller prospects in the past.
Jackson had to wait until the end of the first round before the Baltimore Ravens took him with the 32nd overall pick. As was the case for Arizona's Josh Rosen, the frustrating delay may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for Jackson.
"Ten or 15 years ago, there was Michael Vick and everybody else," said Ravens assistant general manager Eric DeCosta, who will take over the top spot from Ozzie Newsome in 2019, per the team's official site. "But there's really been a proliferation of these types of quarterbacks over the last five or 10 years. The game has changed, offenses have changed, the way offenses attack you has changed."
Several members of Baltimore's coaching staff also have experience working with more mobile quarterbacks and integrating their skills into traditional passing concepts. Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterbacks coach James Urban were on the Eagles' staff in the early 2010s when Vick learned how to use his athleticism in a West Coast offense. Assistant head coach Greg Roman was in charge of taking Colin Kaepernick's attributes and working them into a power-running offense with advanced route concepts.
Jackson has already proved he has the potential to follow in the footsteps of Vick and Kaepernick. With everyone in the building believing in him and a coaching staff well-versed in the development of players like him, Jackson would be hard-pressed to find a better NFL home.
which brought to mind many of the old dog whistles we've heard about other black signal-caller prospects in the past.
How come Polian didn’t suggest Josh Allen should switch positions to Olympic javelin thrower, then?I think Jackson should go before the Bills get to pick, but if he does make it to them, I worry that they don't want to adjust their offense to a mobile QB. I am not even sure Jackson needs an offensive adjustment to be successful, but I see him typecast that way.
If only there were a fast, white, Heisman winning QB who switched to wide receiver or safety in the NFL. He'd probably have to be from Nebraska...How come Polian didn’t suggest Josh Allen should switch positions to Olympic javelin thrower, then?
Real short story, he will have 16 mill of dead cap next year, and a cap number of 26.5 mill.What does this tell us?
I don't know what you are asking or getting at.How come Polian didn’t suggest Josh Allen should switch positions to Olympic javelin thrower, then?
I think your view is also very simplistic. Waldman said Jackson was the best pocket passer in the draft.And there it is. Reverting to the social warrior and blaming racists because it’s easier than engaging in a serious debate.
If any qb was comically innaccurate at times, couldn’t read Ds, had horrendous mechanics and worse footwork, but was one-of-a-kind superb in the open field with the football in his hands, there would be some people thinking he might be able to make one hell of a career out of getting the ball in the open field. It wouldn’t matter if the guy was black, white, brown, orange, purple or polka dot.
Man, I so hate this kind of simple minded crap masquerading as enlightened football intelligence.
I think your view is also very simplistic. Waldman said Jackson was the best pocket passer in the draft.
I think your view is also very simplistic. Waldman said Jackson was the best pocket passer in the draft.
That might be, I’m not NFL evaluator and Waldman certainly gets plenty wrong. I just don’t think it’s so open and shut that LJ isn’t NFL ready. He definitely ran one of the more NFL equivalent offenses.And he is wrong IMO.
That might be, I’m not NFL evaluator and Waldman certainly gets plenty wrong. I just don’t think it’s so open and shut that LJ isn’t NFL ready. He definitely ran one of the more NFL equivalent offenses.
(Go to the link to see diagrams of the above plays and the link below has circle charts showing ball placement accuracy.)...According to Chris B. Brown, author of “The Art of Smart Football,” the Ravens’ playbook will also cater to Jackson’s strengths, making use of concepts like the inverted veer, zone read triple and “bash” QB counter trey.
It appears as though Jackson will have a year or two to learn these advanced schemes before he becomes Baltimore’s starting quarterback. Ravens coach John Harbaugh insisted Joe Flacco remains their starter and dismissed any notion of Jackson taking over any time soon.
Here at Sports Info Solutions, we track the direction and throw depth of every throw made at the FBS level, as well whether the ball was catchable or not. A huge conversation this draft season has been about the top five quarterback prospects and how well their true accuracy was represented by their Completion Percentage. Our On-Target Percentage statistic (simply catchable throws divided by all throws) captures a player’s ball placement ability much better than Completion Percentage, as it isolates a quarterback’s accuracy from his target’s ability to catch the ball.
On that note, we have visualized each of the top five quarterback prospects’ accuracy and Target Share (percent of total attempts) by location of their throw. The size of the circle represents the Target Share, the color represents their On-Target Percentage relative to FBS average for that location (red = bad, yellow = average, green = good), and the number in the circle is their observed On-Target Percentage. We’ve included both 2016 and 2017 for these players to increase their sample sizes.
Lamar Jackson
In summary: Threw short the most, deep middle sweet spot.
Jackson did have the highest percentage of throws to the short area (46%), but he had the second fewest percentage of throws behind the LOS (13%) and lowest in the intermediate area (23%).
Jackson really loved the Deep Middle—his Target Share in this area (6%) was highest of any prospects in any deep section, and his On-Target Percentage was elite (8% above FBS Average) on a big sample. However, his two most accurate areas compared to FBS average were interestingly both to the left and outside the numbers—specifically the Short Left Outside (+13%) and Intermediate Left Outside (+12%)
Couch ran the ball more than he threw the ball. 648 rushing attempts for his career vs 606 passing attempts.If only there were a fast, white, Heisman winning QB who switched to wide receiver or safety in the NFL. He'd probably have to be from Nebraska...
That's unpossible...
Wasn't Nebaska still running the option offense with Crouch? His senior year, Crouch threw for 1500 yards, 7 TDs and 10 Ints. It's a major stretch to compare that to Jackson and his 3600 yards 27 TDs and 10 Ints. Crouch was also les accurate with a lower YPA.Couch ran the ball more than he threw the ball. 648 rushing attempts for his career vs 606 passing attempts.
Jackson threw the ball much more than he ran 655 rushing attempts vs 1086 passing attempts.
I'm as big a Lamar Jackson fan as anyone. I just get tired of the race issue for both the "black QBs will never succeed" as much as "you don't think this black will succeed therefore you're racist!" ####.Couch ran the ball more than he threw the ball. 648 rushing attempts for his career vs 606 passing attempts.
Jackson threw the ball much more than he ran 655 rushing attempts vs 1086 passing attempts.
The way I look at it, all these QBs can bust, or have some level of success as passers. Maybe Andy Dalton level, maybe Mat Ryan level, maybe Drew Brees level.Lamar Jackson doesn’t work through progressions: False
Jackson has no problem sitting in the pocket and surveying the field. In fact, he had the second-highest percentage of passes in which he got to a second/third read in the class, and he had the fourth-highest accuracy percentage among the 10 quarterbacks with advanced charting. That’s a huge upgrade from his overall accuracy that ranked 10th, showing that working through multiple reads and throwing accurately is the least of Jackson’s problems.
Jackson just runs around and scrambles: False
Let’s start with the rushing yards. Jackson’s gaudy rushing totals stemmed mostly from his ability in the designed running game, they weren’t the result of broken pass plays. He gained 73 percent of his career rushing yards on designed run plays, while only 27 percent came on scrambles. Last season, 22.4 percent of Jackson passing attempts came outside the pocket, a number that ranked only 15th in the draft class. He’s looking to pass first, and run second, but when he did break the pocket, he posted the second-highest PFF grade in the draft class. Jackson’s athleticism is a legitimate weapon at the next level, but the idea that he’s merely a runner who might pass the ball is simply false.
Exerpt.
Weddle doesn't seem to know that Louisville runs a pro style offense, more specifically a Coryell offense."But he's got a long way to go. He's a rookie," Weddle said. "It's hard to make that transition, especially for quarterbacks that come from those crazy offenses that they're doing nowadays. But [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] is doing a great job implementing a lot of the stuff he did, along with Joe [Flacco].