ACTION JACKSON PROVING TO BE A TOP-END PIVOT
Fleet-footed Raven has a big leg up on fellow QB drafted ahead of him in 2018
In March of 2018, the NFL’s quarterback prospects took turns speaking to reporters at the predraft scouting combine.
Baker Mayfield went out of his way to state with all arrogant seriousness: “I’m going to be the best to ever play.”
And on and on Mayfield went, about why the Cleveland Browns should select him No. 1 overall eight weeks later in the NFL draft.
“First things first, I’d be a winner,” a furrowed-browed, serious-faced Mayfield said. “I think if anybody can turn that franchise around it’d be me. … They just need the one guy at quarterback to make the difference. … The energy I bring, the passion I bring, it’s infectious … I can handle the spotlight. I’d be just fine.”
Within minutes, Lamar Jackson spoke. He spent most of his time having to defend his right just to stand there among other quarterbacks. That’s because some media folk and former
NFL talent evaluators claimed Jackson ought to switch to wide receiver to play in the league, because his passing skills weren’t good enough.
“No teams have asked me to be a wide receiver. I don’t even know where that’s coming from,” a defiant but smiling, ever upbeat Jackson said. “I’m strictly a quarterback, yes sir.”
He sure as hell is.
As it happened, Cleveland did select Mayfield in last year’s draft, at the very top of the first round, while Jackson was picked at the very bottom of the first round by the Baltimore Ravens.
Boy, has that pancake flipped. Maybe only briefly: recall that Robert Griffin III was the 2012 rookie of the year and his rookie backup Kirk Cousins barely saw the field.
And full disclosure, I did not think Jackson could become this good ever, especially this quickly, after watching him throw so errantly at training camp practices the last two years.
But full credit to the young man.
Another contrast as stark as that one at the combine 20 months ago was on display Sunday between Mayfield and Jackson.
Mayfield got pounded and confused a lot by Denver’s tough defence in a 24-19 loss that dropped the Browns’ record to 2-6. The 24-year-old was far from horrible, but neither was he within telescope distance of “best ever.” Cleveland’s drives in the first three quarters ended as follows: punt, punt, field goal, field goal, field goal, field goal, punt and on downs.
Few underachieving NFL teams have appeared as frustrated as these Browns at a season’s midway point.
An hour after that game ended, in prime time, Jackson once again played like a hammer, this time smashing up the best NFL defence we have seen in several years, that of the previously undefeated New England Patriots headed up by coach Bill Belichick. It was a 37-20 victory for the Ravens that raised their AFC North-leading record to 6-2.
It’s the win of the year in the NFL this season and comes just seven days after Mayfield appeared completely flummoxed by the same Patriots defence.
Jackson ran for 61 yards and two touchdowns and completed 74 per cent of his passes for 163 yards and another TD. Excepting end-of-half possessions, four of eight clock-chewing Ravens drives on the night ended in touchdowns, and a fifth ended with a field goal. Jackson was the pivotal playmaker on all of them.
“I don’t see him as young,” Ravens head coach John Harbaugh said of the 22-year-old. “He’s wise beyond his years in a lot of ways. He gets it. Here’s a guy that, I’ve said it many times, he has a very high football IQ … He has an amazing ability to take a lot of factors, a lot of things — play clock, play call, personnel, formation, defence that presents, whatever changes that have to be made.
“Lamar does it his way, but Lamar does it as well as anybody. He did a great job tonight and the whole world saw it.”
Baltimore entered Monday ranked No. 2 in total offence,
No. 1 in rushing offence, No. 1 in first downs per game and, most importantly, No. 1 in scoring offence.
Jackson does not rank in the top 10 in any bellwether pass barometer. But his 13th-best pass efficiency mark of 95.4, coupled with being the league’s No. 10 rusher (637 yards, an NFL season record for QBs after eight games) and leading ground gainer by average rush (6.4 yards), makes him so dang hard to defend, even for the best NFL defences and defenders.
Ravens safety Earl Thomas — the former Seattle Seahawks star who picked off Patriots QB Tom Brady — gave it up for Jackson time and again at his post-game news conference.
“The man is the (league) MVP,” he said. “I’m right behind him. I’m backing him. … We’re getting better every week. It starts with Lamar. … We just try to give the ball back to (the offence) and create more stops and let the MVP do his thing.”
ONCE AGAIN, CLEVELAND DOES NOT ROCK
Another Cleveland catastrophe? Sure looks like it.
The NFL Retake by the Lake and its Ever Weary by Lake Erie fans are losing their minds after the Browns fell to 2-6 on Sunday against a Denver team that had only two wins and was starting a QB, Brandon Allen, making his NFL playing debut.
If the Browns weren’t the most underachieving team relative to talent before Sunday’s loss, they sure must be considered that now.
Frustrations are boiling over, on the field and off.
Hours after the game, safety Jermaine Whitehead snapped. On Twitter he actually threatened people. The Browns called Whitehead’s tweets “unacceptable” before waiving him later Monday morning.
“We don’t condone that type of behaviour or talk, or anything like that,” embattled first-year Cleveland head coach Freddie Kitchens said Monday afternoon at his news conference.
Kitchens took question after question about his offensive scheming and the lack of reliable results week after week from Mayfield and the rest of the allstar assemblage of top-flight NFL playmakers, including barely impactful superstar receiver Odell Beckham Jr.
Over and over, Kitchens blamed offensive woes on player execution.
“That’s on a player-by-player basis,” he said.
What a mess. JoKryk@postmedia.com
Twitter: @JohnKryk