Intrigue surrounds Lamar Jackson
Let’s flip this Lamar Jackson script to better grasp the potential.
For all of the reality-check projections of how the former Louisville quarterback will inspire his next team to create a specially designed offense that features his blazing speed as a complement to the rocket arm, Jackson is a nightmare waiting to happen for NFL defensive coordinators. Where’s the extra defender?
“If everybody does their job, some- body still has to tackle him,” a veteran NFL defensive coach, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told USA TODAY as he pondered Jackson’s draft stock. The coach did not want to be identified because he is not authorized to speak about draft prospects.
“Say that you have a fast defensive end who runs a 4.8 (in the 40-yard dash) in position to contain him. Well, Jackson runs a 4.3. Now what?
“In the NFL, it’s usually a safety … but that just opens up the middle of the field.”
Therein lies a practical scenario that
leads me to think that despite the four quarterbacks widely touted as top-10 picks — Sam Darnold, Josh Allen, Josh Rosen and Baker Mayfield — Jackson looms as the most intriguing player in the entire NFL draft.
Sure, in a passing league where people still slobber over traditional dropback throwers and where we’ve already witnessed various versions of the “mobile quarterback,” the team that selects Jackson will have to go all-in to employ another degree of out-the-box thinking. Kind of like Houston coach Bill O’Brien did last year in overhauling his offense on the fly around Deshaun Watson. Jackson fuels hope that he, too, will be a torchbearer for another new wave of prolific playmakers because he can sling it while he happens to be the fastest player on the field.
“He’s a dynamic playmaker,” Cincinnati coach Marvin Lewis, with his rich defensive background, told USA TODAY. “You can’t discount that.”
Lewis knows. In Week 2 last year, his Bengals were victimized in Watson’s breakout game, which included a 49yard touchdown run on a busted play as he sparked an upset in his first NFL start.
Jackson, with a Heisman Trophy on his résumé, is faster than Watson. Like Michael Vick fast. Although Hall of Fame GM Bill Polian ignited debate in February with the absurd assertion that Jackson would be better served by switching to receiver (to which Jackson seemingly responded by refusing to run the 40-yard dash at the scouting combine or Louisville’s pro day), it has been striking during the pre-draft process to note the teams showing interest.
Lewis, with the 21st pick in the first round, said the Bengals have invested a lot of time on Jackson, who is roughly the same size (6-2 1⁄2, 216) as Cincinnati quarterback Andy Dalton. Baltimore, Jacksonville and New Orleans — which all could conceivably groom long-term options to succeed Joe Flacco, Blake Bortles and the great Drew Brees, respectively — have talked up Jackson.
Of course, this is the time of year for smokescreens. But you never know.
Word also leaked that New England and crafty Bill Belichick had Jackson in Foxborough, Mass., as one of the 30 visits teams can conduct with out-of-town draft prospects … which prompted a thumb’s up on Instagram from Tom Brady, who concluded, “He’s a beast!”
Bucky Brooks, a scout-turned-expert analyst for NFL Media, thinks the interest from Belichick (who once took a flyer on Tim Tebow) is legit. Noted Brooks: “I believe after watching Deshaun Watson tear up his defense, he said, ‘I want a player like Lamar Jackson.’ ”
Watson, by the way, produced his first NFL 300-yard passing game, plus 41 rushing yards, during a near-upset in Foxborough in Week 3.
“One of the things that I think we as coaches, we all understand this: There’s not going to be another Drew Brees clone that we draft,” said Saints coach Sean Payton, with the 27th pick in the first round. “With Lamar, you feel it in the room. You can tell that he can lead. So if he’s your quarterback, you start looking closely at the things he did well at Louisville and you build that way.”
Scrutiny of Jackson includes questions about his 59.1% completion rate last season and his mechanics as a passer. Yet that came with a depleted receiving corps and many dropped passes. He has drawn praise from draft experts for his decision-making, ability to throw on the run and deep passes. Then there’s that threat to run.
It’s fair to wonder about the risk of running too much, even as the use of RPOs (run-pass options) gains steam in the NFL, as exemplified by Super Bowl champion Philadelphia with Carson Wentz and Nick Foles and the way Kansas City coach Andy Reid deployed since-departed Alex Smith.
Watson’s phenomenal rookie year was cut short by injury, and Robert Griffin III’s NFL career has been marked by injury setbacks, among other factors. Those cases might scare teams inclined to build with a drop-back passer. But Cam Newton and Russell Wilson have thrived.
Jackson’s success could hinge on how much and in what situations he runs. According to The Undefeated, 73% of his runs at Louisville were designed, a rate that won’t cut it in the NFL. Improvisational speed is the ticket.
“I don’t think I’d design runs for him,” former Arizona coach Bruce Arians told The Arizona Republic. “I would just let him, ala Russell Wilson, take what’s there and whoosh, take off running.”