The Real Lamar Jackson Thread

[Shoreline Steamers]

In terms of real football, I don't like the idea of him starting this week. He hasn't looked ready at all, and would benefit from using the year to acclimate to NFL speed/complexity. Honestly, I think his strange usage this season has hurt the Ravens' offense.

Agreed.

When he comes in, Flacco splits out as a WR who the defense doesn't even worry about covering. And from the plays I've watched like that Flacco sort of halfway jogs a few steps like he "might" run a route. Of course he doesn't. And his body language tells you all you need to know about how he views this "wrinkle" in the offense.

It's not effective, and it's like playing 10 versus 11. Play Jackson, or sit Jackson. These occasional Wildcat snaps are doing very little for the team in terms of moving the ball.

[Pullo Vision]

In terms of real football, I don't like the idea of him starting this week. He hasn't looked ready at all, and would benefit from using the year to acclimate to NFL speed/complexity. Honestly, I think his strange usage this season has hurt the Ravens' offense.

Agreed.

When he comes in, Flacco splits out as a WR who the defense doesn't even worry about covering. And from the plays I've watched like that Flacco sort of halfway jogs a few steps like he "might" run a route. Of course he doesn't. And his body language tells you all you need to know about how he views this "wrinkle" in the offense.

It's not effective, and it's like playing 10 versus 11. Play Jackson, or sit Jackson. These occasional Wildcat snaps are doing very little for the team in terms of moving the ball.

I haven't seen a single time he got out of his stance and get off the line. Ppl talk about WRs having a poor attitude when they know the ball isn't going to them. It applies to QBs, too.

[Blueboy]

In terms of real football, I don't like the idea of him starting this week. He hasn't looked ready at all, and would benefit from using the year to acclimate to NFL speed/complexity. Honestly, I think his strange usage this season has hurt the Ravens' offense.

Agreed.

When he comes in, Flacco splits out as a WR who the defense doesn't even worry about covering. And from the plays I've watched like that Flacco sort of halfway jogs a few steps like he "might" run a route. Of course he doesn't. And his body language tells you all you need to know about how he views this "wrinkle" in the offense.

It's not effective, and it's like playing 10 versus 11. Play Jackson, or sit Jackson. These occasional Wildcat snaps are doing very little for the team in terms of moving the ball.

I haven't seen a single time he got out of his stance and get off the line. Ppl talk about WRs having a poor attitude when they know the ball isn't going to them. It applies to QBs, too.

Last week Jackson got wide open in the endzone on a designed play, but Flacco never bothered to look that way. Maybe reading too much into it, but Flacco doesn't seem too keen on LJ's presence.

[mild]

... Sure, Darnold is 21 and the youngest to ever start. Allen has a terrible offense and what the hell are they doing with Rosen? But I think theres a clear path for Jackson to be the 2nd best rookie in this class.

On the age thing, it's worth pointing out that both Lamar and Rosen are both only 6 months older than Darnold - functionally, the whole "Darnold is so young and raw" narrative is kind of bunk, they're all super young and raw. Growing pains with these rooks will be inevitable.

I'm a big L-Jax fan and believer, I traded up in my draft just so I could grab him. I've been watching closely, and I'm definitely worried about his development so far as a passer. However... even Mike Vick was on record as saying LJ was "further ahead than I was coming out of college" in terms of passing. As a person who's rostering Mariota as my QB2 in a SF league, I can say that I'll be very tempted to start LJ over him if this goes ahead.

Think about it - if LJ gets 6-10 possessions in a game, there is just no way he won't pile up at least 10-20 yards per sustained drive on the ground. His ability to convert a 3rd-and-short is elite already. His weekly rushing floor will probably be around 80 yards - and that's if he doesn't break one, and I'd consider that the basement. If you can get a TD on top of that, either rushing or passing (and I think that's a fair expectation) then you're now eyeballing the 15-20 point range. That's a great floor in Superflex! And the upside if he DOES have a big game will be... tremendous.

I'm excited for him. With this running style he may spend a bit of time injured in his career. But I know he's tough as hell, and his teammates are already in awe of him, and I think they'll all want to play hard for him. It might be a bit ugly, but it's also going to be a lot of fun. /rant over

[Blueboy]

... Sure, Darnold is 21 and the youngest to ever start. Allen has a terrible offense and what the hell are they doing with Rosen? But I think theres a clear path for Jackson to be the 2nd best rookie in this class.

On the age thing, it's worth pointing out that both Lamar and Rosen are both only 6 months older than Darnold - functionally, the whole "Darnold is so young and raw" narrative is kind of bunk, they're all super young and raw. Growing pains with these rooks will be inevitable.

I'm a big L-Jax fan and believer, I traded up in my draft just so I could grab him. I've been watching closely, and I'm definitely worried about his development so far as a passer. However... even Mike Vick was on record as saying LJ was "further ahead than I was coming out of college" in terms of passing. As a person who's rostering Mariota as my QB2 in a SF league, I can say that I'll be very tempted to start LJ over him if this goes ahead.

Think about it - if LJ gets 6-10 possessions in a game, there is just no way he won't pile up at least 10-20 yards per sustained drive on the ground. His ability to convert a 3rd-and-short is elite already. His weekly rushing floor will probably be around 80 yards - and that's if he doesn't break one, and I'd consider that the basement. If you can get a TD on top of that, either rushing or passing (and I think that's a fair expectation) then you're now eyeballing the 15-20 point range. That's a great floor in Superflex! And the upside if he DOES have a big game will be... tremendous.

I'm excited for him. With this running style he may spend a bit of time injured in his career. But I know he's tough as hell, and his teammates are already in awe of him, and I think they'll all want to play hard for him. It might be a bit ugly, but it's also going to be a lot of fun. /rant over

I'm also high on him, but I think there's a lot of wishful thinking here. An 80 yard rushing floor would be crazy.

[mild]

I'm also high on him, but I think there's a lot of wishful thinking here. An 80 yard rushing floor would be crazy.

That's probably a fair call. How would you feel about 50, then? Is that fair enough?

I guess my point is, I feel like he's a lock for 10 points every week, even if he is nothing more than the "run at first sign of pressure" guy that we've been watching so far this season. A lot would have to go wrong for him to have a dud with his rushing ability. In Vick's rookie season he made a lot of his biggest highlight plays in garbage time, he was in no-way complete out of the box. His stat lines were still ridiculous, though.

Even if Lamar feels like a dangerous play, I feel like he's actually going to be quite a safe fantasy QB on the rushing ability alone. I definitely think we'll be ranking him in with the Alex Smiths and Marcus Mariota's of the world if he starts, and I'd personally take him over them just for the chance he breaks a play.

[Jigga94]

I think the rushing yardage floor is optimistic. 50 sounds about right as a good game though.

Also its inaccurate to say Jackson is a run at first sign of pressure guy... pretty much all of his snaps have been running the read option

[mild]

I think the rushing yardage floor is optimistic. 50 sounds about right as a good game though.

Also its inaccurate to say Jackson is a run at first sign of pressure guy... pretty much all of his snaps have been running the read option

I wasn't thinking of those. I was thinking specifically of the pre-season games, and the garbage time he got the other week. The TD pass in that garbage time was nice to see, from that point of view.

Coming out of the preseason, the prevailing message from the coaching staff was "you can't take that many hits". Running was his default choice in those games, but then the playbook would have been new at that point. I'm optimistic... but I do want him to succeed. I'm a fan!

[Shoreline Steamers]

Last week Jackson got wide open in the endzone on a designed play, but Flacco never bothered to look that way. Maybe reading too much into it, but Flacco doesn't seem too keen on LJ's presence.

I remember that play and though the same thing. Not donning the tinfoil hat just yet, but you wonder if Flacco would rather toss a TD to anyone but Jackson if possible. Human nature to be somewhat disagreeable with the individual angling for your job. Nobody enjoys training their replacement.

[thebeast]

I dont know enough about Jackson’s game to provide an opinion on his future. However, I think only rookie QBs who were drafted with the intent to start year one should start during their rookie year. If the plan was to let a rookie sit and learn then the franchise should try and stick to that. I would let RG3 play.

[OhCruelestRanter]

Last week Jackson got wide open in the endzone on a designed play, but Flacco never bothered to look that way. Maybe reading too much into it, but Flacco doesn't seem too keen on LJ's presence.

I remember that play and though the same thing. Not donning the tinfoil hat just yet, but you wonder if Flacco would rather toss a TD to anyone but Jackson if possible. Human nature to be somewhat disagreeable with the individual angling for your job. Nobody enjoys training their replacement.

Sure, but you'd think demonstrating that Jackson looks good at WR would be to Flacco's benefit, right?

[mild]

Sure, but you'd think demonstrating that Jackson looks good at WR would be to Flacco's benefit, right?

Flacco's been salty about LJ all year. It was no coincidence the Ravens came out hot out of the gates, Flacco was having one of his better starts to a season before this latest swoon.

During pre-season, reports were that he wasn't even talking to him, and "didn't want to mentor him". If you watch closely, you can see him smirking up a storm during Lamar's more shaky looking possessions in those preseason games. "I'm being replaced by THIS guy?" sort of thing. That's in contrast to all the other players (especially the younger guys) who played against him in college and are in awe of him.

And then of course, the joy of Flacco being split wide and not even moving after the snap. Yeah, I think he's made his thoughts on the matter plenty clear...

[Jigga94]

Haha no one wants to train their replacement. Wasnt Favre really salty about Rodgers?

[MontrealBen]

I just noticed that Jackson has somehow made it back to waivers. Dropping anyone from team 1 (JAdams, Gio, Crowder, Stills...) for him? I don't *need* him, with Cam and Brady as QBs (and this is a league where QBs carry zero trade value), but it feels irresponsible to not take a shot at a potential top 5 QB.

[Pullo Vision]

I just noticed that Jackson has somehow made it back to waivers. Dropping anyone from team 1 (JAdams, Gio, Crowder, Stills...) for him? I don't *need* him, with Cam and Brady as QBs (and this is a league where QBs carry zero trade value), but it feels irresponsible to not take a shot at a potential top 5 QB.

In a non PPR requiring 2 RB 2 WR with a flex, I'd put Crowder as the next drop.