One day you’re going to sit there and think to yourself, “how did anybody think this Lamar Jackson thing was going to work.” Over and over, people make the same mistakes and never learn from them. The Lamar Jackson ticking time bomb is in full effect.
It’s only a matter of time before Jackson crashes into oblivion. Vince Young, Tim Tebow, Colin Kaepernick, Robert Griffin III, and now Lamar Jackson; all flawed throwers of the football who had athletic traits to fool people for a while. After some time, the same result happens. Inaccurate throwers of the football always become exposed.
Jackson hasn’t just regressed from his MVP season. It’s like he fell off the face of the earth. Jackson has regressed in a year where defenses look terrible, and Baltimore entered the season with the most effortless strength of schedule in the league. The Ravens doesn’t leave the Eastern Time zone once. They also brought back the entire coaching staff.
You name it, Jackson is down drastically from his MVP year.
Jackson averaged 7.8 yards per pass in 2019. That number has dipped to 7.1 in 2020. It’s not a drastic change but there’s no denying the Ravens offense has been less explosive than a year ago.
Jackson completed 66.1% of his passes in 2019. He’s completing 60.5% in 2020. It’s also a number that will likely decline as the weather gets colder. Baltimore also faces some tough defenses coming up like the Colts, Patriots, Titans, and Steelers.
The mobile QB threw for an NFL-best 36 touchdown passes and threw for touchdowns on nine percent of his passes last season. This season he has thrown just 12 touchdown passes and is throwing touchdowns on 6.3 percent of his passes.
The Ravens quarterback threw interceptions on 1.5% of his attempts last season. Now he’s throwing interceptions on 2.1% of his passes this season. The playcalling is becoming predictable. There are only so many tricks you can dial up before you run out of plays.
Last year Jackson was sacked 23 times for 106 yards lost in 15 games last season. In 2020, Jackson has been sacked 19 times for 108 yards lost in just seven games. Jackson has now lost Marshall Yanda and Ronnie Stanley along the offensive line. Furthermore, he’s also getting blitzed a lot more and handling it poorly. Forcing Jackson to make quick decisions and tight-window throws have brought him back to earth.
The former first round pick from Louisville had a 113.3 passer rating and an 82.3 QBR last season. Those numbers have dipped to a 94.3 passer rating and 61.6 QBR this season. Look, it was only a matter of time before defenses started to figure this out. The more tape Jackson puts out, the worse he looks.
Jackson’s rushing is also down from 80.4 rushing yards and 6.9 yards per carry to 58.7 rushing yards and 6.2 yards per carry. He’s being blitzed more, and defenses are putting more high-level athletes on the field. Bring on more safeties and rangy linebackers. The rushing game has been less effective, and defenses are ready for it.
The Ravens have become the Lincoln Riley, Oklahoma Sooner, or David Klingler, Houston Cougars. They can beat up on the bad teams because of their defense, running game, and coaching staff. Are they beating the big boys? Never.
RG3 is currently the backup quarterback for the Ravens. The longer Jackson is in the league, the closer he’s going to look like him. The ticking time bomb is in full effect. Nobody knows when it’s going to blow up, but this thing gets worse before it ever gets better.
