The Baltimore Ravens selected Lamar Jackson with the final pick of the first-round back in 2018.
In his rookie year, Jackson started as an understudy to Joe Flacco. However, he didn't stay in that role for too long. Before long, he had taken over as the starter.
Jackson had plenty of positives and negatives in that rookie year. It was valuable experience though. And by the time 2019 rolled around, he was clearly ready for a starring role. The quarterback went on to have an MVP season in 2019, literally. He won the MVP, posting ridiculous numbers.
Jackson completed 66.1% of his passes for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns, compared to just six interceptions. He also ran for 1,206 more yards, and had seven more touchdowns.
Now, you could say that season proves there isn't much for Jackson to work on. At the same time though, you could argue that he's still just two years into his NFL career. And that there are still some pretty glaring flaws in his game.
With that being said, what should Lamar Jackson focus on this offseason?
The quarterback does a lot of things right. That's partially why his stats were so good. However, you could also argue that luck was involved a little. Yes, luck comes with the territory. Everyone has good and bad luck
Just look at the playoff game against the Tennessee Titans. Jackson had bad luck when his receiver dropped a good pass, and it was tipped up and intercepted. That should have been a completion, and instead it was an interception and it makes Jackson look bad.
That can happen in reverse to. And Jackson got lucky quite a few times. I'm not talking about dropped picks either. Every quarterback gets a dozen of those a season. I'm talking about the bad decisions. And that's what Jackson needs to work on this offseason, his decision making.
Countless times Jackson did not make the “smart” play. It kept working though, so you can't really blame him.
He really threw way too many passes off his back foot, across the entire field, or into too much traffic. As I said, it kept working. But watching him throw a lollipop off his back foot, basically doing a 360 to throw it to the opposite side of the field isn't pretty. It would work and you'd think to yourself “he only has a limited supply of those”.
Not because he isn't uber talented, because he is. But because those just aren't throws that will work often. It's not like he's threading the needle. He tossed a few 50-50 balls and they always seemed to go his way.
If he wants to continue dominating, and he absolutely can, than he has to cut back on things like that. That goes for running too. Jackson is an elite runner. It's part of what makes him so good. He needs to sometimes not worry too much about those extra three yards though. A lot of quarterbacks (including his own backup in Robert Griffin III) would likely tell him, it's not worth it in the long run.
Slide. Slide and avoid the hits. He doesn't have to always do it, but there are some situations where it just makes sense.
Lamar Jackson is a superstar. But he's still just 23 with very limited playing experience. He needs to focus on improving his decision making. Once that's done, there won't be much that can stop the quarterback.
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