What will it take for Lamar Jackson to take his game to the next level? If it were up to Baltimore Ravens head coach John Harbaugh, the key for Jackson will be the ability to throw the ball deep down the field, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN. 

“Those corners are going to be one-on-one and those safeties are going to be one-on-one against receivers, especially on some downfield throws,” said Harbaugh. “We got to make [the defense] pay for it. We absolutely have to make them pay.” 

Jackson torched defenses last season with his league-leading 36 touchdown passes and setting the NFL record for total rushing yards by a quarterback with 1,206. At just 22 years of age, Jackson became only the second unanimous MVP and the youngest quarterback ever to bag the prestigious honor.

The one knock on Jackson’s game is his inability to go deep when it comes to his passing. As per Hensley, the Ravens superstar came in 27th in the league in completions (35) and 22nd in completion rate (43.8%) on passes thrown for 15 yards or more.  He went 6-for-17 (35.3%) on such situations in last year’s divisional-round defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans.

Harbaugh expects that this will be the year Jackson elevates his offensive arsenal. 

“The ability to make them pay for tilting their defense toward stopping our run game with a really, really efficient passing game. I do believe that's the next step of this offense. I really do believe Lamar is going to take the next step.”