Among the top-tier talent at the quarterback position in this year's draft, former Louisville star Lamar Jackson typically gets left out of the conversation. However, Jackson's stock has steadily continued to climb over the last few months.
In fact, he has received consideration and attention from several teams that are positioned near the middle of the first round of the draft. According to Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated, the Tennessee Titans are among the teams that have met with Jackson during this pre-draft process.
Speaking of Jackson, the Titans met with him privately just after his pro day at Louisville, and before he met with the Chargers that afternoon. My sense is that Tennessee was doing its due diligence. But with Blaine Gabbert as the primary backup, Tennessee certainly could be looking another option behind Marcus Mariota in the draft, and getting that one right (maybe it’s a middle-round pick) is important given Mariota’s history of getting banged up.
The Titans decision to meet with Jackson is quite intriguing given that Marcus Mariota is widely viewed as being their long-term starter. Although he showed some regression this past season, the organization has been quite confident that he can bounce back in a major way this year to prove he is a rising star at his position that can lead the franchise to much success on the field in the process.
Meanwhile, this underlines that Jackson has garnered enough attention that should make him a first-round pick in this year's draft. The top four projected quarterbacks in this year's draft are all expected to go within the first several picks, which could lead to him being the best available talent at his position through the middle-to-late portion of the opening round.
Jackson does have some questions about his ability to throw the ball, but he has proven he can heavily impact a game with both his arm and legs as a dual-threat quarterback. He became the first player notch at least 3,500 passing yards and 1,500 rushing yards in back-to-back seasons while earning a Heisman Trophy in the process. Jackson also set the Louisville record for total offense (13,175 yards), rushing yards (4,132), rushing touchdowns (50) and total touchdowns (119).
If anything, it is becoming quite clear that Jackson will have his shot to play the position at the next level with an NFL team.
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