QB SCOUTING REPORTS - qb5 Lamar jackson, louisville

Undeniably one of the most explosive and impressive athletes to ever enter the NFL Draft at the quarterback position, Lamar Jackson’s remarkable college production landed him ACC Player of the Year honors the last two seasons and the 2016 Heisman Trophy. Despite his over 9,000 yards passing and 4,000 yards rushing in three seasons at Louisville, serious doubts exist about his pro potential leading several teams to request that Jackson work out with the wide receivers at the combine. He shut down those requests and he should have. Lamar Jackson is absolutely a quarterback prospect and very promising one at that.

PROS

Tremendous athleticism. Explosive running threat who is also spectacularly agile in the pocket and skilled at avoiding the rush. His outrageous flexibility allows him to make incredible play-extending maneuvers every game. Huge arm with enough whip to create high velocity, tight spiral throws. Makes some of the most difficult throws on the field with ease. Attacks the middle of the field in the short/intermediate passing game very well. Extremely comfortable and adept at throwing the slant route. Good height and length. Quiet feet in the pocket and good overall pocket feel. Demonstrated steady improvement as a passer over his three years as a starter, building his season completion percentages up from 54.7 to 56.1 to 59.1%. Grew into a plus deep ball passer. Does not look to flee the pocket early and scramble nearly as much as one might expect from such a talented runner. Was astonishingly durable in college considering his ludicrous 655 career rushing attempts and physical running style. Was asked to make many downfield, pro-style multi-progression passing reads in the Louisville offense.

CONS

Simply not an accurate passer. Sails throws, under-throws balls and struggles with ball placement even to wide open targets. Needs to hone his timing, rhythm and mechanics to improve accuracy. Throwing stance is narrow. Too often panics and opts for unbalanced desperation throws when pressured. Struggles with touch throws. Was reliant on his running ability to convert key downs in his college career. Takes too many risks with the football and too often tries to squeeze throws into ill-advised windows. Perilously holds the ball out away from his body when avoiding the pass rush. Running style will have to adapt significantly for the pros, he cannot continue to finish runs in such a punishing manner if he wishes to remain healthy in the NFL. Can be over-reliant on his go-to slant pattern and abandon his progressions to stare down a preferred target. Took the vast majority of his college snaps out of the shotgun and will need significant work on his dropback footwork moving forward. Rumors of maturity concerns seemed like background noise until his notoriously bizarre pre-draft process in which he neglected to hire an agent, refused to run a 40 yard dash and put on two erratic and lackluster throwing displays at the combine and his pro day.

VERDICT

Jackson is a bigger, more physical and vastly more accomplished version of Michael Vick who may be the most athletically talented QB prospect in the league’s history. Vick, of course, went #1 overall in 2001. So why no top-of-draft hype for Jackson this time around? I think it boils down to two things NFL executives have learned about QBs of this style since the 2001 draft: they don’t have long term durability and they don’t win Super Bowls. Building around a player like this is a high risk proposition that will require a lot of patience and a carefully crafted offensive scheme built around his strengths. However, the overall upside and once-in-a-generation athleticism make Jackson far too tantalizing to realistically escape the first round.

PROSPECT COMP

Michael Vick

GRADE

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