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2018 NFL Draft: Lamar Jackson leads QB stock up, stock down

By Sayre Bedinger

LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 23: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals looks on against the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY - SEPTEMBER 23: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals looks on against the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Papa John's Cardinal Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /
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2018 NFL Draft: The 2018 NFL Draft is going to be full of intrigue at the quarterback position. Lamar Jackson leads our stock up, stock down for week 4…

LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 23: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals looks on against the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KY – SEPTEMBER 23: Lamar Jackson #8 of the Louisville Cardinals looks on against the Kent State Golden Flashes during the first half at Papa John’s Cardinal Stadium on September 23, 2017 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images) /

The 2017 college football season is in full swing, and that means 2018 NFL Draft preparations are also. Louisville quarterback Lamar Jackson is a player who has generated a wide range of opinions about his ability to translate to the next level, most of them already wrong.

This season, we’ve been taking a close look at the potential quarterback class of 2018, which has the chance to be an all-time great.

There’s no such thing as a guarantee moving on to the NFL, but these guys have great traits and look like the real deal.

In this piece we’ll take a look at a number of quarterbacks across the country that have starting potential at the next level, looking first at Lamar Jackson of Louisville.

Lamar Jackson continues to improve his 2018 NFL Draft stock, in my opinion. After a dud week last week against Clemson, he came out and was very solid against an inferior opponent in Kent State.

Yes, it’s just Kent State, so we’re not going off the rails here, but Jackson looks like a player who doesn’t just take off at the sign of his first read being covered anymore. He’s patient, waits for routes to develop, and moves out of the pocket to get time to throw when he needs to.

We talk about this every week, but it’s important to continue to hammer home — Jackson has elite athleticism, and a very strong arm. He also has the type of competitive drive that will endear him to an NFL coaching staff. I don’t think he’s as seasoned or clean of a prospect coming out, but he shouldn’t have a lower ceiling at the next level than Marcus Mariota.

The issue with Jackson is his floor, which unfortunately is pretty low. You would hate to see him be another guy who gets injured a lot because of his running style. He really turns into a running back when he takes off, and he is not afraid to lower his shoulder into defenders.

That’s a bit scary.

Overall, this week’s performance was a solid one from Jackson, and we saw him make it look pretty easy against Kent State, who got him to move out of the pocket a few times.

Stock: STEADY

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