Baltimore Ravens: Lamar Jackson’s debut a mixed bag
The Baltimore Ravens won the Hall of Fame game against the Chicago Bears, and all eyes were on rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson. How did he do?
The Baltimore Ravens and Chicago Bears faced off in the 2018 Hall of Fame game in Canton, OH but all eyes in this one were on Lamar Jackson for his NFL debut.
Though fans were treated to some ‘vintage’ Jackson, his overall performance was a mixed bag with a little bit of good, a little bit of bad, and mostly average work.
How did he look in his preseason debut?
— NFL (@NFL) August 3, 2018
EVERY @Lj_era8 touch from the @ProFootballHOF Game! #CHIvsBAL https://t.co/gwonayl8wd
Jackson shows off his athleticism on one play in particular where he avoids the pass rush, steps up a bit in the pocket, and quickly jumps to the outside and runs for a big gain.
There wasn’t anything overly spectacular in Jackson’s work but he did make some nice throws, including a touchdown pass to fellow first-round pick Hayden Hurst, who is likely going to see more playing time as a rookie than Jackson is.
Prior to the touchdown throw to Hurst, however, Jackson nearly gets him killed over the middle of the field with a throw into double coverage.
Thankfully, Hurst was okay.
Jackson needs to read the safety bearing down in coverage and dump that ball off.
Later in the game, Jackson makes a bad read on a throw to the sideline and throws an interception. He also has a pass batted down at the line of scrimmage.
Not to bag on Jackson, but I also never noticed in his years at Louisville how consistently he throws a wobbly ball. Watching every game of his this past season, perhaps I was just more focused on the fact that the ball typically got from A to B or that Louisville was simply putting up so many points it didn’t matter.
Since he threw at the 2018 Scouting Combine, however, it has looked like Jackson struggles to throw a spiral, not even on a consistent basis but just in general.
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This was Jackson’s first game — an early preseason game at that — in a new system with new teammates and everything moving at a brand new speed. I’m not going to make any determinations off of this one game and no one else should, either.
Jackson is an exciting playmaker and deserves patience with his development.