Baltimore Ravens tale of two QBs: Lamar Jackson and Robert Griffin III

We know RG3 never panned out as the face of the franchise, but can his Baltimore Ravens teammate, Lamar Jackson, continue to defy his rushing tendencies with an attack through the air?

The trend of the mobile or scrambling quarterback first came to the modern NFL with the rise of Eagles quarterback Randall Cunningham. His ability to threaten the run on any play gave defenses fits and made them adjust entire defensive schemes to account for this dimension of the offense.

Michael Vick was the second historically significant contributor to this archetype at the position, becoming one of the most electric players in NFL history and inspiring many young players to take after him.

The most recent wave of mobility in the backfield has come in the early 2010s, with the likes of Colin Kaepernick, Russell Wilson, Robert Griffin III and many others.

Any quarterback coming into the league now with non-elite arm talent needs this versatility to survive, even if the focus isn’t on rushing but instead on extending the play and forcing coverage to keep in position for an additional 2-4 seconds.

Some quarterbacks who come into the league now though have taken this trend too far, being hyper-focused on carrying the ball, and must continue to develop their arm talent and pocket awareness in order to stay within the NFL food chain. Two quarterbacks who have become the textbooks examples of running quarterbacks are now teammates on the Baltimore Ravens, being Lamar Jackson and Robert Griffin III.

I would like to clarify, there are four types of quarterback mobility:

• Pocket QB: stays in and around the pocket and maneuvers with strong footwork to avoid pressure, do not typically gain yards rushing and rarely roll out (ex: Tom Brady).
• Mobile QB: able to roll out of the pocket and extend the play behind the line of scrimmage, still looking to throw the ball rather than run it (ex: Aaron Rodgers).
• Scrambling QB: able to do all of the same things as a mobile QB, but is more willing to gain yards on the ground, and can turn a coverage sack into a rushing first down. This is the most equal balance of running and passing (ex: Russell Wilson).
• Running QB: large focus on running the football, either through scrambling or designed run plays. Passing is typically short, safe route concepts with designed picks or blocking to create yards after the catch (ex: Lamar Jackson & RG3).

Both current Baltimore Ravens quarterbacks are freakishly similar in the way they played their rookie years, with a heavy focus on the running attack and just enough passing talent to make plays through the air. Neither player had the arms strength of a Matthew Stafford, or the pinpoint accuracy of a Drew Brees, but they still possessed enough arm talent to make plays when the ground wasn’t an option.

The significant difference between these players though is their improvement from year one to year two. I understand that Griffin had his share of injury issues, at no fault of his own, but after his comeback, there was still an opportunity to grow as a passer. Lamar Jackson has shown exactly how a running quarterback should develop, becoming a pocket focused passer while still presenting the ability to run as he did in his rookie campaign.

Talking about the mechanics and technique of these two quarterbacks, I will only be comparing Lamar Jackson’s Week 1 performance against the Dolphins (as well as preseason tape) to Griffin’s second-year tape, as their rookie seasons were both with little to no development as passers.