The Lamar Jackson Narrative

I think anyone with a functional brain can come to the full conclusion that Lamar Jackson’s performance in the Ravens 17-3 loss to the Buffalo Bills was certainly not his finest hour. Even I agree would with that. I also believe anyone with a functional brain can agree that Lamar Jackson needs to work on becoming even more on his pocket presence and accuracy to truly succeed in this league in the long term.

Both things can be and are correct.

And let’s not forget. This is only the conclusion of his 3rd season in the National Football League. The kid is only 24 years old.

So where do we stand after this latest version of the Lamar Jackson experience?

Honestly it should be a stalemate. I mean it’s not the guy didn’t just win the Most Valuable Player award last season. He has also taken the Baltimore Ravens to the postseason in each season as the starting quarterback. That should not be slept on whatsoever.

Not bad for a guy who was a late first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

I mean that’s what you would think.

Instead if you took your advice from the social media sphere you would come to the conclusion think Lamar Jackson is washed up. That he should be benched at the start of the 2021 NFL season and that he should probably find another profession. And that right there has been the whole problem I’ve had with the Lamar Jackson narrative from Day 1.

And here is the dirty secret. People on both sides of the argument are part the problem here.

You see, the pro Lamar crowd anointed him as the 2nd coming right out the gate. The problem is much like in politics when you overplay one side of the narrative, you set yourself up for looking like a fool on the other end.

Look. Does Lamar Jackson deserve blame for his performance on Saturday night? Of course. He made the dreadful mistake of turning an opportunity to tie the Divisional playoff game against Buffalo into throwing a 101 yard interception return for Taron Johnson which ended up in a pick-6. Certainly Saturday night was yet another playoff dud. But Saturday night by definition also should not define Lamar Jackson’s young career.

At least not yet.

That’s where Lamar Jackson stands today. A supremely talented top 10 quarterback who still needs lots of work on his game to sustain this long term. And that’s always been my #1 concern since he stepped foot in the NFL. Over reliance on his athletic ability.

Let’s give the kid a chance to turn it around just like we do everyone else before burying the guy.

Also can we get the guy some top level wide receivers as well? You know, something that Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers and even Russell Wilson have the benefit of having?

Can we?