Alright I'll split this into 2 posts since I have a lot of thoughts on Lamar Jackson after sleeping on it.
I've been a Lamar Jackson fan for awhile but never really knew what to think about him here. The guy has an incredible arm. It's amazing how easily he can just flick his wrist and the ball rockets out like it does. His overall arm motion is pretty damn good although the release point can be a little low at times. He needs a lot of work though - especially his footwork. The mechanics are actually smooth but he can definitely lose them at times. I'm hopeful that cleaning up his footwork and developing some consistency in his mechanics will ease some of those accuracy problems. I usually hate to look past accuracy issues but I actually think his might be correctable with work. If Urban and company can get him to widen his base, I think he'll be more accurate.
My biggest question with Lamar has always been his intelligence. In interviews and such, he definitely doesn't come off as the smartest guy. With that being said, he was asked to change a lot at Louisville over the years and handled it pretty damn well. I've watched pretty extensive tape on him because part of me thought he was going to be a legitimate possibility. Normally I only stick with the previous year plus maybe a game or two from the prior year. I started Lamar early and worked up to the 2017 season and I really loved how easily you could see his progression over time. He was raw as hell when he first started out at Louisville and over the years, you could see the understanding of the game. He was reading defenses and progressing through multiple reads. He absolutely still needs work but I always find it encouraging when you can see the progress in a QB on tape and it doesn't just halt.
I typically hate to throw out player comparisons after being burned on them in the past but man, Lamar does have a lot of Mike Vick to his game. It might be the cheap and lazy comparison but I don't care - there are a lot of similarities there to me. I've read up on Vick when he first came out and he had more of the natural talents down but needed work learning to run an NFL offense. I think Lamar is a little more developed there but needs more work on the physical side of things. I think at worse case, you have a Tyrod level player which isn't the worst thing in the world although you'd much rather get Vick out of him. I think Vick would have done some absolutely crazy things if he didn't lose those couple of years of his prime.
One thing I really liked about Lamar last night was seeing him having a good time in the green room even after falling further than expected. He had this attitude that he was going to enjoy the night no matter what happened because whatever was supposed to happen was going to fall into place. He clearly has a chip on his shoulder but he wasn't the guy in the green room getting mad or upset. Maybe I'm just reading too much into it, but I love that mental side of him. Competitor but doesn't really let his emotions get the best of him.
Lastly, I wouldn't be surprised at all if we carry 3 QBs this year. RG3 is actually a really good mentor to Lamar as far as skill set goes. I think those two could work very well together. That RG3 signing makes a ton of sense now. Say what you want about his skill but RG3 has always been regarded as an intelligent QB and I believe he could also be a good teacher.
