Lamar Jackson was the NFL’s MVP last season. Then he got better at (almost) everything.
Jonas Shaffer
11/14/2024 5:30 a.m. EST
In July, about a week before the start of Ravens training camp, coach John Harbaugh told Lamar Jackson he thought the quarterback could be better.
Better than Jackson was last year, when he won his
second NFL Most Valuable Player award. Better than any other quarterback in the league. Better than any other quarterback in
league history.
“The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League,” Harbaugh said in mid-July. “That’s the vision. It’s going to happen by Lamar, his work ethic and his brilliant talent, by all of us pouring into that effort together as a team, and by the grace of God and God’s good will. That’s how it’s going to happen. And I believe it like we’ve already seen it.”
Harbaugh’s grand vision has come to life. Ahead of Sunday’s AFC North showdown against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Jackson is not just the prohibitive favorite
to repeat as NFL MVP. He’s also better than he was last year in almost every way. Weaknesses have turned into strengths, and strengths into superpowers.
Jackson has been “intentional about playing as well as he can across the board,” Harbaugh said Monday, and his development in coordinator Todd Monken’s offense has almost bulletproofed his game. Jackson is elite when pressured and when not pressured, elite in the shotgun and under center, elite on throws outside the numbers and inside the numbers.
“Everything’s just slowing down,” he said last month of his growth, and defenses haven’t caught up yet. The Ravens have the NFL’s best offense, with no close runner-up; the gap between them and the second-ranked Washington Commanders in DVOA,
FTN’s way for measuring how good a team has been based on the quality of their competition, is bigger than the gap between the Commanders and the
14th-ranked Philadelphia Eagles.
“Obviously, we’re not perfect,” wide receiver Rashod Bateman said Wednesday. “We’ve won some, and we’ve lost some. But I definitely think we’ve shown the ability to beat anybody.”
Jackson’s adaptability is the Ravens’ skeleton key. His well-rounded development since last year has turned him into one of the NFL’s most productive passers (2,669 passing yards, 24 touchdowns and two interceptions) in almost every scenario imaginable. Here’s a look at how Jackson has improved against a range of coverages, with certain throw types, in various game situations and against pressure — and how those gains stack up in recent NFL history.
Coverages
Over his first six seasons in Baltimore, Jackson
struggled at times to handle heavy-pressure looks. Even last year, he wilted against “Cover 0” (man-to-man with heavy pressure and no deep-lying defenders), going 13-for-27 for 90 yards, according to TruMedia.
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This year, with a better command of the offense and another year of chemistry with his receivers, Jackson has had answers
for every defensive call. Among the dozens of quarterbacks who’ve attempted at least 20 passes against a specific coverage in a season since 2020, Jackson ranks in the 83rd percentile against Cover 0 in expected points added per pass attempt, in the 89th percentile against Cover 1, the 92nd percentile against Cover 2, the 97th percentile against Cover 3, the 99th percentile against Cover 4 and the 100th percentile against Cover 6.
Last year, Jackson ranked above the 90th percentile against just one look: Cover 2 (94th).
Throw types
Jackson can make every kind of throw.
Need something quick? The
Ravens’ rejuvenated screen game has been one of the NFL’s best, and Jackson’s EPA per attempt on throws delivered in 2.5 seconds or less this season ranks as the highest for a qualifying quarterback since 2020. He’s also in the 100th percentile on short throws (0 to 9 yards downfield).
Need to wait for something to develop? That’s fine, too. The elusive Jackson ranks in the 96th percentile on pass attempts coming at least four seconds after the snap and in the 62nd percentile on passes of at least 20 air yards.
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Need something near the sideline? Jackson has the arm strength and accuracy to help. He’s in the 100th percentile on throws outside the numbers, all while remaining as ruthless as ever over the middle. (Yes, he’s in the 100th percentile on throws between the numbers, too.)
Game situations
It doesn’t matter where Jackson finds himself. He’s found ways to make the Ravens’ passing game work.
On throws from inside the pocket, he’s in the 100th percentile among qualifying quarterbacks since 2020, up from the 48th last year. On throws inside the red zone, he’s in the 99th percentile, up from the 60th last year.
Play-action remains a cheat code for Jackson (100th percentile), but now he’s elite on drop-backs without run fakes, too (100th percentile).
The arrival of running back Derrick Henry has also juiced the Ravens’ under-center passing attack, lifting Jackson’s EPA per attempt from the 80th percentile to the 93rd.
Under pressure
Jackson, unsurprisingly, has dominated when not pressured or blitzed, ranking in the 100th percentile in both categories this season.
But Jackson has handled heat, too. He’s in the 99th percentile when pressured, a notable improvement on his 2023 mark (75th percentile), and in the 99th percentile when blitzed, a far more dramatic turnaround (38th percentile).
Jackson’s pressure mitigation has fueled his rising efficiency. Last year, according to Pro Football Focus, defenses converted 18.2% of Jackson’s pressures into sacks. Now they’re converting just 11.7%, a 95th-percentile mark. Jackson’s overall sack rate this season is just 4.3%, a career low and one of the league’s best marks.
