Lamar Jackson can throw and his arm talent is underrated

Arm talent is not a problem for Lamar Jackson:

Lamar Jackson can throw the football. It’s something he showed against the Oakland Raiders, but he had proven it long ago. Jackson was a very prolific passer at Louisville. In his sophomore and junior seasons at Louisville, Jackson threw for over 3,000 yards. He scored 69 touchdown passes in his collegiate career.

Jackson always makes highlight plays with his running ability and for some reason that is what people tend to focus on. Jackson is the epitome of a dual threat quarterback. He had 50 rushing touchdowns at Louisville. The man was literally responsible for 119 touchdowns in four years of NCAA football.

In his first start, Jackson was inevitably going to make more plays on the ground than in the air. Running the football is something that he can do better than just about anyone and passing the football in the NFL is a very involved practice. Jackson ran the ball 26 times in his game against the Bengals and people wondered if he could throw. They wondered this despite the fact that he was 13-19 passing and threw some nice passes.

Jackson and the Ravens came into the game against the Raiders determined to be a passer. Jackson’s eagerness to show his passing ability actually hindered him as a quarterback. He turned down the option to create plays with his legs in the first half, taking away the threat part of his dual threat skill set. Jackson loosened up in the second half and played a better overall brand of football. It should be noted that Jackson threw some dimes in this game.

The rookie quarterback connected on some passes that were clear signs that he could play at the NFL level. His pass to John Brown over the middle of the field was the first example of this. Jackson hit Brown coming open across the field on an intermediate route. Jackson put the ball high enough so the defender underneath had no chance of touching it. The pass had touch and accuracy and Brown was able to keep his stride through the catch for some decent yards after the catch.

Jackson then had a pass deep down the sideline to Mark Andrews. Jackson did a little play-fake, and with what seemed like a flick of the wrist, the football got to Andrews in textbook-perfect location. Andrews caught the ball that went over his shoulder without having to adjust, jump or dive.

Jackson had surprisingly smooth mechanics for a rookie passer. He stepped into the throw and timed it perfectly. It was such a smooth play, the kind of pass you expect from a veteran quarterback. Again, the most important thing to note is that Andrews caught the football so he could keep running. That’s NFL passing right there.

Jackson had a play in which he threw the football on the run to Hayden Hurst in the weirdest fashion. Jackson rolled out and he flicked it about 10 yards to Hurst on the move. It wasn’t quite as iconic as the Pat Mahomes left handed throw against the Broncos, but it wasn’t far off. Jackson’s talent is so unique. His ability to improvise is on pace with the best of them.

Hurst also caught a pass in the middle of the field for a big first down. Jackson had such a tight window and he threw the ball hard and razor sharp. That was a big league throw. The prettiest pass of the day though was his completion to John Brown that got called back. Brown beat the cornerback deep and Jackson put another deep ball right on the money. The thing of importance here is that Jackson showed great anticipation. Throwing to Andrews and throwing to Brown are two completely different passes down the field.

Jackson doesn’t need to prove that he can throw the football. He can do it very well. He will get more polished as an NFL quarterback. Jackson is only going to get better. If this is how he is in the beginning, just wait until he figures a few things out.