3. Who should Jackson build his game after?
There are three quarterbacks that Jackson should learn a lot about: Donovan McNabb, Steve Young and Steve McNair. All three of these quarterbacks were mobile quarterbacks who used their legs to make plays. All three of these quarterbacks were great passers. McNabb in particular is the player that Jackson should study and replicate.
In McNabb’s rookie season he started just six games. He didn’t have a game where he passed for over 200 yards. Sound familiar? His completion percentage was 49.1 for the season. There are a lot of parallels between Jackson and a young McNabb. McNabb came into the league in 1999 after making it look easy at Syracuse. He was an exciting player, but he was a project. That is something we’ve said about Jackson a lot.
In the 2000 season, McNabb had 629 yards on the ground. He ran the football well, and he did it more than pretty much any quarterback in football. He still had over 3,000 yards passing and 21 touchdowns that season. Much like Jackson McNabb’s athleticism always had to be accounted for by the defense, but in his first full season as a starter he became a legit thrower in the NFL. Jackson is a much faster runner than McNabb, but there is no reason he can’t have a similar career. Jackson gets compared to Vick, but he needs to style his game more to be a faster McNabb.