5 Baltimore Ravens made the Associated Press All-Pro Roster this year. Here is a look at the season that earned each respective player the honor:
1. Lamar Jackson:
Baltimore, you have an elite quarterback. Lamar Jackson, not Russell Wilson was voted the first team All-Pro quarterback. This tells you how the MVP battle has tilted and shows you how far Jackson has come as a quarterback. Russell Wilson is having a magical season in which he has thrown for 4,110 yards, 31 touchdown passes and just five interceptions. Just about every year that stat line would be good enough for the first team All-Pro quarterback spot.
Before the Ravens even played the Seahawks in October, it looked like Wilson was running away with the MVP award. Jackson getting the All-Pro nod over Wilson is a huge deal. Jackson came into the season as the single biggest question mark in the National Football League. He’s running into 2020 with a chance to win a Super Bowl and he’s now considered an elite quarterback.
Jackson had two games this season with a perfect passer rating of 158.3. Jackson led the league in touchdown passes and ran for a record setting 1,206 yards. Jackson had 3,127 yards in the air and he completed 66.7 percent of his passes. The number one thing you should take away from all of this is how far Jackson has come. Jackson completed just over 58 percent of his 2018 passes and he was just asked to pass enough to make things work. Jackson has become a high level passer and is still one of the most dangerous weapons on the ground.
Think about how big this is for the Baltimore Ravens as a franchise. The Ravens have almost always struggled on the offensive side of the football and have never had a true marquee player on offense. For most of their history, the face of the franchise was a linebacker. Defense and toughness is what the Ravens have always been known for. The Ravens never had this before. Jackson is a highlight reel making quarterback. He’s the most important player to any team in the NFL. This is new territory for the Ravens.