Baltimore Ravens superstar Lamar Jackson is clearly the best quarterback in the NFL, but the decision makers in the league who passed on him, and wanted him to play receiver, are seemingly afraid of admitting the truth. That was evident in a recent ESPN ranking where Jackson was disrespectfully low on the list of top quarterbacks.
Every offseason, reporter Jeremy Fowler polls NFL execs, coaches, and scouts, asking them to rank the top 10 players at each position. On Monday, Fowler released the quarterback rankings, and Jackson was fourth on the list. The two-time MVP trailed Joe Burrow (3), Josh Allen (2), and Patrick Mahomes (1).
NFL execs, coaches, and scouts rank Lamar Jackson as the 4th-best quarterback
Mahomes, Allen, and Burrow are all elite quarterbacks, but putting them over Jackson, especially after last season, is disrespectful. The Ravens quarterback entered 2024 as a two-time MVP, then had a season better than both of those years, completing 66.7% of his passes for a career high 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns to just four interceptions. He also rushed for 915 yards and four additional touchdowns.
While he should’ve won his third MVP award, voters decided to give it to Josh Allen. However, Jackson was still named First-Team All-Pro. Now, fans are being told he’s the fourth-best quarterback in the league— yeah, alright.
Fowler didn’t highlight any quotes that explained why Jackson was outside the top three. Instead, everything written about the Baltimore quarterback was proof that he should be No. 1 on the list.
"What Jackson did last year still puts him in his own class -- he became the first player in NFL history with 40 passing touchdowns and four or fewer interceptions in a season.Jeremy Fowler (ESPN)
"A 10-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio [10.3], winning percentage is insane [74.4%] and he's a leading rusher on any team he's on," a veteran NFL coach said. "He's one of a kind."
Jackson also led the NFL in Total QBR (77.3) and yards per dropback (8.3) and set new career highs in passing touchdowns (41), passing yards (4,172), yards per attempt (8.8) and touchdown-to-interception ratio. His Total EPA was 160.6, more than 16 points higher than any other quarterback."
If anything, this is a lesson that you can’t really win critics over. It doesn’t matter if you’re the best football player in the league yearly, people who don’t want to get the picture will always find a way to look foolish.