Baltimore Ravens: Early projections for Lamar Jackson in 2023

The NFL's highest-paid player resides with the Baltimore Ravens, and he is about to show the world why he deserved the contract he recently signed.

Lamar Jackson is one of the league's most exciting players, and although he's had his share of injuries, this coming season is going to be his best yet. If all goes according to plan, and health is on his side, you can count on a big year for Jackson.

It's still early, and we're over three months out from regular season football, but let's look at some initial projections for Jackson this season, counting on health.

Lamar Jackson will show the Baltimore Ravens were right in paying him, putting up his best season yet in 2023

Season stat projections:

287/459 (62.5 percent)

3,464 passing yards

33 passing touchdowns

10 interceptions

978 rushing yards

5 rushing touchdowns

Worst game: Week 5 @ Pittsburgh Steelers

Jackson's history against the Steelers shows that he is likely to have some of his tougher games against Pittsburgh. Not only is this a divisional game, but the Steelers defense should be better than they were a year ago. T.J. Watt presents one of the league's toughest challenges, alone, but the defensive front in Pittsburgh should be formidable in 2023.

This is one of the harder divisions to play in, and each matchup typically calls for some highly physical football, with low scoring more often than not. This will go down as a loss, albeit in a close game, but Jackson is going to struggle, accounting for just one touchdown, less than 200 yards passing, and three turnovers.

Best game: Week 15 @ Jacksonville Jaguars

The Jaguars had the NFL's fifth-worst passing defense in 2022, and with the weapons the Ravens gave Jackson to use this coming season, it's going to be exploited. The Ravens will be in prime time on the road, but Jackson is going to step up and put forth a huge effort in a game that will have significant impact on the playoff race.

Count on Jackson for over 300 yards passing, a good 40-50 yards rushing (the Jaguars' run defense was above average last season) and four passing touchdowns. Two of those touchdowns are going to be caught by Odell Beckham Jr., for those wondering.

Overall, Jackson should have the best all-around year of his career in 2023. He will certaily show that he's a capable passer while proving to be one of the best running quarterbacks in the league. In total, Jackson will account for over 4,400 total yards and 38 touchdowns. He'll be aided by a healhty J.K. Dobbins, who will also enjoy a career year, taking some of the pressure off his quarterback.