Anyone who has watched the Baltimore Ravens‘ Lamar Jackson knows he has exceptional talent. But one former quarterback wants to take it even further. On the latest episode of CBS Sports’ «Set Hut!» Super Bowl champion Russell Wilson said Jackson could end his career as the best dynamic quarterback of all time.
When discussing quarterbacks who are a threat with both their legs and arm, Wilson, of course, mentioned Michael Vick as one of the all-time greats. But he believes Jackson could even surpass Vick as one of the top dynamic players by the time the Ravens’ star hangs up his cleats.
Jackson already holds the NFL record for career rushing yards by a quarterback (6,562) and single-season rushing yards by a quarterback (1,206).
«He’s as good as it gets,» Wilson said. «There’s not anybody better than Lamar Jackson in terms of his ability to run. … Just the plays that he’s making, I don’t think people understand the difficulty of these plays.»
Getting up from their seats to demonstrate, Wilson and Long lined up to show the difference in what the defense sees when Jackson is under center and running back Derrick Henry is behind him. They explained that with Henry directly behind Jackson, the defense doesn’t know which direction he will go, making the back harder to stop and allowing the option of play action to still make plays downfield.
Wilson called Jackson’s ability to throw the ball on top of using his feet the combination that «makes him really special» and explains how much of a «threat» it makes him as a quarterback. The ability to zone read, his speed and how he moves around are some of Jackson’s most impressive traits.
Long made a great comparison of Jackson’s performance last week, and one fitting for Halloween season, saying, «He was running like a kid that had candy that he wasn’t supposed to have.»
Ravens’ new head coach Jesse Minter certainly had quite a debut, with his offense racking up over 500 total yards. Jackson threw for 324 yards and one passing touchdown, with 40 rushing yards and one touchdown on the ground. Baltimore tallied a 41-23 victory over the Indianapolis Colts, marking its second straight season opener with 40+ points.
The Ravens will host the New Orleans Saints, who lost 31-30 to the Detroit Lions in Week 1, on Sunday in Week 2.
