Ravens have to go to Buffalo next, which won’t be easy, but thereafter should be easier sailing. Interesting how Baker Mayfield went first pick, big money, and all hullaballoo, yet Jackson, who went quietly and for much less late in the day, looks the more likely to win a ring.
Ravens have to go to Buffalo next, which won’t be easy, but thereafter should be easier sailing. Interesting how Baker Mayfield went first pick, big money, and all hullaballoo, yet Jackson, who went quietly and for much less late in the day, looks the more likely to win a ring.
On initial glance this looks like the obvious statement to make & as most people say the draft is a lottery.
However, i would mention Jackson has landed in a much better situation in Baltimore than Mayfield has in Cleveland.
It’s a circus in Cleveland & as much as they are stacked with talent I would question the coaching & their identity which I think they are still working through.
As opposed to Baltimore who already have a SuperBowl winning coach & knew what identity they wanted to play i.e. get rid of the old & being in the new & focus your game in making that individual great & play the game to Jackson’s strengths. I’m not so sure Mayfield got the same deal in Cleveland.
In saying all of this I too am surprised how quickly Jackson has evolved this year more with his accurate passing but history shows us a QB who relies on scrambling for yards as their main weapon normally encounters durability issues further down the line in the NFL.
history shows us a QB who relies on scrambling for yards as their main weapon normally encounters durability issues further down the line in the NFL.
Hard to disagree with that, though there were signs in his college career that Mayfield himself would be more suited to a circus than a stable ship, and the number of dual-threat quarterbacks in the NFL now suggests that the game will evolve to cater for and protect them. There appear to be even more coming through at the College level, so it’s likely to become the new norm.
I agree with this although QBing in collage has always had a more dynamic element to it. Younger guys with a limited window, desperate to make an impression and get to the NFL, Collage teams have O lines and D lines with huge variation in quality so there will be big holes to run into for the better Qbs in better teams in some games. Many decent collage QBs struggle with the disciplined play of the NFL as the gaps are not there.
That all said there seems to be dual threat QBs now who run the ball because the plays are designed that way essentially giving them an extra man as the formation is set up for it and its not just scrambling to make yards when a play falls apart. And if you do it as part a game plan where you are using a running back and faking the hand off or adding a receiver and forcing the defense to add more men to coverage then you are opening up the field and the options. That is where it has not worked in the past, the dual threat has not been part of the bigger plan it is just plan B when plan A fails. The ravens this year and Carolina with Cam Newton last year have(had) it as a big part of plan A and I can see many others following.
I've mentioned before but Justin Fields at Ohio State is very much of this mold, Jalen Hurts at Oklahoma another one. NFL teams will be watching the ravens and watching them and liking what they see.
Yup...I've been watching quite a few college games this season & amazed the fairly large gap in quality between the college & NFL teams. The NFL really is 'the best of the best' where most likely every player in each position is the best player on a college team. This is why I'm unsure really how good the likes of Fields & Hurts are as players since they play in powerhouse college programs loaded with talent around them. Got to give credit to Jackson who didn't have quite the talent around him back in Louisville, albeit in a fairly weak ACC conference.
The NFL is a copycat league and whilst Action Jackson is flavour of the year I do feel its just another phase in the evolution of the game. What NFL teams are great at is making adjustments & saw evidence of this from San Francisco stifling the Ravens later on in the game & blocking their main run plays, as opposed to the Ravens destroying the Rams in the previous week.
Speaking of the Rams, weren't they flavour of the year last year where everyone wanted to copy McVay until he got dismantled by the Belichick stalwart.