"If Lamar is in that division, he'd be my fifth favorite QB" - Colin Cowherd claims all AFC West QBs are better than Lamar Jackson
Since Lamar Jackson and the rest of the NFL watched the AFC West acquire Russell Wilson, the leading offseason topic with the division has been about quarterbacks.
One NFL analyst has compared one of the men of the moment, Lamar Jackson, to the entire division.
Speaking on The Herd with Colin Cowherd, show host Colin Cowherd ranked the Baltimore Ravens signal-caller against the other AFC West quarterbacks, revealing that he believed they were all the better than him.
Cowherd said:
"That's the thing about Lamar Jackson. Two years ago, I thought one way about Lamar Jackson. But Joe Burrow wasn't Joe Burrow, and Herbert wasn't here and Josh Allen wasn't Josh Allen. So you got three guys now who are like potential superstar quarterbacks."
Lamar Jackson's early down PASSING outside the numbers last year:
#1 in YPA (9.2)
#1 in success rate (57%)
#1 in EPA/att (+0.33)
while averaging 9.4 air yards per attempt (5th highest)...
while being blitzed on 32% of attempts (5th highest)...
but he's not a quarterback
Cowherd pointed out that there were only two superstar-quality quarterbacks in the conference. Today, there are many more, with the AFC West filled to the brim. In his mind, Jackson wouldn't even crack the top three if he was added:
"You got to get through them. And now Deshaun Watson's in it. A few years ago, it was like old Tom Brady. It was like Patrick Mahomes, who was developing. You got to think about this stuff. It is a gauntlet. I mean, just the AFC West, you get Mahomes, Russell Wilson, Justin Herbert, Derek Carr. If Lamar is in that division, he'd be my fifth favorite quarterback."
It doesn't matter what Lamar Jackson does.
It doesn't matter if he wins MVP.
It doesn't matter if he has an absurd win rate.
It doesn't matter if he totally carries his team when they are banged up.
No matter what, a disturbingly large amount of people will never respect him.
Lamar Jackson's career in the NFL
After years of watching Joe Flacco struggle to return to prominence, the Ravens decided they needed some new blood. They chose to go in the opposite direction of the pocket quarterback in favor of someone who was anything but and drafted Jackson 32nd overall in the 2018 NFL Draft.
He sat for most of his rookie year but was eventually swapped for Flacco mid-way through the season. He electrified the team and brought them to the playoffs amid a 6-1 run. The following year, the quarterback proved he was not just a rookie-year wonder.
In his second season, he went 13-2 as the starter, throwing for 36 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Additionally, he rushed for 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns. He ended the year with an MVP award.
However, since then, the quarterback's play has regressed. In 2020, he went 11-4 and threw for 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions.
In 2021, he threw for 16 touchdowns and 13 interceptions and went 7-5. Will he bounce back in 2022, or will the downward trend spiral out of control?
If you use any of the quotes above, please credit The Herd with Colin Cowherd and H/T Sportskeeda.