Retired 6x Pro Bowl RB questions lack of grace in Lamar Jackson debate: "The way we grade him is crazy"
When you're a two-time MVP in the National Football League as Lamar Jackson is (and the reigning one, mind you), few questions should be raised on your talents at any position. But this is a quarterback's league as we all know. You're only as good as your starting quarterback, and that's twice as true in January when we're well into the playoffs.
Unfortunately for Lamar Jackson, his Baltimore Ravens have still not made it to the Super Bowl with him under center. That appeared to be the point former Denver Broncos guard Mark Schlereth was making this week when he said it's Super Bowl or bust for the Ravens this year.
Naturally, that spawned a debate among Lamar Jackson's fans on social media so much so that it became a topic of discussion on FS1's Speak. On the show, former Eagles running back and two-time Super Bowl champion LeSean McCoy had a different point of view. McCoy said:
“All these other quarterbacks that were Heisman [winners], that were first picks overall, we give them grace, we give them excuses. Baker Mayfield! How good is he? Y’all don’t really hear anyone talk bad about him, they’re always making excuses. Baker Mayfield is always excused over and over again. They don’t talk about him the way they talk about Lamar Jackson."
Lamar Jackson vs Joe Burrow vs Patrick Mahomes debate once again front and center
Considering Jackson, Burrow and Mahomes (and Josh Allen, to a degree) are known as elite quarterbacks in the league, the debate always boils down to whether one of Jackson or Burrow can catch up to Mahomes.
Entering the 2024 season, Patrick Mahomes has more Super Bowl wins (three) than Lamar Jackson has playoff wins (two), which means Jackson's Ravens have some work to do if the 2019 MVP is to make up ground.
Given how the Chiefs, Bengals and Ravens have retooled this year, though, it's likely to be a dogfight for all of these AFC heavyweights starting with the Ravens and Chiefs, who will face each other in the season opener at Arrowhead on September 5.
We'll likely see a lot of that play out on HBO when Hard Knocks tails the Bengals, Ravens, Browns and Steelers all season long.