Why Lamar Jackson deserves to be ranked above Baker Mayfield in top-10 QB rankings
Baker Mayfield is a better NFL quarterback than Lamar Jackson. Read that sentence again, and this time try not to shake your head or laugh.
You can't, right? It’s official; the NFL world has gone mad.
Eric Eager of Pro Football Focus recently released his top ten quarterbacks in the NFL. The co-host of the PFF Forecast podcast has Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield sitting at nine, one place higher than Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.
That immediately caused me to do a double take and stare at the graphic he tweeted out for a good few seconds. After recovering from my initial shock, I took a deep breath and tried to understand how he came to such a preposterous conclusion.
Is Baker Mayfield a better NFL QB than Lamar Jackson?
The simple answer to that is no.
But to just leave it at that one word would be too simplistic, and you could easily believe I'm a Baltimore Ravens fan who strongly dislikes Baker Mayfield (FYI - I am not.)
So, I did some research and scoured the internet to uncover evidence to support my claim that Lamar Jackson is, in fact, a better quarterback than Baker Mayfield. It was not difficult to do so.
Baker won the NFL Draft
Ok, let's get this fact out of the way immediately. Yes, Baker Mayfield was picked number one overall in the 2018 NFL Draft while Lamar Jackson went 32nd.
Congratulations Baker. Let’s move on.
Lamar MVP Jackson
Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson won the league MVP award in 2019. In his first full NFL season as a starter, he set a record for the most rushing yards in a season by a quarterback. He led the league with 36 touchdown passes and became the second unanimous NFL Most Valuable Player winner in league history.
Lamar Jackson did this less than two years ago.
2020 NFL season stats of Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson:
Both Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson had great seasons last year. The Browns' play-caller threw for 3563 yards, 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions with a passer rating of 95.9.
Jackson threw for 2,757 yards, 26 touchdowns and nine interceptions with a passer rating of 99.3. Mayfield threw for a lot more yards, but Jackson had a superior passer rating and the same number of touchdowns as the former.
If we look at the rushing statistics, the Ravens QB really leaps ahead. Lamar Jackson ran for 1005 yards and seven TDs on 159 attempts with an average of 6.3 yards per carry. Meanwhile, Mayfield ran for 165 yards and one TD on 54 attempts with an average of 3.1 yards per carry.
NFL Playoff numbers of Baker Mayfield and Lamar Jackson
It's no secret that Lamar Jackson has struggled in the postseason. The 24-year-old currently has a 1-3 playoff record. He has thrown for 900 yards with three touchdowns and five interceptions.
Former first overall draft pick Mayfield has a postseason record of 1-1 after leading the Browns from a long absence in the playoffs last season. He threw for 467 yards with four touchdowns and one interception.
It should be noted that Jackson has led the Ravens to the playoffs in each of his first three NFL seasons.
Head to head record: Baker Mayfield vs Lamar Jackson
Now we get down to the key information about who is the better QB, and what is the head-to-head record between Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield.
Lamar Jackson holds a commanding 4-1 record over Baker Mayfield as the starting QB for the Baltimore Ravens. The AFC North rivalry has been one-sided of late, and that just emphasizes Jackson's superiority over Mayfield.
I'm not sure why PFF"s Eric Eager ranked Mayfield ahead of Jackson, but I believe I have clearly shown why it's a mistake.