Lamar Jackson has surpassed any reasonable expectation set on him as he entered the NFL.
Jackson was the last pick of the first round in the 2018 NFL Draft. After that, Jackson won two NFL MVP awards and the Baltimore Ravens have been one of the best teams in the league with him at quarterback. Every other NFL player with multiple MVP awards is in the Pro Football Hall of Fame or is a lock to get in once they are eligible. Jackson will join them in the Hall of Fame some day. Pretty good for the 32nd pick of the draft.
But the Ravens are thinking even bigger. In an impassioned defense of Jackson as training camp gets going, coach John Harbaugh said the Ravens want Jackson to be known as the greatest quarterback ever by the time he’s done.
The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the National Football League, Harbaugh told reporters, via Jamison Hensley of ESPN.
Of course, there’s a piece of Jackson’s resume that needs to be filled in before he can be in that argument.
The list of greatest NFL quarterbacks has the same names, in some order: Tom Brady, Peyton Manning, Johnny Unitas, John Elway, Aaron Rodgers. Patrick Mahomes is probably on that list already too. All of those quarterbacks won a championship. Jackson hasn’t even been to a Super Bowl yet.
It’s unfair to put that all on Jackson. A team’s success or failure isn’t solely due to the quarterback. But when we’re talking about being the greatest ever, a quarterback won’t be in that conversation without at least one ring. Multiple rings are probably necessary to win the argument over Brady and his seven championships.
Jackson hasn’t played great in the playoffs yet. He and the Ravens fell short again, when as the No. 1 seed at home for the AFC championship game they lost to Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. The Ravens are just 2-4 in the playoffs in Jackson’s starts.
But Jackson is setting a foundation for his own greatness. He has been great as a passer and a runner. If he starts collecting some rings, Harbaugh’s vision could come true.
Harbaugh’s defense of Jackson was a bit unnecessary. Jackson has some detractors but it’s a small list and you can find critics of every NFL quarterback if you search long enough. By now, everyone who understands the NFL isn’t blindly ripping Jackson. And pointing out that he hasn’t yet had postseason success to match his regular-season success is fair.
A lot of what Harbaugh was railing about came from old tropes about Jackson, based on outdated stereotypes that he couldn’t be a productive NFL quarterback. Those old feelings won’t go away though, which is understandable when you consider how insulting they were to Jackson.
“We take it personally,” Harbaugh said. “Lamar is a guy, all his life, Lamar Jackson has been a guy answering those same questions. I’m talking about since he was a kid.”
John Harbaugh gave a 2-minute, 43-second response when asked about the criticism of Lamar Jackson.The vision that we have together is that Lamar Jackson is going to become and be known and be recognized as the greatest quarterback ever to play in the history of the NFL. pic.twitter.com/zRO0T9PgLP
Jamison Hensley (@jamisonhensley) July 21, 2024
Most of those questions have been answered, to clear-minded people anyway. Jackson won one MVP award unanimously and got 49 of 50 votes for the award last season. And Harbaugh thinks Jackson is still improving as he enters his age-27 season.
“He’s going to get better and better, no doubt,” Harbaugh said.
Harbaugh asked what Jackson needs to do to prove himself to those unnamed critics, and that answer is pretty easy. It’s Super Bowl championships. That’s the standard for every other all-time great quarterback when it comes to ranking them. That will be part of what defines Jackson’s legacy as well.
Jackson has time to add that to his list of accomplishments. And then maybe Harbaugh can give another speech.