Kurt Warner: Lamar Jackson Could 'Be In The Conversation For Best Season' Ever By A Quarterback
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- The plaudits have continued to roll in from around the football world for Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. He has been named by multiple people to be the frontrunner for the league's MVP award and has continued to push the limits of what the game has ever seen.
After breaking Michael Vick's single-season rushing record for a quarterback last week against the New York Jets, while tossing five touchdown passes to boot, NFL Network analyst and Hall of Famer Kurt Warner said it may be time to consider Jackson's performance among the best single-season QB performances ever. Speaking to ESPN's Ravens reporter Jamison Henley, the Super Bowl XXXIV MVP said the combination of Jackson's passing and rushing ability is hard to even judge against history because we have rarely, if ever, seen it.
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"If he gets to 35 to 40 touchdown passes and what he's done running the ball, Lamar has to be in the conversation of the best season by a quarterback," said former NFL MVP Kurt Warner, an analyst for the NFL Network to ESPN. "With a lot of things Lamar does, it is hard to gauge right now because it's so new and unique. Maybe 10 to 15 years down the road, we'll have a better feel where it stands. But with how special he is running and throwing the ball, it's pretty ridiculous."
The nearest comparison that has been made to Jackson time and again is former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. While Vick was unlike anything the game had seen in his time, his best passing seasons don't compare with what Lamar has done this year. Vick's best passing season came in 2010 in Philadelphia when he threw for 3,018 yards and 21 touchdowns over 12 games. But he completed just 62.6 percent of his passes while Jackson is completing over 66 percent of his attempts and already has 12 more touchdowns in two more games.
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"He is so rare, and I hear people say he's opening the door for other teams, and they'll look for athletic quarterbacks," Warner told Hensley. "I don't ever think we're going to see another Lamar Jackson. How many times can we say a player transcended the way the game is played? He has."
Later in his piece, Henley points out a few more accomplishments that could await Jackson should he continue to play at his current pace over the final two weeks of the season.
"Jackson is poised to become the first quarterback since 1940 to be the leading rusher on the team that finishes the regular season with the best record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He can also become the only quarterback to lead the NFL in touchdown passes and finish in the top 10 in rushing yards, per Elias."
The list of achievements keep rolling in for Jackson, but as he will tell you, the team accomplishments matter more. The Ravens have one of those they can achieve this weekend, clinching homefield advantage with a win in Cleveland over the Browns.