30 college football players with the biggest shoes to fill in 2018

Shoes to Fill: Lamar Jackson

It’s probably a little surprising to see Jawon Pass No. 8 on this list. After all, very few players are tasked with filling the shoes of a former Heisman Trophy winner – especially one as dynamic as Lamar Jackson.

Jackson won the Heisman in 2016, a season in which he threw for 3,543 yards and 30 touchdowns with nine interceptions, and added 1,571 rushing yards and 21 touchdowns. His 2017 performance was just as good (if not better), as the Florida native threw for 3,660 passing yards with a 27-to-10 touchdown-to-interception ratio, and ran for 1,601 yards and scored 18 times on the ground.

Jackson’s playmaking ability was incredible and will be impossible to duplicate. However, Pass is positioned to make the transition a smooth one. Not only is he talented – Pass was a four-star prospect ranked the No. 5 dual-threat quarterback in the 2016 recruiting class, seven spots better than Jackson was ranked in the previous class – he also has Bobby Petrino on his side.

Love him or hate him, Petrino is one of the best quarterback coaches and play-callers in the nation. He’s proven it at Auburn as an offensive coordinator, them at Louisville, Arkansas, Western Kentucky, and Louisville again. And though it ended poorly for a variety of reasons (and not all his own doing, unlike his later situation at Arkansas), Petrino was so well regarded the Atlanta Falcons once tabbed him to lead the franchise.

Pass got his feet wet with 238 passing yards and two touchdowns on 23-for-33 passing (69.7 percent) as a redshirt freshman and added 62 rushing yards and a touchdown on 13 carries. He doesn’t have the breakaway speed Jackson possessed, but Pass has a bigger frame at 6-foot-4 and 220 pounds and could develop into a better passer.