Will Lamar Jackson Be Even Better in 2019 than he was in 2018?

Lamar Jackson Can Have a Stronger Sophomore Season in 2019

Last year Lamar Jackson was one of many rookie sensations that swept the NFL landscape with his electric playmaking ability. While his rookie season caught the eyes of many, there’s a very good chance he has an even stronger sophomore campaign in 2019.

Let’s first give a brief overview of Lamar Jackson’s 2018 season before diving into why he will be better this year.

On January 5, 2018, Jackson announced that he would enter the 2018 NFL draft after his junior year with Louisville. During his days at Louisville between 2015-2017, Jackson had a career 57.0% completion percentage, along with just over 9,000 yards for 69 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. Furthermore, he had 655 rushing attempts for over 4,100 yards and 50 touchdowns as well.

Some sports critics believed that Jackson should consider switching positions due to his incredible athleticism, but he was strongly adamant about following his dream of being a professional quarterback.

On Draft Day, the Baltimore Ravens selected Jackson at the end of the first round as the 32nd overall pick. The Ravens were growing frustrated with then quarterback Joe Flacco since he had been struggling to find much success after the team won their second Super Bowl in franchise history back in 2012 against the San Francisco 49ers. It was evident that the organization was prepared to move on.

Jackson started 2018 on the bench as he gained some knowledge under the coaching staff and Flacco. Jackson eventually got his first legitimate chance to be the team’s starting back on November 18 against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Flacco had once again been struggling up until this point as he was only able to have a completion percentage of over 70.0% one time and just managed a total QBR of 54.8 during his nine starts. Baltimore was riding a three-game losing streak and they felt now was the right time for a change of scenery.

In Jackson’s first start as the starting quarterback for the Ravens, he completed 13 out of 19 passes for 150 yards and an interception. Also, Jackson padded his stats with 26 rushing attempts for 119 yards in a Ravens’ 24-21 win over Cincinnati.

The legend of Jackson was born as the Ravens went on to win six out of their last seven games and win the AFC North Division title. Jackson had a very successful rookie campaign, but he still has a lot of room for improvement heading into 2019.

The majority of Jackson’s fantasy productivity didn’t come from his arm rather, from his legs. In 2018 he ranked first in carries (147), carries per game (9.2), red zone carries (38), and total rushing yards (637) among active quarterbacks. He also possessed the second-most rushing yards per game (43.6) and third-highest rushing touchdowns (5) among quarterbacks as well in 2018.

Jackson’s passing stats, on the other hand, were not as impressive as his ground game attack. Through the air, he sat within the bottom-half of quarterbacks in terms of passing attempts (10.6/gm – 37th), red zone attempts (1.5/gm – 35th), passing yards (75.1/gm – 37th), deep-ball throws (1.1/gm – 37th), and touchdown passes (6 – 36th).

A lot of this can be attributed to how the Ravens were just using him in their game plan strategies week in and week out. The Ravens have traditionally been a run-first type of offense for quite some time now, so it seems fitting that they were going to use Jackson’s strengths to their advantage.

Also, Jackson had a very weak supporting cast of receivers to throw to in 2018, which could very well be another legitimate cause as to why the Ravens weren’t all too keen to throw the ball as much. Of the 32 team offenses in the NFL, Jackson had the sixth-worst support crew of receivers.

Luckily for Jackson, these numbers could definitely improve for his campaign in 2019. For starters, the Ravens went out and signed free agent Mark Ingram from the Saints to give their run game a boost.

Having Ingram in Baltimore’s backfield could provide some relief for Jackson and take the pressure off of him to carry the ball less unlike what he did last year.

In 2018 with New Orleans, Ingram was able to average 11.5 carries per game which isn’t bad considering he missed the first four games of the season and the fact that he was sharing time with Alvin Kamara as well. Ingram will serve as a great source to alleviate the wear and tear on Jackson and allow him to tap into other areas where he hadn’t done so from the season before.

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On top of that, the Ravens attempted to bolster their receiving corps to give Jackson better options to throw to. They went and drafted Antonio Brown’s cousin, Marquise Brown out of Oklahoma as the 25th overall pick of the 2018 Draft this past April. Baltimore also acquired Willie Snead as well this offseason who had spent the last four seasons in New Orleans.

Snead did show promise in his rookie season as he nearly had 1,000 yards that year, but injuries and the emergence of wide receiver Michael Thomas suppressed his production over the last couple of years. The hope is that with a veteran presence in Snead, he can help Jackson become a better passer for the 2019 regular season. Also, if Marquise Brown is anything like Antonio Brown, Jackson will have a new shiny toy to play with this year too.

All of these factors give Jackson hope to have a more balanced and diverse statistical 2019 regular season. As a result, it could mean a higher level of production for Jackson this year.

Jackson’s fantasy ADP has been on the rise the last month, as he has gone from going in the 12th round to the 10th round in most drafts this year. He would not be a bad QB2 to select with a lot of upside in his game.

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