Jonathan Stewart says Lamar Jackson has ‘MVP on lock’

This year, second-year Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the biggest surprise in the league, hands down.

Like any great show, each NFL season has unexpected twists that usually very few people see coming.

This year, second-year Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is the biggest surprise in the league, hands down. With only a couple weeks left to go in the season, Jackson is virtually guaranteed to win the MVP award. Former Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart says he has it on lock.

One could make a case that Russell Wilson deserves at least a few votes. Anyone but Jackson winning the award would be a farce, though.

Last night, Jackson broke Michael Vick’s record for the most rushing yards in a single season by a quarterback and it wasn’t even close to the most impressive thing he did.

This seemingly effortless 33-yard dime to Seth Roberts is a fine example of a play that Jackson has somehow made look routine this season.

In the end, Jackson threw five touchdown passes on just 23 attempts. It’s no fluke, either. For the season, Jackson is throwing touchdowns on a completely insane 8.9% of his passes.

After the game, Jackson was rightfully treated like football royalty. Several Jets players lined up to collect autographed jerseys from No. 8.

What a scene.

As for the Panthers, like the rest of the NFL they should be watching what the Ravens are doing closely. While there’s only one Lamar Jackson, there are ways they can capitalize on Baltimore’s success and try to copy it. If nothing else, Carolina should be considering making a run at offensive coordinator Greg Roman, who deserves a lot of credit for helping Jackson make a stunning second-year leap.

This isn’t the first time Roman has gotten great results from a mobile quarterback, either. He also got the best out of Colin Kaepernick when he was the offensive coordinator for Jim Harbaugh’s 49ers. Even at his best, Kaepernick never reached the heights that a healthy Cam Newton has, though.

Norv Turner has performed relatively well running the offense these last couple of seasons. However, drastic changes are needed to break this team out of its sustained run of mediocrity. Pairing a truly innovative play-caller like Roman with Newton might make more of a difference than any one player the Panthers could sign this offseason.

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