Just because Lamar Jackson is fast, doesn’t mean he can’t throw from the pocket. Doug Farrar takes one analyst to task for this assumption.
It’s a common assumption when evaluating running quarterbacks that those quarterbacks are better on broken or designed plays in which they leave the pocket and go “schoolyard,” making things up as they go along. Sometimes it’s true, but other times, it’s an automatic label that doesn’t hold water.
Lamar Jackson is one of the most dynamic running quarterbacks in NFL history. He’s on pace to break Michael Vick’s single-season record of 1,039 rushing yards by a quarterback, set in 2006. And there’s no doubt that what Jackson does when he tucks and runs is explosive, spectacular and highlight-worthy. This 47-yard touchdown run on Sunday in Baltimore’s 49-13 thwacking of the Bengals is one of the better examples.
But to assume Jackson can’t throw from the pocket just because he can scald defenses with his feet is something we should be past when we look at quarterbacks of Jackson’s type. Whether it’s Vick later in his career or Randall Cunningham later in his career, or any number of quarterbacks in the modern day who are competing for the 2019 Most Valuable Player award, we are clearly in an era where quarterbacks of a certain stripe can actually do more than one thing to bring value to their teams.
But there was a reach back to the old days in the CBS broadcast of the game. Color announcer Rich Gannon, generally one of the more astute members of his profession, had this to say with 12:18 left in the first quarter, right after Jackson led his team downfield with more than one nice throw from the pocket, and finished it off with a 2-yard touchdown pass to tight end Mark Andrews:
“The Ravens do such a good job changing the launch point for Lamar Jackson. He rarely throws the ball from the pocket. They get him out on the edges, they cut the field in half, and he throws the ball so well and so accurately on the move.”
To be clear, this wasn’t Gannon slamming Jackson in any way. But when we look at the stats, we see that the “he rarely throws the ball from the pocket” statement is quite incorrect. Per Sports Info Solutions, Jackson has attempted 240 passes from the pocket this season, completing 134 for 1,611 yards, 10 touchdowns and five interceptions, and a passer rating of 95.9. This season, Jackson has more attempts from the pocket than Kirk Cousins, Mitchell Trubisky or Josh Allen.
Furthermore, Jackson isn’t one of the league’s more prolific out-of-pocket passers, probably because when he’s out of the pocket, he’s most likely running. Here’s a short list of the quarterbacks who have more passing attempt outside the pocket than Jackson’s 34: Aaron Rodgers, Kirk Cousins, Gardner Minshew, Carson Wentz, Josh Allen, Derek Carr, Baker Mayfield, Jared Goff and Matthew Stafford.
So maybe we shouldn’t assume what we have always assumed. The intention here is not to go after Gannon specifically — if we’re going to go after anyone for their Lamar Jackson takes over time, it would always be Bill Polian — but it is a kind request for announcers and analysts to watch what Lamar Jackson is doing, and to understand and communicate that it’s not at all like the historical stereotype.
Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar has also covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”
