Tag: Lamar Jackson

WATCH: Ravens QB Lamar Jackson breaks ‘Madden’ record

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson will hold the highest-ever speed rating for a QB at 96 in the new “Madden NFL” update.

Lamar Jackson’s mark on the NFL is now moving from the football field to the virtual world.

When the “Madden NFL” video game franchise makes its latest round of updates on Thanksgiving day, the Ravens quarterback will hold the highest-ever speed rating for a QB at 96. Michael Vick held the previous record at 95.

Vick told USA Today Sports that he’s honored to be part of Jackson’s rise:

“It’s like the passing of the torch. I’m gone, but not forgotten. Look, with every highlight that Lamar makes, it reminds people of me. It will remind people of Cam (Newton). It will remind people of Russell (Wilson). It will remind people of (Randall) Cunningham. Donovan (McNabb), all the mobile quarterbacks who came before us and who are going to come after us.

Watch Vick’s message to Jackson here:

And here’s a closer look at the Nike cleats:

Seahawks QB Russell Wilson currently 3rd place in Pro Bowl voting

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is currently in third place in this year’s Pro Bowl voting – here’s how to cast your ballot now.

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is currently in third place in this year’s Pro Bowl voting with 274,456 votes. He’s behind only Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson and Kansas City signal-caller Patrick Mahomes, who sit at first and second respectively.

The Pro Bowl polls have been open for weeks now, but beginning Thanksgiving Day, fans will also be able to cast their votes via on Twitter.

For the votes to count, fans must tweet the first and last name of the player, his official Twitter handle, or a hashtag with his first and last name. All tweets must include the hashtag: #ProBowlVote.

The official Pro Bowl online ballot can be found at NFL.com/ProBowlVote.

Voting will remain open to fans through Dec. 12. The AFC and NFC Pro Bowl rosters will be announced live on the NFL Network on Dec. 17.

Click here for more information on everything you need to know to cast your ballot for your favorite Seahawks players.

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49ers preparing for Lamar Jackson with WR at QB

The 49ers are going outside the box to prepare for Ravens QB Lamar Jackson.

There’s no way to perfectly mimic Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. He’s as unique a quarterback as the NFL has ever seen. The 49ers are giving a shot at preparing for Jackson by lining up wide receiver Richie James Jr. at quarterback for the scout team.

James is one of the 49ers’ most electric athletes. He’s fast and explosive in tight spaces. His ability to make people miss and run by defensive backs should give the 49ers a pretty good idea of what Jackson brings when he decides to take off and run.

There are two problems Jackson poses though that makes James a less-than-perfect fill in for him.

First, Jackson has very good size. James is listed at 5-9, 185 pounds. Jackson is listed at 6-2, 212 pounds. He’s capable of running through and shaking off defenders in a way James can’t.

Then there’s the throwing aspect. Even if James can throw the ball some, Jackson has been an excellent passer this season. He has a 66.9 percent completion rate to go with a league-best 24 touchdowns and 8.0 percent touchdown rate.

His combination of explosive running and high-level throwing makes him truly unique, and San Francisco’s out-of-the-box preparation speaks to just how unique that is.

Defenses are basically powerless to stop Lamar Jackson in empty formations

The MVP favorite thrives when a defense is spread out.

Lamar Jackson has been dominant in just about every facet of offense. On throws from the pocket, he’s been one of the best in the league. On throws from outside the pocket, he’s been one of the best in the league. On play-action, he’s been one of the best in the league. On scrambles, he’s been one of the best in the league. On designed runs, he’s been … you guessed it: one of the best in the league.

Jackson has been good at everything, which is why he’s the leading candidate for MVP, but there is one split where the 22-year-old star is truly in a league of his own. That’s in empty formations, with no running backs in the backfield and five receiving options lined up out wide. After ringing up four touchdowns from empty formations against the Rams, Jackson is now averaging a ridiculous 0.73 expected points added per attempt from empty for the season, per Sports Info Solutions. That leads the league by a WIDE margin: Patrick Mahomes is second at 0.49.

No other quarterback has been that much better than their peers in any statistical split. The threat Jackson poses in empty is truly unique, which makes sense; he’s a truly unique player and his skill set is particularly dangerous in those empty formations.

Jackson has done most of his damage as a passer from those looks. He’s added “only” 7.7 of his total 58.9 EPA on runs from empty, but it’s the immense threat he poses on the ground that opens up the opportunities he’s taken advantage of in the passing game. When I took a look at the most common coverages teams use against empty last season, there was almost no variation from team-to-team: Everyone is either playing Cover 1 or Cover 3, which are both single-high safety coverages.

Well, you can’t play Cover 1 against Lamar, because you don’t want your coverage players to turn their backs to the pocket. That’s when this happens:

That’s why teams around the league have shied away from playing a lot of man against the Ravens this season.

Cover 3 is also hard to play because you need eyes on the pocket, and with only four defenders underneath, it’s easy for the Ravens to overload those zones. And even if the zone defenders manage to cover all of the receiving options, Lamar can still do this because there will always be an escape route against a four-man rush.

Well, what if you send a fifth rusher in an attempt to close off those escape routes? Now the free safety is put under a tremendous amount of stress if the Ravens send two receivers down the seam.

Ok, so single-high coverages aren’t a great option. How about Cover 2? It’s not much better. With an extra safety deep, the defense surrenders that safety down near the box is now susceptible to the quarterback draw.

And now instead of having two corners and a safety responsible for the deep zones, you now have two safeties and a linebacker covering those spots, which makes it easier to create a mismatch. That’s when the Ravens call their ‘5 Verticals’ concept.

So playing man coverage with safety help is a no go and all of these zone concepts are easily exploited … wait, I got it: How about we just send the house. Force him to get rid of the ball quickly and clog up all of those rush lanes! That should do the trick, right? RIGHT!?!?!?

Nope.

That’s not going to work either. That’s why the Ravens have all that speed in their receiving corps. Play Cover 0 and Jackson will find a matchup he likes and exploit it downfield.

Or in the red zone.

There are no obvious answers for stopping Lamar Jackson out of empty. That may sound like hyperbole, but that 0.73 EPA says otherwise. As does the fact that the greatest tactician in the history of the sport, Bill Belichick, had no answers for Jackson.

As good as Patrick Mahomes and Russell Wilson are, there isn’t a quarterback in the league who puts pressure on a defense quite like Lamar Jackson. The Ravens offensive scheme is founded on formations with multiple tight ends and backs in the backfield, but it’s at its most dangerous when it’s just Jackson back there. You know he’s going to beat you; it’s up to you how he does it.

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Lamar Jackson’s Ravens offense is leaving the punter with nothing to do

It’s good for the Ravens, obviously.

We’re running out of ways to quantify just how good Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens offense have been this season.

But if you’re looking for one more way, this is actually pretty good.

Ravens punter Sam Koch has booted exactly twice in the past three Ravens games. And both of those times came … with Robert Griffin III under center because Baltimore was up in a blowout, and not Jackson.

That means that Jackson has been so good, the Ravens have had no need whatsoever to punt the ball to their opponents. And while I’m sure Koch would love more work to show off his leg, it’s really good news for Baltimore.

Check this out:

And that led to this fact:

WOW. One other part of it is how good the offense is on fourth down:

Unreal.

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Ravens continue top-place dominance in USA TODAY Sports’ power rankings

Beating up on the Los Angeles Rams, 45-6, the Baltimore Ravens proved they’re deserving of the top spot on the power rankings.

Coming into Week 12, plenty of pundits and doubters wondered just how the Baltimore Ravens and their league-leading rushing attack would fare against a Los Angeles Rams defense well equipped to stop it. On the very first drive of the night for Baltimore, we had our answer . . . Running the ball seven of their first nine plays, the Ravens gained 49 yards on the ground. They finished the game with 285 net rushing yards while only allowing Los Angeles to have 221 total net yards.

Since Week 7, Baltimore has been answering every question and caveat put up by those doubting them; and in dominant fashion. After having claimed lopsided victories over four playoff-caliber teams and going on a seven-game winning streak, there should be no one doubting how great this Ravens team actually is.

At the very least, Nate Davis of USA TODAY Sports isn’t. For a third consecutive week, Davis has Baltimore in the No. 1 spot on his power rankings list.

“Yet another milestone now in Lamar Jackson’s sights? He can break franchise’s single-season record for TD passes, which is 33 — set by Vinny Testaverde in 1996.”

Jackson is currently the frontrunner for the NFL’s MVP award this season as well as the leader in Pro Bowl voting — and all for good reason. Jackson was already a dynamic runner but has steadily improved his passing game with each week as he picks apart solid defenses.

Jackson is tied with Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson for touchdown passes at 24. But by doing that on 53 fewer attempts, Jackson leads the league in TD% rate. He’s also tied for the third-highest passer rating and is just the third player in NFL history to post two perfect, 158.3 passer rating games in a single season. All of it combined makes Jackson the best quarterback in the NFL at this point.

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Lamar Jackson becomes the fastest QB in ‘Madden NFL’ history

Lamar Jackson received a boost to his speed rating and has surpassed Michael Vick’s record.

Lamar Jackson rushed for 95 yards on Monday night and demolished the Los Angeles Rams in a 45-6 blowout, and his record rushing totals through 11 games have now earned him video game bragging rights as the fastest quarterback in Madden NFL history. On Tuesday, Michael Vick, who previously held the highest speed rating for a QB, at 95, announced that Jackson’s speed rating in Madden will be upgraded to a 96.

Vick currently holds the single-season rushing record by a quarterback (1,039 yards in 2006), but Jackson is on pace to smash that record, with 876 rushing yards in 11 starts.

“The changing of the guard is all good, man. All records are made to be broken. The next generation are supposed to be better than us. Got to give credit where credit is due. I say, it’s your turn now.”

While Jackson will now have the highest speed rating by a quarterback, no player may ever be as terrifying to opposing defenses as prime Michael Vick in Madden 2004, who essentially broke the game.

Jackson should be considered to be one of the favorites to land the Madden NFL 21 cover. If he receives that honor, he’d be the first Raven to grace the cover since Ray Lewis on Madden NFL 2005.

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Lamar Jackson wins his 4th AFC Offensive Player of the Week award of 2019

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has won the weekly award four times this season, including three times in November.

At this point, the NFL might as well start engraving Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson’s name on the MVP trophy. For the fourth week this season, Jackson was named the AFC’s Offensive Player of the Week. This time for his performance in a Week 12 against the Los Angeles Rams.

Going up against the Rams’ talented defense, Jackson once again picked apart a team en route to a lopsided, 45-6, victory. He completed 15-of-20 passes for 169 yards, five touchdown throws, no interceptions and a 139.4 passer rating. In addition, he added 95 rushing yards on eight carries including yet another insane run. And he did all this while playing little more than three quarters before getting pulled in favor of backup Robert Griffin III with the game already out of control.

It was a November to remember for Jackson, winning the award in three of the four weeks of the month. The only game he didn’t win — Week 11 against the Houston Texans — Jackson very well could have after throwing four touchdown passes and running for 79 yards during Baltimore’s 41-7 victory.

Jackson becomes just the 11th NFL player to win the Player of the Week honor at least four times in a single season. The last time it was done was 2015 when Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton won it five times before winning the MVP award that season.

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