Despite the fact that he was a Heisman trophy winner and two time finalist, as well as the first-overall draft choice for the Baltimore Ravens, not many were optimistic about Lamar Jackson’s NFL career. Some scouts went as far as to suggest that he’d be better off as a wide receiver, and even after he managed to win 19 of his first 22 starts in the league, you still had some former players and analysts, such as Ryan Clark, suggesting that the Ravens would have been better off with Kyler Murray instead.
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“If Kyler Murray, right now, was the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, we’d have much more confidence in them to win the Super Bowl,” Clark asserted during a 2020 appearance on ESPN. “If Kyler Murray was the quarterback of this team, I see them in the AFC championship going toe to toe, head to head, with the Kansas City Chiefs… If you were starting your team, Kyler Murray would be your guy.”
.@Realrclark25 would choose Kyler Murray over Lamar Jackson to start a franchise with.
"If Kyler Murray, right now, was the quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens, we'd have much more confidence in them to win the Super Bowl." pic.twitter.com/kkxWwh0fQp
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) November 11, 2020
Even though Jackson had already managed to claim his first regular-season MVP award at the time of Clark’s initial take, the former Pittsburgh Steeler was still willing to favor Murray, who the Arizona Cardinals just recently released. Thankfully, it seems as if Jackson’s continued success has finally helped Clark to see things clearly.
In the time that has passed since Clark made his choice between Jackson and Murray, the Ravens QB has managed to collect two more All-Pro titles, a second AP MVP award, three Pro Bowl nominations, and a pair of Offensive Player of the Year awards as well. In other words, his left Clark with no choice other than to admit that he was wrong.
“I was wrong,” the former safety noted during his latest podcast episode. “At that point, Kyler was leading the MVP conversation. They asked me to pick a side, and I picked a side. I picked the more fun side, the one that was more difficult to prove. But at the time, it was a sound argument.”
Unfortunately for Clark, that admission wasn’t enough to stop his co-hosts, Channing Crowder and Fred Taylor, nor fans online, from laughing at his misfortune. “That’s a terrible take,” the former Miami Dolphin cracked while throwing his head back. “Kyler Murray is the size of a tic tac now.”
At least Clark can find some solace in the fact that he wasn’t the only one who was made to be a fool by Jackson. The Louisville QB was one of the most misunderstood prospects in recent times, and in some ways, despite all of his aforementioned accolades, he still is.
Scouts, fans, former players, and everyone else in between have gone from questioning if he was even capable of quarterbacking at the next level to knocking him for not having appeared in a Super Bowl yet. That in and of itself tells you all that you need to know about Jackson, because even if he never gets his due recognition, he’s at least been able to command the respect that he deserves, and that should suffice for now.
