Lamar Jackson and “overrated” do not belong in the same sentence. We’re talking about the two-time regular-season MVP (three times in our hearts) here.
Advertisement
We’re talking about the overlooked college prospect who was asked to switch to wide receiver and slid to the final pick of the first round in 2017. And then he led the Ravens to the postseason in every year but two, including a trip to the AFC title game, all while holding the best winning record in franchise history in his second season. If anything, Lamar Jackson is underrated.
Yet, Alex Kay of Bleacher Report recently ranked the Ravens QB as his most overrated quarterback today, even saying Jackson might be the most overrated of all time. Kay’s biggest argument was that Jackson “hasn’t found a way to deliver when it truly counts.”
The B/R writer also pointed out that Jackson has yet to win a Super Bowl ring, comparing him to other multiple-time MVPs who have one. Naturally, this insane ranking has frustrated a lot of people, including former NFL safety Ryan Clark.
“This is either the most biased thing I’ve ever read, they know it’s ridiculous, or they did it so people could talk about it,” Clark said about the article on his IG rant.
“To say that Lamar Jackson is the most overrated quarterback in the league and then use the metric of quarterbacks with multiple MVPs that don’t have Super Bowls is truly, truly disingenuous. All of those other quarterbacks are finished with their career outside of Patrick Mahomes, who we hold in a different standard,” added the former player-turned analyst.
Outside of Mahomes, Kay named quarterbacks like Johnny Unitas, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, Brett Favre, Joe Montana, Steve Young, Kurt Warner, and Patrick Mahomes, who’ve all won a Super Bowl while boasting multiple MVPs.
However, that’s not exactly a fair comparison when Jackson is only 28 with most of his career still ahead of him. And let’s not forget that Manning won his first Super Bowl at age 30 and already had two MVPs before that. It’s no wonder Clark pushed back so hard on the writer’s argument.
“They didn’t talk about the fact that Lamar’s a generational talent running the football. And not just for a quarterback, but for any football player that’s ever played this game. [He] is a historically, traditionally, a great passer. Not just a great passer, but a great passer on the level of QBR and efficiencies and completion percentage and interception and touchdown ratio,” he continued.
Clark admitted that Jackson has underachieved in the playoffs, but calling a guy who’s a season away from cracking the top 100 in career passing yards, who has logged a 4000-plus passing season with over 800 rushing yards, overrated is “foul.”
“What Lamar Jackson has done, Lamar Jackson has earned. And if you wanna say he underachives in the playoffs, then that I give you. But to call this man overrated is crazy… I get it, I wanna see him play well in the playoffs too. I wanna see him be the same MVP Lamar in the playoffs as we see during the season. But to call this man overrated is foul.”
View this post on Instagram
We’ll have to agree with Clark here. And the main reason is the fact that Jackson plays in a conference that also has Mahomes. Let’s not forget about the man who goes beast mode in the playoffs. He was the one to beat the Ravens in the AFC title game.
Regardless, Jackson is poised to make the big game any season now. With the way he has dominated, it wouldn’t be surprising one bit.
