After a rookie season that had many believing in his unique abilities and equally as many people doubting them, Lamar Jackson came into his second year as something of a question mark. And the former Heisman Trophy winner has emphatically answered the question.
Leading the Baltimore Ravens to a 10-2 record — which is currently good for the #1 seed in the AFC thanks to their tie-breaking win over the New England Patriots — the sophomore signal-caller is now the front-runner to win this season’s MVP Award.
Posting rushing numbers unlike any we’ve ever seen through 12 games, Jackson has rushed for 977 yards and seven touchdowns, while also throwing for 2,532 yards, 25 touchdowns, and just five interceptions on 66.5% completion percentage. It’s truly electric stuff.
Jackson has been so box office that he’s naturally been compared to some of the other greatest running quarterbacks of all-time, most notably Michael Vick. And according to ESPN NFL analyst Dominique Foxworth, despite being just two years into his professional career, Jackson is already better than Vick ever was.
“I understand why the comparison is made, but we should stop it. He’s not Michael Vick. He’s better at being Michael Vick than Michael Vick was. I understand why we want to go there, but we need to start comparing him to Marino, to Manning, to Brees, to Brady. That’s the trajectory his career is going on,” Foxworth said on Thursday’s episode of Get Up.
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 5, 2019
Foxworth, who was drafted by the Broncos in 2005, was in the league at the same time as Vick, so he certainly has the required perspective to make such a call.
Eric is a New York City-based writer who still isn’t quite sure how he’s allowed to have this much fun for a living and will tell anyone who listens that Gotham City is canonically in New Jersey. Follow him on Twitter @eric_ital for movie and soccer takes or contact him eric@brobible.com
