Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

Lamar Jackson’s high school coach is retired now, having coached for 42 years. He has seen it all, including when Tommie Frazier ran wild in Bradenton, Florida, back in the early 1990s. He remembers the reaction to Jackson when he arrived at Boynton Beach High School in 2012, and he remembers it wasn’t always positive or fair.

“He got so much publicity,” Rick Swain says. “It’s a natural thing to resent. They resented him.”

“They” would be teammates and teachers. Not a majority; just a few. But enough so that Swain noticed.

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“I think everybody kinda wants to be him,” he said. “It’s a natural thing, when you have the accolades and the talent. He was pretty damn crazy amazing in high school.”

Swain describes a weird reaction to Jackson, a reluctance to believe what you see. There’s an effortless style to his game that is deceiving. Jackson came out for varsity football as a sophomore transfer and Swain didn’t have anything option-related in the offense except for maybe one play.

“We’d gone over stuff but never really run it,” he says. “When I saw him stick his foot in the ground, I went to my assistant and said, ‘Me and you are meeting right after practice.’ ”

The assistant did a double-take. Didn’t Swain swear by his tried-and-true Wing-T offense? He’s going to reboot it for this player?

“I love it,” he said, “but when you have something like this … ”

Swain went to pistol formation and four-wideout sets. He now had his own Tommie Frazier – except this kid could throw it 70 yards. A school that never sent a player to Division I when Swain arrived was about to export a player to Louisville to win the Heisman Trophy. And that wasn’t all; Swain says 21 of Jackson’s prep teammates went on to play some level of college football.

“Having Lamar exposed a lot of other players,” Swain says. “I don’t think they realized it [at the time].”

Now Swain is wondering if the NFL realizes what it has in Jackson. Once again there seems to be an uncertain reaction to him. While most of the quarterbacks coming out of college this year are projected optimistically, almost irrationally, Jackson hasn’t gotten that response. There was debate that he should play another position.

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Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

Good article. I am high on this kid and would be happy if we drafted him but we are so close to a Super Bowl that I'm fine going with a piece to upgrade the defense.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

If we have people who believe Taysom Hill can be the next Saints QB, then nobody should be doubting Jackson’s ability to do the same at an even higher level.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

An "almost blocked punt" & a couple of s/t tackles does not make him a heir apparent to Brees. At best, he beats out Savage for a back up spot.

Joe Buck and Aikman took something Payton said last December and ran with it.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

He has more rushing yards than Barkley last two years. Maybe he will be the one that finally shows a running QB can have a long productive career in the NFL.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

It's a fantasy to think a running QB can have a long productive career in the NFL. Defenses are simply too big and too fast to compete with on a consistent basis. Simply put passers are protected in the pocket, and runners are not.

That's why the most successful "running" QBs are the scramblers like Wilson and Rodgers. Use your legs to elude the rush, scramble when you have to, but operate with the primary plan of passing the ball.

All QBs in the NFL must first and foremost be rated on passing ability. If you cannot pass the ball, then nothing else matters.

SFIAH

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

That was the joke.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

I wish him well.....just not in New Orleans. :bng:

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

I'm in for drafting him.

Race is the Elephant In The Room?
Can't be that when so many in sports journalism are obsessed with race.
It's blamed for EVERYTHING that doesn't fit the social justice agenda.

Re: Lamar Jackson's speed is blinding some to his promise as NFL draft prospect
 

i would like it if he can play a little WR while he is holding Brees clipboard for 2 years. Then he can take over. If he can't help this year, then we go TE or DE or WR.