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

SmashMouth · 04-03-2018, 06:35 AM

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.

“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.

Read more on Yahoo Sports

04-03-2018, 06:35 AM	#1
SmashMouth I donated, did you? Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: Mandeville, LA Posts: 38,477 Blog Entries: 29	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. “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. Read more on Yahoo Sports RockyMountainSaint and darksoul35 like this.