2018 NFL Draft: Michael Vick defends Lamar Jackson against criticism
Some believe 2018 NFL Draft prospect Lamar Jackson should play wide receiver, but Michael Vick believes the Louisville star is quite clearly a quarterback.
The 2018 NFL Draft features a number of intriguing talents at the quarterback position. Four of those players are expected to be top-11 picks: Josh Allen of the Wyoming Cowboys, Sam Darnold of the USC Trojans, Baker Mayfield of the Oklahoma Sooners, and Josh Rosen of the UCLA Bruins.
While most believe that Mason Rudolph is going to be the fifth quarterback off the board, it’s Lamar Jackson who’s beginning to steal headlines—again.
Jackson won the Heisman Trophy as a quarterback, but Bill Polian recently stated his opinion that the Louisville Cardinals star should play wide receiver in the NFL. It isn’t the most uncommon belief, but it’s one that many have fought back against.
According to Chase Goodbread of NFL.com, four-time Pro Bowler Michael Vick dismissed the idea that Jackson is a wide receiver during a recent appearance on the Move The Sticks podcast.
"“He’s a quarterback. I’ve been hearing about things about him playing receiver, they’ll probably say he needs to play defensive back next,” Vick said. “But listen, the kid is 6-3, 215 pounds. But for anybody to say Lamar Jackson is a receiver, I don’t think they understand the quarterback position. I don’t think they appreciate the value that could be [brought] from the quarterback position. If I was the GM, I would draft him. Whether it’s first round or fourth round, you look at all the quarterbacks coming out of the draft, they’re all projects. Nobody is guaranteed to do anything.”"
Whether or not you believe Jackson can be an NFL-caliber quarterback, the points that Vick raises certainly offer the foundation for discussion.
Jackson is a 6’3″ and 215-pound quarterback whose first instinct appears to be to run the football. That’s a divisive truth, but he’s also a player with a big arm, completion percentages that improved in every season he played, and athleticism that should dazzle at the Scouting Combine.
The concern, however, is that his accuracy as an intermediate passer and his tendency to throw interceptions in big games are signs that he’ll struggle to play quarterback.
The point that Vick raises is that a grand total of zero quarterbacks in this draft class come without significant concerns.
Allen has a big arm, but shares Jackson’s weakness of inaccuracy and a tendency to turn the ball over. Rosen is a mechanically flawless quarterback, but he also has a thin frame that some fear won’t hold up in the NFL—again, much like Jackson.
Darnold has trouble reading defenses, Mayfield is somewhat undersized, and Rudolph played in a system that simplified the game for him in a way that NFL offenses simply won’t be able to.
Yet, every one of those players is viewed as a safer pick than Jackson—possible hypocrisy that Vick was quick to point out.
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The question is: Which franchise will give Lamar Jackson the opportunity that any feel he deserves at the 2018 NFL Draft?