The AFC conference has become a gauntlet for any team to make their way to the Super Bowl with the amount of talent, specifically at the QB position. The Baltimore Ravens have their own superstar at QB in Lamar Jackson but around the league he is seen behind some of conference rivals.
ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler complied his article on “Execs, coaches, scouts rank NFL’s top 10 QBs for 2024,” and spoke to those around the league about the most important position in the league. According to those he talked to, Jackson ranked fourth in the league behind Kansas City Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, Cincinnati Bengals QB Joe Burrow and Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.
Fowler wrote, “It took far too long, but NFL circles are finally giving Jackson respect as a top-tier passer. He nearly snagged the No. 2 spot but got slightly outpaced by Burrow and Allen in the voting.”
LAMAR. JACKSON. WHAT A PLAY.
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Mahomes is clearly the top choice as the Chiefs have won three of the last five Super Bowls and are the favorites to three-peat.
Arguments could be made for the following three, but Jackson has something the others do not have, MVPs. Jackson was ranked 7th last season and amongst those surveyed this season he was ranked as high as 2 and as low as 7.
Jackson led the Ravens to the No. 1 seed in the AFC and brought the Ravens to the AFC championship last season.
Lamar Jackson Has Proven He Is More Than a Running QB
When Jackson was coming out of Louisville the concern was about his ability to throw, as he is one of the most prolific runners in the college game. The thought was that Jackson may be a project when it comes to his passing ability in the NFL.
One executive told Fowler, “How he came in, with everything stuck to that stigma as a runner, that sticks with you as a pro until you prove them wrong.” If 2023 is any indication of Jackson’s ability as a thrower that belief should be gone.
The first-round pick set career highs in attempts (457), completions (307), completion percentage (67%) and passing yards with 3,678. Most importantly Jackson was able to stay healthy for the whole season and played in the most games of his career, only missing the final game against the Pittsburgh Steelers to prepare for the playoffs.
Jackson’s two best passing grades according to Pro Football Focus came in his MVP seasons 2019 (85.3) and 2023 (85.1).
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Former MVP QB Cam Newton believes that Jackson is the best dual-threat QB to ever play in the NFL. At only 27, Jackson is still in his prime, but as he gets older will need to rely more on his arm.
The same NFC executive told Fowler, “There wasn’t any doubt who the best player in the league was last year. So, it’s long been time to put that to rest.”
The Ravens have the third best odds in the NFL to win the Super Bowl, and second-best odds to win the conference. As long as Jackson is at the helm the Ravens will be one of the most dangerous teams in the NFL to face.
Lamar Jackson Has Good Head-to-Head Record
Jackson is not worried about individual accolades at this point of his career as he is squarely focused on winning a Super Bowl.
However, he has performed well against both Allen and Burrow, Mahomes and the Chiefs have had his number. Allen himself is a strong dual-threat QB but like Jackson has come up short in the playoff conversation, failing in his one appearance in the AFC championship as well.
When facing Allen, Jackson is 2-1 in the regular season, but Allen did win their only playoff matchup in 2020.
Burrow on the other hand has been dominated by the Ravens and Jackson. Jackson is 4-1 head-to-head with Burrow and 8-1 in games he has started against the Bengals.
Where Burrow gets an edge over both Jackson and Allen is his leading the Bengals to the Super Bowl, although they lost to the Los Angeles Rams.
2024 should be another entertaining season as all three teams are expected to compete for the AFC conference and should give the fans some juicy matchups in the playoffs.
