FF Draft Guide 2022: Lamar Jackson, QB

Ravens QB Lamar Jackson has been electric since he entered the league in 2018. There’s no other quarterback like him in the NFL. He has 9+ carries in over 70% of his starts, and each of his four seasons in the NFL are all in the Top 8 of QB carries in the league’s history.

But he does more than that. Putting aside his rookie season when he only started seven games, Jackson averaged 208.7 passing yards per game, and 26 passing touchdowns per season.

To the naked eye, his 2021 season was a bit of a disappointment. Jackson battled injuries while the Ravens as a whole were plagued by bad luck. Even still, when on the field, he was effective.

Playing in just 11 full games, Jackson averaged a career-high 260.5 passing yards, while still putting up a respectable 63.9 rushing yards per game. He completed 64.4% of his passes, which matched his 2020 season, while improving his yards-per-attempt up to 7.5 (8th).

The big question surrounding him this year is if he will be healthy enough to play in all 17 games. Baltimore made upgrading their OL in the offseason a priority, adding Tyler Linderbaum in the draft and signing Morgan Mosese. Both those additions should provide Jackson with a more stable pocket at least, while also giving him some breathing room to scramble around. Aside from that, getting RBs J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards back should help take some of the pressure off Jackson to produce on the ground.

Health & Draft Analysis – Jackson comes with undeniable upside. He is faster and more agile than most running backs, while having a rocket arm that works to all zones of the field. Unfortunately, his style of play often results in injuries of one form or another.

The good news is that none of his injuries from last season are too concerning heading into 2022. Our algorithm predicts an Injury Risk of 7%, which is Low. His Health Performance Factor is Peak (98%), which pairs well with the Low Injury Risk. For me, I like him as QB5. Grab him in the fifth round.