Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson set the world on first three seasons with his prolific rushing stats. However, Jackson has fallen out of favor with some fans after some unceremonious playoff defeats.
The Ravens would pick up Jackson’s fifth-year option, allowing them to get another couple of seasons to gauge whether he was the long-term answer at quarterback. This rubbed Jackson the wrong way as he and the Ravens would go back and forth over the next two years in the media
It was heavily reported that the hold up with the deal was that Jackson wanted more guaranteed money than Deshaun Watson, who got $230 million guaranteed. Although now it seems that he just wanted a little help from the organization.
Back on April 10. The Ravens signed former pro-bowler Odell Beckham Jr. to a one-year deal worth up to $18 million. Just a little over two weeks later Jackson would finally end his dispute with the team and sign a record breaking five-year $260 million contract, with just $185M guaranteed.
How Much Impact Will Beckham have?
Beckham can still be a solid player, however, there is a lot of baggage that comes with having on your roster. Back when he still played for the Giants, he had many on-field outbursts and even got into a now infamous scuffle with Josh Norman.
Beckham was quiet for most of his Browns tenure until his last season with the team when his father made him a giant team distraction again. His father posted videos and posts about quarterback Baker Mayfield's incompetence and highlighting missed throws leading to his bittersweet exit with the team a few days later
If the distractions weren’t enough, Beckham also has an extensive injury history. He started his career relatively healthy, but after the 2016 season everything fell apart quickly.
Since the end of 2016, Beckham has had four separate season-ending injuries, including two ACL tears, one of which sidelined him for all last season. He has missed 43 games in the last six seasons out of a possible 96 games. This begs the question whether he can still be an impact player.
Relation to Lamar
Unlike the elite dual-threat quarterbacks in the league, Jackson has still never taken the leap in the passing game. In his first five seasons, he has still never thrown for more than 3,200 yards in a season, and only has 101 career touchdowns, 73 of which came in the redzone.
This isn’t a bad thing, but it means Jackson rarely ever throws the ball down the field, especially for touchdowns. While he has never had the luxury of having an elite number one receiver, Jackson has had some talent at the position. He has thrown to players like Marquise Brown, Sammy Watkins, Rashod Bateman, and Mark Andrews.
Over his career, Jackson has proved to be inaccurate and inconsistent in his throwing motion. He has flashes of greatness and then makes an errant, off-balance throw that is nowhere near his target.
Usually, these things can be improved with the addition of a number one receiver, but things are different with Jackson. He will be entering his sixth season in 2023 and is 26 years old. If he was going to make the jump from good to great passer, history says he would have made it already.
Even if he does make the jump, at this point in his career Beckham is a far cry from a number one receiver. Coming off essentially back-to-back ACL tears and being four years removed from his last 1,000-yard season, Beckham’s days of being an elite receiver may be over.
While the discourse around the Ravens has been overwhelmingly positive since the announcement of these two deals, this offseason has major bust potential for Baltimore.
Comentarios