Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
Well, look who it is. After watching Lamar Jackson run around during the preseason, most of our discussions about him sounded exactly like every other conversation that we’ve had where he was part of the subject matter.
We all expected that the Baltimore Ravens and their running quarterback would unleash one of the best rushing attacks in the NFL, and they’d ride that to a division title, depending on what happened between them and their rivals, the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Then, Jackson walked onto the field at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami and lit up the Dolphins with his arm as the Ravens put up 59 points and Jackson earned a perfect quarterback rating while completing 85 percent of his passes. That puts him on top of anyone else on this list in those categories. He also bested his peers in touchdown passes and total QBR.
Don’t look now, but the Ravens are going to be seen as a threat, and though there are some very good teams on their schedule, there are quite a few games where Jackson and company can put up some big-time numbers.
Week 1 Grade: A