Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is one of the best in the league at his position, and the fine folks over at PFF seem to agree. Analyst Sam Monson recently released his quarterback rankings, and had Lamar Jackson come in as the sixth-best passer in the game. While this might sound about right, some of his explanations for justifying that ranking are a little surprising.
PFF: Lamar Jackson Is the NFL’s Sixth-Best Quarterback
The Ranking
Jackson comes in right after Justin Herbert and Aaron Rodgers and right before Jalen Hurts and Trevor Lawrence, which sounds about right. There is no denying that, while all five quarterbacks mentioned are not Patrick Mahomes, they’re basically the next-best thing. However, Monson’s reasoning for Lamar Jackson’s PFF ranking is a little quations.
“Jackson is a former league MVP. He’s also coming off consecutive injury-marred seasons and is changing offensive systems for the first time in his NFL career. Greg Roman built a bespoke offense around Jackson, but now Jackson has to adapt his game to a more conventional offense under Todd Monken.”
From the sounds of it, Monson appears to be worried that Monken’s presence might lead to some regression from Jackson. While there is some concern about his ability to operate a more conventional offense, the pros of the switch should vastly outweigh the cons. Roman excelled at drawing up complex rushing concepts, but his work in the passing game left a lot to be desired. For most of the past three seasons, Jackson has been dealing with poorly-designed route combinations and, at best, one or two NFL-caliber receivers at a time.
Lamar Jackson sounds excited about the Ravens’ off-season additions, saying today, “I want to throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have.” pic.twitter.com/0mq4KM8HBw
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 4, 2023
If Jackson can succeed in that environment, then he should be able to thrive in a better scheme with more talented wide receivers. While the injury concerns are genuine, nobody should be questioning the results while he’s at full strength.
Is the Lamar Jackson PFF Ranking Fair?
Lamar Jackson is a top 5-10 quarterback in the league, but did PFF properly rank him among his peers? Well, there is a case to be made that he should be above Aaron Rodgers. While the four-time NFL MVP is one of the greatest players to ever lace them up, he slowed down a bit last year. Perhaps that was just due to a poor supporting cast, but there is a strong case to be made that the 39-year-old quarterback isn’t going to be at his best next year. He’ll still be a good quarterback, but top-five might be stretching it.
Additionally, you could also make the case that Jalen Hurts should be ranked above Lamar Jackson. While he doesn’t have the MVP, Hurt lit up the league and finished the season with one of the best Super Bowl performances in recent memory, even if he didn’t come out on top. He’s arguably the most unstoppable dual-threat quarterback in football and should be in the conversation for the top five.
Ultimately, these are just nitpicks. While Monson’s concern with Lamar Jackson’s fit in Todd Monken’s offense might be overblown, the quarterback should be one of the best in the league, and the PFF rankings reflect that. As long as he’s on the field and healthy, the Ravens will be one of the best teams in the league.
Main Photo: Brent Skeen – USA Today Sports
