Baltimore Ravens: 3 Reasons Lamar Jackson Should See Early Playing Time

Jackson Needs to Take His Lumps and Learn

As I mentioned earlier, Trubisky and Manning ended up starting early in their careers. Trubisky was an unknown, not having started many games for the North Carolina Tar Heels. Manning was the sure-fire Pro Bowl quarterback waiting to happen. Trubisky went 4-8 last season and Manning went 3-13. Manning went on to have a Hall of Fame career. In his second season, many pick Trubisky to have a breakout season now that he has weapons around him and coached committed to his success on the field.

This is what Jackson needs. Head coach John Harbaugh needs to give the rookie a lot of snaps during the preseason. Then, as the regular season progresses, Jackson needs some snaps.

The Ravens need to look at their situation realistically. They need to answer this question — are they serious title contenders with Flacco?

Flacco is up in age and his performance has progressively worsened over the past several seasons.

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As you can see, the Ravens’ passing game under Flacco has been pedestrian over the past four seasons. Sure, he’ll show flashes every once in a while, but his better days are behind him.

It’s time to mix in some Jackson into the mix. If Flacco stumbles out of the gate, the Ravens need to consider benching him and start the new era.

In their initial depth chart, the Ravens have Jackson as the third-string quarterback behind Flacco and Robert Griffin III. Jackson should pass RGIII on the depth chart fairly quickly. Then he sets his sights on Flacco.

Jackson has to improve his footwork and work on his accuracy. He needs real reps in order to do so. Griffin is a bridge at best. In addition, he’s too injury-prone to depend on. Jackson is the future and needs the work so he could improve what needs to improve. Yes, the team wants to ease him in, but they could do so by giving him real reps and work on the field so he could learn quickly.

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