Should the Denver Broncos be evaluating Lamar Jackson?
By Andrew Wade
Lamar Jackson
Nobody will deny that Jackson is an electrifying playmaker, but many scouts will quickly identify that Jackson needs work as a passer. The biggest takeaway from this data is that Jackson may be a more polished passer than initially thought.
His placement and football IQ generally ranked in the top half compared to the 13 identified quarterbacks. In passes beyond the line of scrimmage, he was the third ranked QB in placement just behind Rosen.
Jackson’s accuracy could use work though. His accuracy rating beyond the line of scrimmage was 8th out of 13. Consistently at every level of the field, Jackson’s accuracy was middle of the pack, and his placement was top four. In fact, his placement rating on deep balls was number one.
Jackson is a big threat to beat teams on the move, and the numbers agreed. Jackson’s accuracy improved when he threw on the run, placing him third just behind Mayfield.
Louisville didn’t do Jackson any favors in the passing game either. Jackson had the highest drop rate of all evaluated QBs at 10.8%. This is two points higher than the next closest player. Accounting for that, his adjusted completion percentage of 73.1% ranks him sixth overall.
Despite a low Wonderlic score of 13, the analytics suggest Lamar is a strong mental processor in-game. He posted the third highest adjusted conversion rate in the red zone and had the third lowest interceptable pass percentage. The interceptable pass percentage is half that of Josh Allen’s.
Additionally, he tied with Mayfield for the most attempts beyond the first read at 22%. This is nearly double Sam Darnold’s.