Lamar Jackson finished the 2023 NFL season hoisting the league’s MVP trophy for the second time in his career.
Jackson tallied a career-high 3,678 passing yards and 24 touchdowns while only throwing seven interceptions. He completed 307-of-his-457 (67.2%) pass attempts last season as well.
Still, this isn’t enough for NFL analyst Nick Wright to slot the Baltimore Ravens quarterback in his top-five QB list. His list consisted of the following: Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen, Joe Burrow, CJ Stroud — and a surprising fifth choice.
“I would probably go Caleb [Williams], but if you guys don’t want me to put a rookie, I’ll say, [Matthew] Stafford,” Wright said during an episode of ‘What’s Wright? With Nick Wright.’ “I know people think I’m being disrespectful to Lamar, I’m just being honest.”
Of course, this begs the question — what does Lamar Jackson have to do for Wright to consider him as one of the top-five quarterbacks in the NFL?
“I mean, I don’t know,” he continued. “Not every single year have the worst game of his season in the playoffs every single year of his career. I mean, score more than 10 points in a home conference championship game.
“I don’t know. I like Lamar, I root for Lamar. If I’m being honest, do I think he’s one of the five best quarterbacks in football? I don’t.”
The Ravens finished with a 13-4 record last season and won the AFC North for the first time since 2019. Hopes were high heading into the postseason as Baltimore would handily defeat CJ Stroud and the Houston Texans 34-10 in the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs.
However, Baltimore would fall 17-10 against the eventual Super Bowl Champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Championship game at home.
Jackson averaged 212 rushing yards per game in the playoffs while adding 154 rushing yards. Jackson’s 154 rushing yards are the fifth-most in the NFL Playoffs this season, including running backs. However, it wasn’t enough to get past Mahomes and the Chiefs.
Heading into the 2024 season, Jackson is poised to have another star-studded season as he continues to seek the first Super Bowl ring of his career. While he came close, Wright’s point that Jackson hasn’t been able to get it done in the playoffs rings true. However, it’s up for debate if a rookie with no NFL experience should be in front of him in any quarterback ranking list.
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