Lamar Jackson Has "No Shot at Playing Quarterback in the NFL" Says Anonymous Scout

Lamar Jackson, the Louisville sophomore QB who just won the Heisman trophy, is the best returning player at his position next year. It’s not really close, either. There are nice college QBs like Sam Darnold (USC), Baker Mayfield (Oklahoma), Josh Rosen (UCLA), Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State) and Luke Falk (Washington State) all returning, but Jackson is the most dynamic, exciting, and explosive.

Jackson has an entire year to prepare for the NFL Draft. He’ll be a difficult prospect to evaluate because of the Louisville spread offense, and because of how many Michael Vick plays he makes in college that he simply won’t be able to produce at the next level.

Alas, there’s this, from Sports Illustrated:

"The coach did add that he considers Watson an exponentially better quarterback prospect than Louisville QB Lamar Jackson, who won the Heisman Trophy. “Watson has a chance to be at least as good as Winston,” he said. “We played he and Lamar Jackson, and Jackson has no shot at playing quarterback in the NFL. None. He can’t make the throws and can’t read coverages. He’s not going to have a chance. Watson stands tall in the pocket and whips the ball around like Ben Roethlisberger.”"

Gotta love scouts. They hate everyone. Guess it’s part of the job description – find flaws so we don’t pick the wrong guy and we all get to keep our jobs. But to say that Jackson has “no shot” at the NFL is laughable.

The kid just turned 20 last week. He is so reliant on his legs in the pocket, he didn’t have to go through his reads, or regularly make NFL throws – he could just tuck and run. Remember how DeShaun Watson started slowly this year at Clemson and was running significantly less than he was in 2015?

I fully expect the same start from Lamar Jackson next year. He knows what the pros want to see, and the guess here is he shows them.

Oh, and looking up and down the NFL QB stats this year, Trevor Siemian, who was a below average QB in the Big 10, threw 486 passes in Denver. Brock Osweiler, who heisted $37 million guaranteed from Houston, is a starter. Case Keenum started nine games. Bryce Petty, who may or may not be able to identify a middle linebacker, started five games for the Jets (and that’s after “redshirting” his rookie year). Cody Kessler was drafted by the Browns and played significantly.

There is plenty of bad play at the QB position in the NFL right now.

Lamar Jackson’s response to the anonymous scout?