Michael David Smith ,
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Throughout his career, Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has been able to make plays with his legs like no other quarterback in NFL history. But not this year.
Although Jackson’s passing stats are as good as ever this season, he has declined significantly in his ability to gain ground running the ball, and to use his mobility to avoid sacks.
Jackson has run the ball just 46 times for 237 yards and one touchdown through eight games this season. He’s averaging career lows in rushing attempts, yards and touchdowns per game. In fact, totaling seven carries for 11 yards on Sunday against the Jets, Jackson is all the way down to an average of 29.6 rushing yards per game this season. Less than 30 yards rushing per game is unheard of for Jackson; prior to this year, Jackson had never averaged less than 50 rushing yards per start in any season of his career.
Jackson is also struggling to run away from the pass rush. He has been sacked on 11 percent of his dropbacks this season, by far the highest sack percentage in any season of his career. Jackson has already been sacked more times this year, while throwing just 195 passes, than he was all of last year, when he threw a career-high 474 passes.
In the first game of this season, Jackson was moving as he always has: He ran the ball six times for 70 yards and a touchdown against the Bills. Since then, he hasn’t gained even 50 yards in any game, and hasn’t run for a touchdown.
Jackson missed three games with a hamstring injury and is currently dealing with a toe injury, but the Ravens shook off a 1-5 start to win five games in a row and are now in first place in the AFC North. A healthy and mobile Jackson in the playoffs could make the Ravens a dangerous opponent, but so far this season we haven’t seen the Jackson of old.
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