The Lamar Jackson Backlash is Coming and It'll Be Stupid

Lamar Jackson threw another five touchdown passes last night as the Ravens' march to homefield in the AFC throughout the playoffs continues. The dual-threat quarterback is putting together one of the most in-your-face displays of objective and subjective greatness the league has ever seen. Jackson now has 33 touchdowns against six interceptions and has run for 1,103 yards and seven scores.

It would be inaccurate to say no one saw this coming. For every doubter there was a person who, you know, watched college football and understood that Jackson would be incredibly successful if placed in the right system and trusted to use his strengths. But let there be no revisionist history: there were plenty of doubters.

And because we can't have nice things, they are waiting in the woodwork to emerge when/if Jackson either regresses or gets injured. Nick Wright pointed out this unfortunate reality on this morning's First Things First and it's a bummer.

It's coming. As much as it stinks to realize, this phenomenon is coming. It's unreasonable to believe Jackson will continue to play at this level for the rest of his career. It's unreasonable to believe he won't get hurt.

It's probably time to gird yourself against the backlash and chest-pounding because it's going to be profoundly stupid. Every pocket passer who has ever played has gotten injured. Every quarterback who has ever taken a snap has struggled at some point. As much as Jackson appears to be not of this world, he is human.

Important to remember that in the good times and the bad.