Lamar Jackson is just 14 games into his starting career for the Baltimore Ravens, through the seventh game of his second season after starting seven games as a rookie. He has already recorded four 100-yard rushing games during that time, including yesterday’s game and now in back-to-back weeks, with three on the season so far.
According to Pro Football Reference, he joins rather exclusive company in that distinction. He is now one of just three quarterbacks in NFL history (since 1950) to have rushed for at least 100 yards in four different games.
His effort yesterday brought him into a tie for second place with the quarterback that he had just beaten, that being Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks. The only player to have recorded more than four games of 100 rushing yards or more as a quarterback is…well, you know who it is.
Between the ages of 22 and 30, Michael Vick recorded 100 rushing yards on a game on an astonishing 10 separate occasions, including eight while he was with the Atlanta Falcons and then twice after he was released from prison while he was with the Philadelphia Eagles. He is also one of only four quarterbacks (Jackson being one of the others) to rush for at least 150 yards, accomplishing that feat twice.
But the pace that Jackson is on is rather astonishing, to have recorded four 100-yard games in just 14 starts. Vick only recorded his fourth 100-yard rushing game in his fourth season, but then he would go on to have six in a two-year span to account for the bulk of his numbers.
Jackson already has three on the year, with nine games left to play. How many 100-yard games will he finish with? If he recorded one more—and the odds would obviously favor him doing so at this point—then he would set a new record for the most such games by a quarterback in a single season.
He already became the first quarterback in NFL history to rush for 100 yards in consecutive games. Week in and week out, the young man has made quality defenders look foolish with his elusiveness in the open field, Terrell Edmunds of the Pittsburgh Steelers finding that out for himself a few weeks ago.
At this point, it’s tape that everybody’s seen. People around the league are aware of Jackson and what the Ravens are permitting him to do. It’s far from just designed runs. He recorded over 80 yards on scrambles yesterday.
It seems that the only thing that is going to slow him down any time soon is if he gets injured, and as big a Steelers fan as I am, I of course would never want to see that happen. I just want teams to figure out to contain him better, because right now, he’s just embarrassing people.
Jackson has 576 rushing yards through six games, which is the sixth-most in the NFL as of this writing. It’s also the third-most in the AFC behind Leonard Fournette and Nick Chubb. The Steelers’ leading rusher, James Conner, has 235 rushing yards, the 39th-most in the NFL.
