Baltimore Ravens: Mark Schlereth Is Right, Stop Making Excuses For Lamar Jackson – 2024 Offseason

The Baltimore Ravens have a franchise quarterback, the Dallas Cowboys have a franchise quarterback, the Cincinnati Bengals have a franchise quarterback, and the Kansas City Chiefs have THE franchise quarterback. However, in an NFL flush with as much quarterback talent as ever, media outlets are as critical as ever of the league’s 32-plus passers. Dallas quarterback Dak Prescott enters the 2024 campaign as one of the most scrutinized signal-callers in the league despite being fresh off an MVP-caliber season. Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow, who has maintained a beautiful 101.0 quarterback rating since 2021, has his fair share of critics despite a Super Bowl appearance in the past half-decade. The one quarterback to routinely sidestep criticism is Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson.

Why some media personalities (looking at you, ESPN) tend to point blame away from Jackson during Baltimore’s shortcomings is a different story. Nevertheless, one thing is for sure. Former Denver Broncos standout lineman turned NFL insider Mark Schlereth has had enough of Baltimore Ravens fans making excuses for Jackson when he has consistently fallen short each season. Schlereth, on the Stinkin’ Truth Podcast, took aim at Baltimore devotees, more particularly Lamar Jackson fans, earlier this week for their inability to see past his shortcomings.

Mark Schlereth: Rips Baltimore Ravens and Lamar Jackson Fans

Mark Schlereth, a three-time Super Bowl champ and two-time Pro Bowl guard, is respected in the NFL community. He transitioned into a successful television and radio career after his playing career ended in 2000. Schlereth has worked with major sports networks like ESPN and FS1 and currently hosts his podcast while working simultaneously with FOX. On the latest episode of the Stinkin’ Truth Podcast, Schlereth, a longtime NFL standout, didn’t hold back in his criticism of Lamar Jackson fans’ inability to be critical of the franchise passer.

I’m tired of hearing from Lamar Stans! The Stink truth https://t.co/MIS6UUhAOK pic.twitter.com/klCnE846C5

— Mark Schlereth (@markschlereth) July 2, 2024

“I do not want to hear from all of you out there that are telling me that Lamar Jackson, ‘well, they don’t get him weapons.’ How many first-round wide receivers do you need to draft? ‘Well, they’re not drafting the right ones.’ Well, you’re not developing them,” said Schlereth. Lamar Jackson fans are often critical of the offensive playmakers surrounding their favorite quarterback. However, since Jackson entered the league in 2016, the Baltimore Ravens have burned first-round selections on tight end Hayden Hurst and wide receivers Rashon Bateman, Zay Flowers, and Marquise “Hollywood” Brown. Meanwhile, they have also used draft picks on All-Pro tight end Mark Andrews and two-time Pro-Bowler Devin Duvernay.

Schlereth’s frustration was noticeable as he continued, “Your quarterback has a long way to go in developing wide receivers. So I don’t want to hear that (expletive) from you anymore. I’m tired of it. They drafted first-round talent. They have drafted tight ends in the first round. They drafted three different wide receivers since 2018 in the first round. Aaron Rodgers went 16-17 years with the Green Bay Packers, and they never drafted a guy in the first round. Whether it was a tight end or a wide receiver for him, so don’t tell me about it. I mean, it’s one of those things: don’t tell me about the pain. Show me the baby. Produce in the playoffs.”

Baltimore Ravens QB Lamar Jackson: Deserves Less Coddling

Where Mark Schlereth went wrong was selling Jackson short in his ability to generate hyper-productive seasons from a certain number of his pass catchers. For every Rashod Bateman, there’s a Zay Flowers. Flowers finished sixth in AP Offensive Rookie of the Year last season after a solid 77-reception, 858-yard campaign. Meanwhile, Mark Andrews, easily one of the best tight ends in the NFL, caught a career-high ten touchdowns with Jackson under center in 2019. However, Schlereth is correct in that Jackson, unlike other MVP-winning quarterbacks, has struggled to take the next step regardless of the legitimacy of his pass catchers.Jackson enters the 2024 campaign 2-4 in the postseason with the Baltimore Ravens.

More importantly, his 75.7 quarterback rating is a massive drop-off from his 98.0 quarterback rating in the regular season. Additionally, he has thrown six touchdowns against six interceptions in his postseason career. Meanwhile, despite one of the more suspect receiving cores in the NFL, fellow MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes threw for six touchdowns and only one interception during the Kansas City Chiefs’ third Super Bowl victory in the past five seasons. The only other active MVP winner, New York Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers, won a Super Bowl and owns a healthy 100.1 quarterback rating in the postseason, albeit without his team ever selecting a pass catcher in the first round.  

Nevertheless, Rodgers and Mahomes each gained ample criticism over the years. Other non-MVP-winning quarterbacks who have been to a Super Bowl (unlike Jackson) are also routinely in the spotlight whenever their teams post a dud on Sunday. Lamar Jackson is a star, but he is not Patrick Mahomes and deserves criticism when necessary. It also does him a disservice, treating him unlike his peers in today’s uber-competitive NFL, where postseason success is the ultimate measuring stick for elite-level talent. If Dak Prescott, Jalen Hurts, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, and Jared Goff each receive an earful from the media for not making or winning the Super Bowl, Jackson should earn the same treatment.

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