Lamar Jackson is the Rodney Dangerfield of the 2018 NFL combine, because he can't get no respect. Jackson, a former Heisman Trophy winner who is considered a likely first- or second-round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, is a quarterback.
And yet, multiple teams, according to a report from Peter Schrager of "Good Morning Football", want Jackson to test at the combine as a wide receiver.
The logic here -- of the request, not the report -- is specious at best.
Essentially, because Jackson is fast and capable of ripping off explosive plays with the ball in his hands, teams are thinking he could potentially shift positions. Additionally factoring in: Jackson's lack of accuracy, with the former Louisville quarterback completing just 59.1 percent of his passes.
These factors, along with Jackson's "short" and "slight" frame, also led to former Colts GM Bill Polian saying Jackson should switch to wideout before the draft.
All of it ignores a couple of things.
For starters, Jackson is currently a first- or second-round prospect. He's going to go early in the draft ... as a quarterback. If he switches to a position he's never played before at the combine, it's going to have a negative impact on his draft stock. Maybe he still ends up going high as a QB/WR combo or as a guy willing to play some wide receiver, but he never caught a pass at Louisville. It would not be some simple transition.
And, additionally, all the complaints people have about Jackson -- size, accuracy -- also apply to other guys in this draft. For instance, Josh Allen, who people continue to fawn over in this process, completed 56.2 percent of his passes at Wyoming. He's not being asked to work out at a different position.
Jackson is also taller than Baker Mayfield, who checked in at just over six feet tall. Jackson is 6'2" -- which meets the minimum requirement for Hue Jackson and most other evaluators at the position.
What will be very interesting in this is how Jackson responds. He's scheduled to speak with the media at the combine on Friday, and he also does not currently have an agent. So there's some prep stuff ahead of the media session, as well as the potential wide receiver drills, that maybe his mom isn't entirely qualified to handle? It's one of the more fascinating cases in recent combine history and it has yet to fully resolve itself.
There is an argument here that Jackson should probably do whatever potential employers want him to do. But we've seen plenty of quarterbacks -- hello, Tim Tebow -- who were steadfast in their refusal to switch positions before, during or after the draft process. That's their prerogative and the idea that a team doesn't view you as a quarterback could be a good reason not to play for that team.
Jackson has had a lot of success at the quarterback position in his career, and showed nice pocket development during the 2017 season, even though he had less accolades showered on him because Louisville struggled more.
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