Pundit Says Ravens Should Draft a Quarterback Behind Lamar Jackson
With Lamar Jackson having suffered a variety of injuries this season, Sports Illustrated’s Conor Orr said the Ravens need to take a big-picture view of their quarterback situation.
Orr contended that they should draft a quarterback to back up Jackson and give the organization some flexibility.
“No one is saying that Jackson needs to go, but the sensible among us are saying that Jackson needs a safety net that can one day grow into his replacement on a structured rookie contract,” Orr wrote.
Orr believes the 2026 draft is the right time to do it.
“Baltimore would have the 14th pick based on current standings, in a quarterback class that serves as the preamble to a much more anticipated 2027 group, which could mean a shorter line between the Ravens and a promising option at the position,” Orr wrote. “If Jackson is healthy next season, the Ravens are going to almost certainly be boxed out from taking a top-tier quarterback in the following draft.”
Jackson, who turns 29 in two weeks, missed three games this season with a hamstring injury. He also missed at least one practice over the past seven weeks, in part because of knee, ankle, and toe injuries.
Jackson suffered a painful back contusion in Sunday’s loss to the New England Patriots and was not able to participate in Tuesday’s walk-through practice ahead of this Saturday night’s must-win game against the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.
Injuries limited Jackson to 12 games in both 2021 and 2022, but he did not miss a single game due to injury in 2023 or 2024.
“If you remove illness and rest with a playoff spot already clinched, Jackson has appeared on an NFL injury report 17 times,” Orr wrote. “Jackson also has only about 800 fewer carries than Saquon Barkley, who was drafted the same year (1,077 to 1,807). Many of those are kneeldowns in victory formation, but you can add in that Jackson has been sacked 225 times in his career and hit in the pocket 178 times. I have zero —zero —doubt that Jackson’s arm talent can help him translate seamlessly into a different phase of his career once his outlier athleticism winnows to the point where it is no longer an advantage. But Baltimore does not know what that looks like yet.
“When taking all of this into consideration, adding in that Jackson’s mega-extension will again need to be reworked, the solution seems abundantly clear to me: The Ravens do not need to trade Jackson. They don’t need to fire John Harbaugh. But they do need to make 2026 their ‘Jordan Love’ year and draft a worthy successor to Jackson, which would buttress the Ravens against the kind of collapse we saw this season, give the team a position of strength at the negotiating table and facilitate a situation like Green Bay enjoyed with late-Packer Aaron Rodgers, who won back-to-back MVP awards, in part, after submitting to an offense that more effectively balanced his skill set with a sensible run game.”