“Caught me off guard” - When Lamar Jackson opened up on being asked to run as a WR at NFL Combine

Lamar Jackson is currently one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Known for his dual-threat capabilities, Jackson has been awarded the prestigious NFL MVP award twice in his short career. Last season, he displayed an equally impressive performance again and was in consideration for another MVP award, before losing it to Josh Allen.

Despite such a strong performance as a quarterback, some scouts approached Lamar Jackson with the suggestion to play as a wide receiver. However, Jackson was surprised at the idea and opened up about his opinion during an interview with Mike Florio of Pro-Football Talk. He said:

“It was a Chargers scout who told me about it. He was the first one to come to me about it. I'm like, 'What?' He caught me off guard with it. I even made a face at first like, 'What?' I thought he was trying to be funny, but he kept going with it. So, it just became blown out of proportion.”

Jackson, also known for his rushing game, has rushed for 6173 yards on 1014 carries and scored 33 rushing touchdowns in his career. His strengths include elite speed and quick cuts. Hence the scouts thought that Jackson would make a better career as a wide receiver.

While Jackson was aware of his situation, he came out with a unique solution to his problem.

“So that was the first time I heard it, I was like, 'What?' Like he was like, 'Oh, Lamar are you gonna go out for wide receiver routes?' I was like...'No...I don't recall saying that, I don't remember telling you guys I'd go out for receiver routes.' I'm like, 'No, quarterback only.' So that made me not run the 40 and participate in all the other stuff.”

Baltimore Ravens help Lamar Jackson improve

The Baltimore Ravens selected Jackson as the no. 32 pick in round one of the 2018 NFL Draft as a quarterback. However, the Ravens wanted Jackson to improve his pocket skills going forward. Matt Mornhinweg wrote on X,

“The first thing, much like we did with Mike [Vick], is for him to ... learn how to play the quarterback position like we play the quarterback position here,”

The efforts worked as Jackson secured an MVP award in his second season and again in the 2023 season. Despite not winning the MVP award last season, he was ranked no. 1 by NFL.com’s Nick Shook.