Louisville Football: Is Lamar Jackson a sure-fire franchise quarterback?
Meet the Player
Lamar Jackson was born in Pompano Beach, Fla., on Jan. 7, 1997.
Even from a young age Jackson’s athleticism was hard to ignore. While a member of the North West Broward Raiders, an 11-year-old Lamar ran for two touchdowns in the Boynton Beach youth athletic championship game, single-handedly outscored his opponent 12-6.
Lamar continued to impress through middle school, but the transition to high school did not go as smoothly.
Jackson’s grades began to slip, prompting his mother, Felicia Jones, to move the family to nearby Boynton Beach so that Jackson could attend Boynton Beach Community High School. After maintaining a straight-A average over his first two semesters at Boyton Beach, Jackson joined the varsity football squad.
In two seasons as the Bengal Tiger’s starting quarterback, Lamar was a revelation. Jackson’s unique skill-set allowed head-coach Rick Swain to forgo his typical Wing T offense and instead implemented an option-based pistol offense to great effect. Jackson threw for 2,263 yards and rushed for 1,624 yards in his 16 career starts and scored 53 touchdowns (31 passing and 22 rushing).
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While Jackson’s high school production was impressive his services weren’t highly sought after.
Lamar didn’t attend high profile quarterback camps while in high school, and ended his junior season as a three-star recruit. While scouts were impressed by his athleticism, some schools didn’t even view Jackson as a quarterback, with colleges like Florida State instead envisioning Lamar as a defensive back.
One coach who did showed interest in Lamar early on was Bobby Petrino, head coach of the Louisville Cardinals. After learning about Jackson from former Louisville receiver coach Lamar Thomas, Patrino became intrigued by Lamar’s fit in his pro-style scheme and offered Jackson a scholarship.
After receiving offers from 17 schools, including heavy interest from local powerhouse Florida, Lamar Jackson chose to take his talents to Louisville, Kentucky, and the rest is history.