Louisville Football: 5 Overreactions from Louisville’s win over UNC

1. Lamar Jackson will be the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft

Saturday’s performance, alongside with his Heisman winning 2016 season, is why Lamar Jackson will be the No. 1 overall choice of the 2018 NFL Draft. Jackson has thrown for 5,700+ yards and scored 44 touchdowns in two plus seasons. He’s also added 2,600+ rushing yards and 32 touchdowns to those stats. Jackson is 6-foot-3, 211 pounds of athlete. In 2017 his game has become polished and the Louisville offense looks like a pro style scheme NFL scouts will drool over.

Lamar spent more time in the pocket today and only ran when needed. Sure, he’ll have some designed runs in the inside zone read option game but so do most NCAA and NFL offenses. The Jaguars, who I believe will be picking first overall, need a quarterback and with their average offensive line will need one that can stretch plays and work well with their receivers and Leonard Fournette. Who can even compete with Jackson? Josh Rosen is a possibility and there are always guys who sneak up and down the draft board but none quite the athlete Jackson is.

Related Story: Rosen makes his bid for No. 1 pick

Spotting weaknesses in Jackson’s game is difficult. His ego is large and he has the confidence that he can make any throw and honestly, he can. Who else had that ego? Brett Favre and his career didn’t turn out too poorly.

Jackson will have to get used to the speed of the NFL game but all rookies do. He’s adapted and grown so much as a quarterback that I see him being the coachable student-athlete that turns into the Pro Bowl caliber professional.