Louisville Football: Defense shines in win over Florida State

3. Jackson is the most high-risk, high-reward player in college football

It’s been established that Jackson is one of, if not the most exciting player in college football. You don’t win the Heisman Trophy for being ordinary. There are two camps when it comes to evaluating Lamar Jackson, and both center around his NFL aspirations.

One side asserts that Jackson has the talent, understanding and arm strength to succeed on the next level. He won’t be limited to scrambling for his life, instead he can stay in the pocket and lead an NFL offense. The other side maintains that he’s an elite athlete, just not an elite quarterback.

Both sides added ammo to their arguments on Saturday. Jackson’s decision making was questionable early. Louisville’s hopes have rested on his shoulders all season and that pressure is showing up on the field. Jackson often looks like he’s trying to do too much. He’s trying to hit the big play on every play. That’s good, but it leads to mistakes, like Jackson’s fumble in the second quarter that was returned for a touchdown.

Then he comes back and does something like this:

Jackson topped 300 total yards again this week. He was 13 of 21 through the air with one touchdown and no interceptions. He added 178 yards on the ground on 23 carries and another touchdown.

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There are still months to debate how well Jackson’s abilities will translate to the next level. But let’s take a minute to remember that’s he not there yet. Right now he’s playing college football. He’s high-risk, high-reward and a lot of fun to watch. On Saturday the pluses outweighed the minuses and the Cardinals pulled off the victory.