By the Numbers: Lamar Jackson Having Best Accuracy Rate of Career

Reigning MVP is off to a solid start

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson has completed 77.6 percent of his passes this season, which is the best mark of his pro and college career.

Baltimore's coaches expected Jackson to make significant strides as a passer entering his third year, and so far, he's met those expectations. Over the first two games of the season, Jackson has completed 38 of 49 pass attempts for 479 yards with three touchdowns (113.6 rating).

"He’s worked on his base. He cleaned up his footwork – his hip-work. The angle of his release is just … People thought that was a negative when they watched him," Ravens coach John Harbaugh said. "It’s turned out to be one of his greatest strengths. So, you can never make assumptions about what you’re looking at all the time and generalize too much." 

Over three years at Louisville where he won the Heisman Trophy Award in 2016, he completed 619 of 1,086 passes (57 percent) with 69 touchdowns and 27 interceptions. His best year was 2017 when he was 254 of 430 (59.1 percent) for 3,660 yards with 27 touchdowns and 10 interceptions (146.6 rating). 

"I don’t think he was an inaccurate passer in college," Harbaugh said. "One of the things we studied in tape … It’s one thing to look at the numbers; it’s another thing to look at the player. And when you watched Lamar [Jackson], we felt like he had arm talent, and he had accuracy – that he had the ability to be accurate; he was an accurate thrower. 

"We felt like a lot of the misthrows that he had were more about technique than anything else. And sometimes other things blend into it too, and certainly, experience and repetitions and stuff like that. But he’s just done a great job." 

Last season, Jackson completed 265 of 401 pass attempts (66.1 percent) for 3,127 yards and led the NFL with 36 touchdowns with six interceptions. He became just the second player to unanimously win the NFL MVP award. 

Jackson looks even better this season. His has been much more accurate throwing outside the hash marks and completing passes downfield. 

"When you watch him day-in and day-out, you can’t help but say, ‘This is a very accurate passer.’ He puts the ball where it needs to be, in some really tight spaces, on a really regular basis," Harbaugh said. "He’s done it in the games; everybody’s seen it. But for Lamar, I would say, the accurate arm ability was always there.”