Colin Cowherd Says He's Selling His Stock in Jackson
This has been quite the week for Lamar Jackson disrespect, with the latest dig at the two-time MVP coming from FOX Sports' Colin Cowherd.
Cowherd, who said last month that Jackson "regressed," doubled down on the hot take by excluding Jackson from his ranking of the top 10 quarterbacks entering this season. He put Jackson at No. 11, behind the Green Bay Packers' Jordan Love.
"He is a declining player, and his rush attempts have gone down since 2021," Cowherd said of Jackson. "The old saying, I trust somebody until I don't trust somebody. I no longer trust Lamar Jackson in a big spot. I'm selling my stock. That doesn't mean he's a bad quarterback or even average. He's better than average. Way better than average. But I probably held my stock for a year too long."
Among the reasons Cowherd downgraded Jackson is a perceived lack of durability. He noted that Jackson has missed at least four games in three of the past five seasons.
However, Joe Burrow has missed at least eight games in two of the past three seasons and 23 games total over his six-year career, yet he landed at No. 6 in Cowherd's rankings.
Cowherd also dinged Jackson for not having many fourth-quarter comeback wins. However, Jackson has 11 such victories, which are five more than Burrow, per Pro Football Reference.
It's also worth noting that a team actually has to be trailing in the fourth quarter for them to make a comeback, and more often than not the Ravens have played with the lead when Jackson is at quarterback.
Incidentally, Jackson's most spectacular fourth-quarter comeback came against Burrow's Bengals in 2024. With the Ravens trailing by 14, Jackson had a perfect 158.3 passer rating in the fourth quarter, throwing for 197 yards and three touchdowns in the period to lead Baltimore to a 35-34 victory.
A month prior, Jackson rallied the Ravens from a 10-point deficit against the Bengals in the fourth quarter to deliver a 41-38 overtime win.
LeSean McCoy and Ryan Clark both pointed out that Jackson seems to be held to a different standard than quarterbacks such as Burrow and the Buffalo Bills' Josh Allen.
"It's not just disrespectful, it's almost stupid," Clark said on FS1's "First Things First."
Joe Flacco 'Doesn't Really Care That Much' About Super Bowl Bling
Joe Flacco led the Ravens to victory in Super Bowl XLVII, and as the saying goes, to the victor go the spoils. For Flacco, the spoils not only included a diamond-encrusted ring, but also a trophy and new Corvette for being named the game's MVP.
Those rewards are the holy grail for NFL players, but the unassuming Flacco revealed on the Netflix series "Quarterback" that the objects don't mean all that much to him anymore.
"This is my Super Bowl MVP trophy. I mean, it's tarnished as heck," Flacco said on the series. "It's been in my dad's place. Nobody's touched this in 12 years, 13 years. These are things you think you're going to care about a lot, and I guess the idea is, 'Oh yeah, that'd be cool to have a little office and put some things up.' And then you ultimately don't really care that much about it. Like this ring, for instance. I think my kids like to look at it. I think that's ultimately what it's for."
Flacco, who is back with the Cincinnati Bengals this season as Joe Burrow's backup, discussed the scene on “Glenn Clark Radio” Tuesday and shared that the MVP trophy hadn't even been in his home for more than a decade.
"I kind of always knew where it was generally. I knew it was at my parents' house," Flacco said. "I'm sure when I got that out for the show I was like, 'Hey, dad, you do have that, right?' And he's like, 'Yeah, I think it's in the garage. Let me go look.'"
Flacco had an equally funny story about the Corvette, which he rarely drove.
"I go to get in and it and, like, nothing. I can't even open the doors because the battery was dead," Flacco said. "So I had to YouTube, 'How do you open the door on a 2013 Corvette when the battery's dead?'"
Flacco made it clear that while he doesn't care that much about the bling, he cares deeply about what the items represent.
"It's not like I don't care about those things. I do care about them, but I feel like I remember thinking that I would actually care about displaying the hardware," Flacco said. "I care about the accomplishments, but I don't care about the hardware as much as I would have anticipated."
Flacco also talked about participating in the series, which is produced by Peyton Manning's Omaha Productions, how he is handling this phase of his career as he enters his 19th season, Jackson's ranking in the "NFL Top 100," and more.
Derrick Henry Had Highest-Graded Season for a Running Back in PFF History in 2024
Pro Football Focus relies on advanced metrics rather than opinions to evaluate players' performances.
PFF’s Bradley Locker looked at the highest-graded seasons by position in the PFF era (since 2006). The Ravens' Derrick Henry got the nod at running back with a 94.1 grade in 2024.
"Henry has carved out a Hall of Fame career, and this is another ledger to add to his stacked resume," Locker wrote. "His first season in Baltimore was a legendary one, leading the NFL with a 93.5 PFF rushing grade. Although Saquon Barkley was neck-and-neck for much of the season, Henry eclipsed Barkley in missed tackles forced (87 vs. 80), yards after contact per attempt (3.60 vs. 3.32) and explosive run rate (14.4% vs. 12.6%)."
That same season, Jackson had a 94.9 grade, tied with the New England Patriots' Tom Brady in 2016 for the second-highest mark. Aaron Rodgers had a 95.1 grade with the Green Bay Packers in 2020.
Ravens Crack Top Five in Triplets Rankings
A panel of nine CBS Sports analysts ranked all 32 teams' triplets (quarterback, running back, pass-catcher). The Ravens' trio of Jackson, Henry, and wide receiver Zay Flowers landed at No. 4.
One of the analysts believes No. 4 may be too low for Baltimore's tandem.
"This feels like the Ravens are being punished for Lamar Jackson's injury that robbed him of a portion of last season and of his explosiveness when he was actually on the field," Jared Dubin wrote. "There's not much room for them to climb on the list, but I think they should probably be at least a spot higher -- and would be if Jackson hadn't gotten hurt."
The Bengals (Burrow, running back Chase Brown, and wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase) took the top spot, followed by the Los Angeles Rams (quarterback Matthew Stafford, running back Kyren Williams, wide receiver Puka Nacua), and Detroit Lions (quarterback Jared Goff, running back Jahmyr Gibbs, wide receiver Amon-Ra St. Brown).
Quick Hits
- The Ravens' soccer-style crossover jersey, designed by Fanatics, was ranked as the best in the NFL by The Athletic.
- Flowers received honorable mention in ESPN’s wide receiver rankings based on a survey of league executives, coaches, and scouts.
