Lamar Jackson
Lamar Jackson is the Baltimore Ravens quarterback and two-time NFL MVP whose 6,666 career rushing yards are the most ever by a quarterback in NFL history.
Lamar Jackson is a quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens and one of the most statistically distinct players in NFL history — a two-time Associated Press Most Valuable Player whose running has reshaped what the position can produce. Drafted with the final pick of the first round in 2018, he became the league’s youngest unanimous MVP in his second season and, by the fall of 2026, the NFL’s all-time leader in rushing yards by a quarterback. His career has unfolded as a standing argument — between regular-season dominance and postseason shortfall, and between a star who represents himself and the market for fully guaranteed money.
| Vitals | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 7, 1997 — Pompano Beach, Florida |
| Position | Quarterback |
| Teams | Baltimore Ravens (2018–present) |
| Draft | 2018, Round 1, No. 32 overall (Baltimore Ravens) |
| Contract | Five-year, $260M extension signed May 4, 2023, running through the 2027 season; with Baltimore as of October 6, 2026 |
| Number | 8 |
Louisville and the Heisman
The college phenomenon. Jackson played three seasons at Louisville (2015–2017), and in 2016 he won the Heisman Trophy as a 19-year-old sophomore — the youngest winner in the award’s history and the first in Louisville’s. That season he threw for 3,543 yards and 30 touchdowns and rushed for 1,571 yards and 21 scores, the only FBS player to pass for 3,000 and run for 1,500 in a single year.
A clear mandate. He outpolled Clemson’s Deshaun Watson 2,144 points to 1,524 in the Heisman voting, foreshadowing the dual-threat profile that would define him as a professional.
The draft and a rookie takeover (2018)
Falling to 32. Despite the college production, questions about his passing mechanics pushed Jackson to the end of the first round, where Baltimore traded back into the first to select him 32nd overall — the last pick of the opening round and the final first-round choice of general manager Ozzie Newsome’s tenure.
Seizing the job. Jackson took over as the Ravens’ starter midway through the 2018 season and carried Baltimore to the AFC North title and the playoffs. He threw for 1,201 yards and six touchdowns while rushing for 695 yards as a rookie before a wild-card loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The unanimous MVP (2019)
A season without precedent. In his first full year as a starter, Jackson led the NFL with 36 passing touchdowns against six interceptions and a 113.3 passer rating, and his 1,206 rushing yards broke Michael Vick’s single-season record for a quarterback (1,039, set in 2006). Baltimore finished 14–2.
Rare company. He was named the 2019 AP Most Valuable Player by a unanimous vote, only the second player — after Tom Brady in 2010 — to sweep every ballot. The season ended abruptly with a home divisional-round loss to the Tennessee Titans.
Injuries and the contract saga (2020–2023)
The missing games. After playing 15 games in 2020, Jackson was limited to 12 games in both 2021 and 2022, with late-season injuries ending each campaign early and fueling a durability debate around run-heavy quarterbacks.
Negotiating for himself. Jackson has never employed a certified agent, handling talks with input from his mother, Felicia, as an adviser. In March 2023 the Ravens placed the non-exclusive franchise tag on him, worth roughly $32.4 million, and Jackson disclosed on social media that he had requested a trade. No rival team submitted an offer sheet.
The resolution. On May 4, 2023, Jackson and Baltimore agreed to a five-year, $260 million extension — a $52 million average that made it the richest deal in the league at the time. Per Spotrac and Over The Cap, it included a $72.5 million signing bonus and $185 million guaranteed, of which $135 million was fully guaranteed at signing.
A second MVP and record pace (2023–2025)
The payoff year. Freed of the contract dispute, Jackson threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns in 2023 and won a second AP MVP. Baltimore reached the AFC Championship Game for the first time in his tenure, losing at home to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The 2024 peak. The 2024 season produced career highs of 4,172 passing yards and 41 touchdown passes against four interceptions and a 119.6 rating, with 915 rushing yards — the first time any player had thrown for 4,000 and run for 900 in a season. He finished second in AP MVP voting and, during the year, passed Vick as the career rushing leader among quarterbacks. The season again ended in a divisional loss, this time to Buffalo.
Since then. Jackson played 13 games in 2025, throwing for 2,549 yards and 21 touchdowns. Through four games of the 2026 season, as of October 6, 2026, he had added 967 passing yards and 144 rushing yards.
By the numbers
Regular-season production, by season.
| Season | GP | Cmp% | Pass Yds | Pass TD | INT | Rush Yds | Rush TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | 16 | 58.2 | 1,201 | 6 | 3 | 695 | 5 |
| 2019 | 15 | 66.1 | 3,127 | 36 | 6 | 1,206 | 7 |
| 2020 | 15 | 64.4 | 2,757 | 26 | 9 | 1,005 | 7 |
| 2021 | 12 | 64.4 | 2,882 | 16 | 13 | 767 | 2 |
| 2022 | 12 | 62.3 | 2,242 | 17 | 7 | 764 | 3 |
| 2023 | 16 | 67.2 | 3,678 | 24 | 7 | 821 | 5 |
| 2024 | 17 | 66.7 | 4,172 | 41 | 4 | 915 | 4 |
| 2025 | 13 | 63.6 | 2,549 | 21 | 7 | 349 | 2 |
Career totals
Ranks
- 1st Career rushing yards, quarterbacks, NFL history (6,666)
- 1st Single-season rushing yards, quarterbacks (1,206, 2019)
- 1st Career passer rating, min. 1,500 attempts (102.7)
Honors
- 2× AP NFL MVP (2019, 2023)
- Unanimous MVP (2019)
- 3× First-team All-Pro (2019, 2023, 2024)
- 4× Pro Bowl (2019, 2021, 2023, 2024)
- 2× Bert Bell Award (2019, 2023)
- NFL passing-TD leader (2019)
- NFL passer-rating leader (2024)
Per NFL.com and StatMuse, regular season through October 6, 2026; honors through the 2025 season.
The arguments
The January question. The sharpest debate concerns Jackson’s postseason record. Through the January 2025 playoffs he was 3–5 as a playoff starter with no Super Bowl appearance, a gap critics contrast with his regular-season dominance and two MVPs. His defenders point to home upsets decided by factors beyond the quarterback — special-teams and defensive breakdowns, supporting-cast injuries — and note that his teams repeatedly earned top seeds.
Guarantees and going it alone. Jackson’s self-representation drew competing verdicts. Some analysts argued he needed a certified agent to secure a fully guaranteed contract on the model of Deshaun Watson’s deal; others noted that the $185 million he guaranteed made the point moot and that the non-exclusive tag, not his approach, was the real obstacle. Reporting from 2023 documented both the trade request he posted and the absence of any rival offer sheet.
Can a running quarterback last? A longer-running argument concerns durability. Observers who tie Jackson’s value to his legs point to the games missed in 2021, 2022 and 2025; those who credit his longevity note that he has protected himself by cutting rushing volume in favor of efficiency, posting a league-best passer rating in 2024 while still leading quarterbacks in career rushing.
Why it matters
Lamar Jackson matters because he settled a decades-old question about whether a quarterback could be a historically great runner and a historically great passer at once. The single-season and career rushing records for his position belong to him, and so does the best career passer rating in NFL history among high-volume throwers — a pairing no one had assembled before. Whether the postseason ledger ever catches up to the regular-season résumé is the piece of his story that, as of October 6, 2026, remained unwritten.