Although Lamar Jackson has played in the NFL for only five seasons, Tyrann Mathieu believes that he already stacks up to some all-time greats … at the running back position.
The New Orleans Saints safety Mathieu went viral this week for his strong opinion about the Baltimore Ravens quarterback Jackson. Responding to a tweet about the most elusive NFL players ever, Mathieu said that Jackson belongs on the list with running back legends Barry Sanders, Gale Sayers and Marshall Faulk.
That is some pretty high praise from Mathieu and may not necessarily be unwarranted. Jackson, the NFL MVP in 2019, has already posted multiple seasons of 1,000 yards rushing and may have done so again in both 2021 and 2022 had he not missed five games with injury each year. Even more impressive is that for Jackson, as a QB, many of his runs don’t come from designed plays but rather out of impromptu scramble situations. It also helps that Jackson stands 6-foot-2, which makes him taller with longer strides than any of the above-mentioned running back greats.
For Mathieu, he has played in the league for 10 seasons on four different teams in four different divisions, so he has had to tackle plenty of different runners in the open field. But Mathieu, who is never afraid to give credit to opponents when it’s due, clearly has some extra special respect for Jackson.
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