Should have kept Jameis
Considering he has a 3:1 TD-INT ratio for his career, I'd say Jackson has more than earned that "goodwill" from football fans you mentioned earlier. Winston's not even at a 1.5:1 TD-INT ratio for his career, that's why he's critiqued far more stringently.
Alan, I really enjoy convos like these because it really allows us to peel back the layers. As mentioned, we don't evaluate on the "what" but we let the "who" determine how we see things. So we ignore the fact that Jameis has been asked to do infinitely more in the pass game than Lamar Jackson has. Or do we speak to how scheme helps QBs now more than ever?
Imagine comparing someone who throws to receivers wide open in space to someone who is in a scheme were the receivers get little separation and you are near the top of the league in tight window throws. This is what we do when we just look at people stats. We never take what the QB is asked to do into consideration; we make things 1:1.
The truth is he is critiqued far more stringently by those who look at stats/clips more than games/film....
Winston has only 3 more career passing TD's than Jackson does along with 52 more INT's, neither casual or diehard football fans will give him that benefit of the doubt when he's that prone to turning the ball over at any given moment.
Casual or diehard football fans should know that....*secret*....the Ravens success never lies in Lamar Jackson's arm. The foundation to their success is always the run game. It has great numbers but when you see what is asked of them in the pass game, it makes more sense. Especially when you realize the Ravens lose every playoff game with Lamar when they pass more than they run. And this isn't a knock on him; I love his play and what he does. I just also recognize his game.
I enjoyed the video as well, but it still highlights Winston again doing something he probably shouldn't be doing in that situation and almost paying for it. Granted like I mentioned about Jackson's two near picks, this one did happen in the 1st quarter, but unlike the Ravens, the Browns would've lost those 3 points they put up at the end of that drive.
That's why I love Kurt's breakdowns; the truth have no feelings. The problem is what's in the eye of the beholder. With us knowing that the first near pick in the end zone was a product of miscommunication and not some YOLO ball, what did you see in terms of decision making? You might have seen some bad throws (the almost pick that nearly sealed the game looked more of a bad throw because the decision was 100% correct), but what do you see more of?
-Elite footwork
-Elite pocket movement/awareness
-Elite anticipation
-Proper pre-snap read/checks and elite post-snap processing
Funny enough, again, those are things that we (as a fanbase) swore he sucked at. lol. 3-4 plays out of 50 is always the story with Jameis, because even with those throws, play for play and throw for throw, he still played better than Lamar with receivers that people swore were bums last week. *shrugs*