When NFL analysts think of comps for Lamar Jackson, Charles Barkley probably never comes to mind, but Joe Buck had a great analogy about the two superstars.
Buck joined the latest episode of ESPN’s This is Football with Kevin Clark podcast, and during the interview, the Monday Night Football voice was asked to assess the most impressive thing about Lamar Jackson. On the heels of calling the Baltimore Ravens Divisional Round win over the Houston Texans, Buck noted Jackson’s ability to evade pressure.
The narrative surrounding Jackson entering Baltimore’s game against Houston was about the pressure on Jackson, considering his 1-3 record in the playoffs. But when Troy Aikman asked Jackson about that pressure during their pre-production meeting, Buck said the Ravens quarterback brushed it off.
GREAT This Is Football with Joe @Buck.
Pressure does not get to Lamar Jackson. “I think some guys talk about a pressure and say that they’re able to put it to the side and I don’t believe them, you can see it dripping off them…I believe [Lamar]. He is the exception.” Watch: pic.twitter.com/K0vi08489Y— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) January 24, 2024
“I believe him,” Buck told Clark of Jackson. “I think some guys talk about pressures and saying they’re able to put it to the side and I don’t believe them. You can just see it; it’s dripping off of them. And when Lamar Jackson said that, and you take in the body language and the way he said it, and then you go on and add to it the way he played…I believe him.”
“I think he is definitely the exception,” Buck continued of Jackson. “There are a few people I’ve run across over the years; I think Charles Barkley legitimately doesn’t care what you or I or anybody thinks of him, and it’s kind of a beautiful thing. It frees him up to say and do as he pleases. I feel like Barkley is going to live to be 110 because he has no stress. I think we all put more stress on ourselves when we try to – and I have certainly been in this category – try to please everybody. And you can’t. You just can’t.”
Jackson has been most often compared to Michael Vick throughout his football career. But now that his career on the field towers over Vick, there aren’t many great comps for Jackson because of his video game-like attributes.
So, is Charles Barkley now the best comp for Lamar Jackson? Probably not. But it was still a pretty interesting reference from Buck and one that Ravens fans should be excited about as their quarterback prepares for a game that features the highest stakes of his career.
