Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson is one in every of — if not the quickest — quarterbacks within the NFL, however he believed he might all the time be quicker.
The 27-year-old QB not too long ago determined to shed just a few further kilos from his 215-pound body to assist with that, reducing from 215 kilos right down to 205 at first of coaching camp this 12 months.
“[I decided to slim down] simply so I can transfer round with out getting fatigued,” Jackson told CBS Sports. “I don’t know if I used to be getting fatigued final 12 months…however I don’t like getting caught [from behind] if I do determine to run, so yeah [increasing my speed] is a part of it.”
Jackson’s come a good distance in getting his weight to a spot the place he’s glad with it.
He admitted he was motivated to start out slimming down two seasons in the past after watching a video of himself operating. Jackson weighed in at 230 kilos through the 2022 season, and he believes his 25-pound weight reduction will assist him outrun any defender.
“I felt like I used to be fats,” Jackson added. “I simply noticed a video from two years in the past, watching us play I believe it was the Browns, and I seemed, like, out of practice. However I used to be in form. … My eyes is likely to be deceiving me, however I seemed a bit of slower to me, however not now.”
Jackson has ranked both first or second amongst QBs in speeding yards each season of his six-year NFL profession. He led the league in speeding in 2018 (695 yards), 2019 (1,206 yards) and 2020 (1,005 yards) and once more final season (821 yards).
The truth is, there have solely been 4 1,000-yard speeding seasons by a quarterbacks in NFL historical past, and two of them belong to Jackson. (Michael Vick and Justin Fields have the others.)