Steve Smith compares Lamar Jackson to Deshaun Watson

In just three years with the Baltimore Ravens, wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. captured the admiration of fans for a variety of reasons. The most obvious was his stellar play in the face of long odds due to his age, but this main reason for admiration was the attitude and fire he brought to the team each and every week.

Being held in such high regard by the fans and front office is tough to do when it comes to a historic franchise, but Smith did it, and is still beloved by the many who got to see him suit up in purple and black. Now he works for the NFL Network, having carved out a niche as a talking head who —unsurprisingly — isn’t afraid at all to speak his mind.

On draft night, he gained some attention by stating that first round quarterback Lamar Jackson would soon be taking over for his former teammate Joe Flacco. Jackson has gotten plenty of pub since then for his professional approach and disarming athleticism in the limited OTA practices. Smith recently discussed how that might all translate among other things:

The Deshaun Watson comparison isn’t new, but it’s interesting it keeps popping up in relation to Lamar. If it’s even somewhat true, Ravens fans will be very happy with their new quarterback. For what it’s worth, Watson has a high opinion of Jackson as is evidenced by a pre-draft interview where he discussed Jackson as a prospect:

“It will be fun to watch him grow in this league, too, doing the same things he did in college,” Watson said in an interview with Sporting News. “I know he’s one of the best quarterbacks — if not the best — coming in the draft. For any team that gets him, he’ll have the mind-set to keep improving. There are 32 teams and at least half of them will like Lamar Jackson. He’s going to be fine and can be great wherever he goes.”

It was also intriguing that Smith stated Jackson will be the guy for the future. In the aforementioned draft night bit, he sounded bullish on Jackson and said that Flacco will be out of Baltimore pretty soon. Regardless, we’ll see how it all shakes out with camp opening up in full on the 19th.