Lamar Jackson, last year’s Heisman Trophy winner, is an intriguing prospect for next year’s NFL draft. The Louisville quarterback had a tough time of it at the weekend, however, as his Cardinals team was comfortably beaten by the team ranked number 3 in the country and reigning College Football National Champions, Clemson. The Tigers rose up the rankings off the back of their 47-21 demolition of the 14th ranked Cardinals, but the social media conversation surrounding Jackson was intriguing. Almost 14,000 tweets were sent about the young quarterback during the game, which was considerably higher than for Sam Darnold a week previously (around 2,000 tweets).
Blurrt’s intelligent emotion analysis allows us to understand how people were feeling about Jackson during the game on Saturday evening. There was an even split between anger and happiness, underlining just how divided fans were about his performance. The 32% of users who exhibited feelings of anger generally felt that Jackson was over-rated, whilst the 32% displaying happiness thought he was let down by his team mates and was still one of the top prospects to look out for going into the 2018 draft process.
The 11% of fans who expressed love were split between Clemson fans who were loving the fact that Jackson couldn’t get anything going on offense and Jackson fans who professed their love for him despite Louisville’s defeat.
Image Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports ORG.
As you can see, Jackson is an incredibly athletic quarterback. This dual threat has made him pretty unplayable over the last couple of years, with College defenses struggling to contain him. Clemson made it look easy on Saturday, limiting Jackson and his offense to just 21 points. Clemson fans were understandably ecstatic with their team’s performance and, like all loyal fans, they made it clear what they thought about the Lamar Jackson hype after seeing him struggle to get anything going for his side.
And all 55,588 get to witness the hype train of Lamar Jackson coming to a screeching halt.@BarstoolClemson https://t.co/eEXDYgTRQn
— Philip (@josh_senn54) September 17, 2017
It wasn’t just Clemson fans who were keen to write off Jackson…
I said it last year and I'll say it this year. Lamar Jackson is highly overrated. They never play anyone tough, when they do they lose.
— JP Brose (@JohnPaulBrose) September 17, 2017
And some felt that Jackson’s chances of repeating his Heisman Trophy success took a hit against a seriously good team. On a day when Sam Darnold sparkled for the USC Trojans (see last week’s article for our social media analysis of his impact), it must have been particularly tough for Jackson and Louisville fans to see their quarterback struggling. For casual observers, it left them thinking this:
Sam Darnold's 2017 Heisman hopes after tonight 😀. Lamar Jackson's 2017 Heisman hopes after tonight 😩
— Terry Blount (@TBlountSports) September 17, 2017
On the positive side, many fans were quick to point out Jackson’s strengths. His passing ability shouldn’t be underestimated and much of the blame should be placed at the feet of his receivers, according to some Twitter users. Experts and fans alike were impressed by his ball placement, particularly given that his throws were under pressure and often on the run because of Clemson’s defensive performance.
Lamar Jackson is the most 😴underrated passer in college football. No one has a quicker release than him and he's deadly in the interm game
— Tajh Boyd (@TajhB10) September 10, 2017
His supporters were quick to share footage of his best plays to demonstrate to critics that he is the real deal. The first clip shows a completed throw for the touchdown, demonstrating his physical ability and passing technique. The second shows his receiver dropping a good wide throw, trying to make it clear that the loss wasn’t because of Jackson, it was because of the players around him.
"Lamar Jackson is not a good Quarterback" pic.twitter.com/UJ0NlcITBa
— Team Lamar Jackson (@LAMARJACKS0N) September 17, 2017
Lamar Jackson throws on absolute dart. One of the best throws I've seen this year.
His receivers are trash. pic.twitter.com/miXBshSmOm
— JustWinBaby (@Future_NFL_GM) September 17, 2017
For many watching, Jackson is simply a talented and entertaining quarterback who they would love to see more often. He might well be going to the NFL at the end of the season as one of the best quarterbacks available; a second Heisman Trophy would certainly help him on the way to a high draft pick. His physical skills and technical tools mean he would be a lot of fun to play with if an NCAA video game existed, but if he continues to impress scouts and GMs as much as he impresses fans on Twitter, we will soon be seeing him in Madden anyway.
The fact that no one will ever get to experience an NCAA football video game with Lamar Jackson in it is a real tragedy.
— Andrew Pineiro (@Apineiroo) September 17, 2017
Check back next week to keep up to date with the top College Football prospects who might well be ready for next year’s NFL draft. The social media conversation gives us an understanding of what fans think about players and gives a good indication as to whether a player is popular, talented and highly thought of by Twitter users.
To find out more about how Blurrt’s social media analysis could help your player analysis, contact Ali at alistair@blurrt.co.uk