Torrey Smith isn’t buying the idea that Lamar Jackson’s career should be reduced to one missing trophy.
The former Ravens wideout, who won a pair of Super Bowl rings during his playing days, pushed back on the familiar criticism of Jackson during a recent appearance on WJZ’s "Purple Playbook" program. The debate, of course, is the one that follows Jackson everywhere: he’s been brilliant, but has he done enough when the games get biggest?
Smith’s answer was blunt. “You can be a great player and your team not be good enough to get over the hump,” Smith explained, per Kevin Eck of the Ravens' website.
“You have to dissect it. Because every day when I'm in a grocery store or I'm going through the barber shop, you're going to hear from fans, 'Can Lamar get it done?'
Well, Lamar's had this team in position multiple times, and you can look at a fumble here or there, a mistake here or there, and it boils down to it's a team collective when you go out there and win. It's all on the team.
Did your quarterback give you a chance? That's what it boils down to.”
Jackson’s most recent playoff outing only sharpened that conversation. In Baltimore’s divisional-round loss to the Buffalo Bills in January 2025, he threw a bad interception and lost a fumble, a defeat that left him 3-5 as a playoff starter. But that game also had another crushing moment: tight end Mark Andrews dropped a potential game-tying two-point conversion with 1:33 left in regulation.
The Ravens also came up short more recently in a different kind of heartbreak. Tyler Loop missed what would have been a walk-off Week 18 field goal that would have sent Baltimore to the playoffs this past January. After that loss, owner Steve Bisciotti fired longtime head coach John Harbaugh.
Even with all of that, Smith says Jackson’s overall body of work already belongs in the highest company. “Lamar's done an excellent job and proven that he's one of the best players to ever play the game,” Smith said about the two-time regular-season MVP.
“If he was done today, Super Bowl or not, he's a Hall of Fame player, first ballot. I think that's important to remember for a guy who's not even 30 years old yet.”
Smith went even further, calling Jackson “the best athlete that's played a sport in Baltimore. ...Baseball, football, basketball back in the day, it doesn't matter.”
Whether that lands with Ravens fans is another matter. But the pressure around Jackson isn’t going anywhere, especially with the possibility that another playoff setback could lead to even bigger change in Baltimore.
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