Louisville football: The 50 greatest Cardinals of all time

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Lamar Jackson, Louisville Cardinals. (Photo by Michael Chang/Getty Images) /

Expect anything different?

After sitting down and trying to make a case for anyone not named Lamar Jackson as the best Louisville football player of all time, it just didn’t make sense. Jackson is simply better than the rest of the competition. He should be considered in the discussion of the greatest players in NCAA football history.

Jackson began his career as a three-star player out of Boynton Beach, Florida, but quickly proved why he was overlooked in his very first game.

After an offseason full of breaking down and predicting who would start for the Cardinals between quarterbacks Reggie Bonnafon and Kyle Bolin, Jackson actually ended up getting the nod for a good part of his freshman season. He was such a raw player that Bobby Petrino wound up just throwing him into the fire and good things happened.

In high school, Jackson essentially ran six plays, most of which involved a run-heavy attack. However, he came to Louisville because he had a cannon for an arm and the staff planned to use that. By his sophomore season, it was all about getting Jackson to learn the offensive playbook and then getting right mentally.

At ACC Media Day in 2016, Jackson came in a completely different person. He was quietly confident, answered every question directed his way and was engaging and exciting to listen to. This change of attitude and time to improve geared him up to guide one of the best teams in program history.

Jackson began the 2016 season with maybe the most electrifying start in college football history. In the season opener against Charlotte, Jackson threw for six touchdowns (a school record for a game) and ran for two touchdowns in only one half.

The next game at Syracuse, Jackson scored on three of Louisville’s first five offensive plays and capped off the game with his signature Heisman Trophy moment by leaping over an opponent en route to the end zone.

For his hat trick, Jackson and the Cards absolutely dismantled a No. 2 Florida State team on national television with College GameDay on Louisville’s campus for the first time. Jackson scored five touchdowns and accounted for 370 total yards en route to a 63-20 victory.

Jackson had the Heisman Trophy secured by the midway point in the season. And though Louisville as a team had ups and downs, Jackson remained consistently impressive.

After his Heisman season, he followed it up with another record-smashing year, increasing his numbers in nearly every statistical category.

Jackson finished his Louisville career leading in pretty much every statistical category imaginable. He currently holds 42 school records for his career, single seasons and single games.

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Most notably, Jackson is Louisville’s all-time leader in total yards (13,175), rushing yards (3,204), single-season rushing yards (1,601, he’s also second with 1,571) and rushing touchdowns (50). He has the fifth-most passing touchdowns with 69 and ranks fourth in passing yards with 9,043.

Jackson’s balanced attack makes him one of the all-time great college football players and is now trying to become one of the NFL’s all-time greats. He was drafted with the final pick of the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft and became the youngest quarterback to ever start an NFL playoff game for the Baltimore Ravens.

Jackson has the highest QBR of any quarterback with more than 150 passing attempts in his rookie year. He led one of the best rushing attacks for the second half of the 2018 NFL season.

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He has spent most of his playing career proving doubters wrong. He has no reason to stop now on his way to becoming one of football’s all-time greats.

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