I don't really understand what you're saying here. Jackson's snaps at Louisville came from under center in a pro-style, Erhardt-Perkins offensive scheme. He wasn't running a triple option or wishbone or something. He knows how to pass from the pocket;, he did it in college. He's more accustomed to a pro-style passing offense than guys who exclusively ran the ubiquitous spread option scheme in college like Baker Mayfield. Most of his rushing yards came on designed plays that took advantage of his unique speed and athletic ability. He wasn't a one-read and run guy. I'm not sure you've actually watched him play or read anything about Lamar Jackson other than looking at his statline.
It's not so much about Lamar Jackson per se. I honestly feel like when it comes to quarterbacks, speed is almost a red herring -- not quite, but almost. Call it a prejudice. I've just never felt like I've seen a quarterback play at the pro or quasipro (NCAA) level, where I looked at the guy and said "yep, you were hurt by a lack of speed."
That can mean that a really athletic, quick quarterback can be a bit of a luxury, but it's a luxury that's a two edged sword.
First of all because those guys tend to be expensive, and as I consider speed a luxury, that leads to me concluding that expensive luxuries are a problem in a cap universe.
Secondly the more you design offenses to take advantage of a quarterback's ability to run and deke, the more you're going away from the bread and butter of NFL offenses. It leads to exciting plays, but goes away from fundamental plays. The primary consideration for any quarterback is how well he puts the ball in his receivers' hands. If we draft a QB high this year, I'll want it to be primarily on his ability to do that, and with speed as a tertiary concern at best.
In my opinion if you're in a position where you have to ask your quarterback to run around a lot, you should be asking some hard questions of the offensive line. Fran the Man Tarkenton was fun to watch, but he did what he did because he had very little protection in front of him, not because he wanted to. It was great that he was able to get away with it, but would have been even better if he hadn't had to.
I actually feel better to hear that Jackson in particular played in an offense that focused on the pocket, and only sprung his speed as an ambush play. That's how it should be done. But I still want first and foremost a polished passer. If he also has speed, cool beans. Drafting a runner in the hopes that he develops a pass game evokes images of Tim Tebow for me, and I don't want that for an heir apparent.
