I love, love him as a collegian -- he was appointment television every Saturday -- but the knocks against him are not without merit.

inside the pocket he can be really unnatural, even with fundamentals. for example, his footwork is glaringly bad sometimes -- I don’t mean "weight transfer" and "drop depth" coach-speak bad, but "his feet are so close they could touch" kind of bad. nearly all his accuracy issues can be traced back to some mortal sin in quarterback technique.

bit of a one-read passer, as well. the college game is all about spreading the defense, forcing them to declare coverages, then signaling the quarterback where to throw it. that's more or less what Jackson is tasked with, and after that it's the improv show. which he is fantastic at. for as stilted as he looks inside the pocket, he's a natural passer in the scramble drill. his release speed and arm strength combination is elite -- he can fire bullets to anywhere on the field, from all sorts of moving angles.

or he can just run. I read a presser with Belichick this season, and a reporter asked why all teams don't just put a spy on mobile quarterbacks. "oh yeah, that's great. you've still got to tackle him. he beats the spy and now there's nobody left, so it's 30 yards." that's the part of Jackson that cannot be accounted for; he's the most explosive runner at his position in the last 16 years.

overall, inconsistent as hell, but he's so engrossing you almost forget his flaws. seeing him flick his wrist and hit a deep post in stride, or cutting at warp speed and making a first-rounder look like he should lose his scholarship...yeah, this is a player mold that only comes around once a decade. worth the patience to see if you can unlock a franchise quarterback.