Double trouble? Mock drafts have UK’s Bowden joining NFL MVP Jackson with Ravens
Could University of Kentucky star Lynn Bowden team up with former University of Louisville standout Lamar Jackson in the NFL?
We’re more than two months away from the NFL Draft — and still a few weeks from the league’s annual combine activities — but that doesn’t stop various analysts from projecting who among this year’s class of draft-eligible players will get picked, and where they’ll call home.
Before the Super Bowl most mock drafts only went to, at most, through the first two rounds of the seven-round event. More multi-round mocks are starting to get released, and the latest from NFL Draft analysts Chad Reuter and Matt Miller both have Lynn Bowden going to the Baltimore Ravens — for whom Jackson is the starting quarterback — with the 92nd overall pick late in the third round.
Miller, a writer for Bleacher Report, didn’t provide analysis on his projections beyond the first round. Reuter, who works for NFL.com, also didn’t comment beyond his first-round selections, but he did preface his latest mock with the following:
“Here’s my first look at some of the player-team fits that would make sense on the first two days of the draft. Constructing a three-round mock draft before next month’s NFL Scouting Combine is akin to playing the role of the game show contestant who hits the buzzer before the host has finished reading the question. You can look smart for anticipating the results — or not. Based on career production and performance in the postseason all-star game circuit, these players have made the argument they deserve to be selected early on Draft Weekend.”
A lot can and will change between early February and late April, but the idea of Bowden, this year’s Paul Hornung Award winner who went 6-2 as UK’s starting quarterback for its final eight games of the 2019 season, getting paired with Jackson, a former Heisman Trophy winner and this year’s NFL MVP, is an exciting prospect.
Bowden in November made an appearance on “The Paul Finebaum Show,” during which he told Finebaum that he closely watched Jackson during the NFL regular season to pick up pointers as he tried to acclimate to being UK’s full-time signal-caller.
“I just wanted to see his demeanor and how he really played,” Bowden said. “I witnessed it live my freshman year when they came in here and played us. … He elevated his game as he got the league. (In college) he was a game-changer. He took over the game, and it was just that. I really don’t know how to explain him.”
UK head coach Mark Stoops likened Bowden to Jackson following UK’s win over Louisville last season. It was not in regards to in their talent, style or level of play, but in the leadership qualities they brought to their teams.
“I compare him, and please don’t misquote me on this — if you’re going to say it, say the whole thing — because Lamar Jackson was probably the greatest player ever maybe that I competed against, but what I admire so much about him is how competitive he is,” Stoops said in November. “… He wasn’t going to let anything happen because he was a complete alpha dog. He was taking over. And Lynn, in that regard, is one of the most competitive people I’ve seen.”
Bowden and Jackson went head-to-head only once in college: 2017, a 44-17 Louisville victory over Kentucky at Kroger Field.
