RIP to all the poor souls Lamar Jackson juked, spun, and stiff-armed into oblivion this season

Lamar Jackson lit the NFL on fire during the 2019 season. He threw for 3,127 yards and 36 touchdowns for the Baltimore Ravens, and rushed for another 1,206 yards and seven scores. On his way to winning the NFL’s MVP award, he also juked, faked out, and spun defenders into oblivion. The purpose of this story is to honor those souls that fell victim to Jackson’s ridiculous moves while trying to defend him. May they rest in peace.

RIP to Bengals DT Carlos Dunlap, S Jessie Bates, and LB Nick Virgil
Cause of death: This ridiculous Jackson run

One of the most memorable runs of Jackson’s career happened in Week 10 against Cincinnati. First, Jackson juked out Dunlap and Bates before hitting Virgil with a vicious spin move on his way into the end zone:

LOOK AT THIS FREAKING SPIN MOVE!

SB Nation’s Zito Madu said it best — Virgil was the true victim here:

Then there’s Nick Vigil. The true victim of the spin move. Shawn Williams was also a passenger on the merry-go-round, but Vigil felt the full force of it. Jackson turned Vigil, a grown man, into a bowling ball. He doesn’t just make Vigil fall, he spins so hard that Vigil loses his balance and takes out his own teammates in the process. The spin move had the same effect as a Mario Kart banana peel. What Jackson did to Vigil was so degrading that his teammates hopped over him as if he was simply debris.

This is the type of run that, as Jackson’s head coach John Harbaugh told him after he made this play, changes the game of football as we know it.

RIP, Steelers LB T.J. Watt
Cause of death: A wicked stiff arm

In Week 5, Jackson destroyed Watt with this stiff arm. A note: Watt is 6’4 and 252 pounds. Jackson is 6’2, 212 pounds:

I don’t know much about the laws of physics, but I’m pretty sure this isn’t supposed to happen.

RIP Buffalo Bills LB Matt Milano
Cause of death: Broken ankles

During Baltimore’s 24-17 win over the Buffalo Bills in Week 14, Jackson shattered Milano’s ankles with a nasty juke:

Jackson found another victim in this game, too — he stuck defensive end Shaq Lawson with a stiff arm. As my colleague Christian D’Andrea points out, Lawson is 270 pounds!

RIP, Chiefs DE Alex Okafor

Cause of death: Broken ankles

During the Ravens’ Week 3 game on the road at Kansas City, Jackson had two lethal plays on Okafor. Yes, what I’m saying is Okafor died twice during this game. The first time was when Jackson broke his ankles while getting this run on second down:

Later in the game, Jackson faked out Okafor again by causing him to slide right by:

But Jackson wasn’t done humiliating defenders.

Chiefs safeties Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorenson
Causes of death: Broken ankles and a vicious spin move

In the same game against Kansas City, Jackson scored on a nine-yard touchdown run with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter, and pulled off a juke and a spin move on the same play. Mathieu, who he juked, was his first victim, followed by Sorenson, who he hit with a spin move to get into the end zone:

Not only did Jackson score here, he managed to embarrass two players on a single play. Amazing.

RIP San Francisco 49ers defensive back K’uwan Williams.

Cause of death: Broken ankles

The Ravens beat the 49ers, 20-17, in Week 13, and Jackson juked Williams while out-running a second defender trying to chase him down:

Look at how excruciatingly painful it looks from this angle:

I don’t think it would have made a difference if the field wasn’t wet from the rain, either.

RIP Cleveland Browns LB Mack Wilson and DE Bryan Cox

Cause of death: Juked to death

In Jackson’s last game of the 2019 regular season against Cleveland, he somehow converted on third-and-10 by juking out both Wilson and Cox on the same play. Please note Tony Romo’s hilarious sound effects on the second replay:

I mean, he makes this look effortless after he hits Wilson with the pump fake:

Although Cleveland did a pretty good job of containing Jackson in the first half, Baltimore made the right adjustments at halftime to beat the Browns, 31-15, proving that there’s no real formula for stopping Jackson.

RIP Tennessee Titans LB Derick Roberson, S Kenny Vaccaro, and cornerback Adoree Jackson
Cause of death: All were juked to death by Jackson in the playoffs

The Titans upset the Ravens at home in the AFC Divisional Round, but Jackson was still able to make some magic even in defeat. One of his best runs of the night came when he juked four different Titans defenders on the same play. First, he made Roberson dive at him as Jackson juked behind the line of scrimmage:

As he turned upfield, he then faked out Vacarro with another juke:

He wasn’t done there! He stutter stepped to avoid Adoree while avoiding getting tackled by cornerback Logan Ryan (No. 26):

This might’ve been one of the few Baltimore highlights from this game, but damn if it isn’t a good one.

Seahawks DE L.J. Collier and Jamar Taylor

Cause of death: Turf monster

During The Ravens’ 30-16 win over Seattle, Jackson put Collier on skates.

RIP, Cardinals DB Chris Jones
Cause of death: Faked out

During Baltimore’s Week 2 game against Arizona, Jackson fooled Jones with a double move. Jones even had a chance to try and make the tackle, but Jackson was too quick for him and made him miss:

Jones may have been one of the first, but he was far from the last person Jackson juked this year.