2018 NFL Draft: Five takeaways from Lamar Jackson's pro day

The NFL's attention shifted to Louisville on Thursday, with Lamar Jackson getting his chance to shine in the pro-day spotlight.

I thought the 2016 Heisman Trophy winner had a solid, although unspectacular, performance.

Here are my takeaways from his workout.

1) I think Jackson's draft stock is unchanged coming out of the pro day. I don't think he did anything to help or hurt himself. I've consistently said I expect him to be selected between picks 25 and 35. I feel the same way after his workout.

2. The Jaguars, Steelers, Saints are the team fits I hear most frequently for Jackson. Those all make sense and could be good landing spots for him, but the perfect coach for Jackson is the Chiefs' Andy Reid, given his demonstrated ability to cater his offense to the strengths of his QB, including a dual-threat like Michael Vick, the player that Jackson is often compared to. Reid has his QB in Patrick Mahomes, though, so I'm not expecting Jackson to end up with the Chiefs, who don't have a pick until late in Round 2 after trading their 2018 first-rounder to go up and get Mahomes last year.

3) I thought the ball came out of Jackson's hand better on Thursday than it did earlier this month at the NFL Scouting Combine. It was clear during his pro-day workout that he improved some things as far as working with a wider base, which was encouraging to see.

However, the concern I have about his accuracy throwing the ball outside the hashes still exists. That's still something he's working through. He was inconsistent in that regard on Thursday. I would like to have seen him make more drive throws during the workout, but he really emphasized underneath and touch throws.

4) A lot is being made of his decision not to run the 40-yard dash at the combine and his pro day. I don't think that the decision will hurt him in the draft, but if I were advising him, I would've suggested he run the 40 at the combine because we know he's fast and would have put on an impressive show in the event. Then, he would have that run out of the way and wouldn't have faced any more questions about it at his pro day.

It was more of a mistake not to run at the combine than it was to sit it out Thursday.

We talked a lot about the questions surrounding Josh Allen's accuracy last week during his pro day. However, he makes up for some of that by showing off his arm strength and how special he is in that area. Jackson had an opportunity Thursday to show everyone that while he's still working on his accuracy, he has an incredible amount to offer from an athletic standpoint. By choosing not to test Thursday, Jackson missed that opportunity.

5) The pro-day workout reinforced an issue that we saw throughout the 2017 season for Louisville -- the receivers have trouble catching the ball. I think Jackson will be pleasantly surprised when he gets to the next level and finds he has much more reliable pass-catchers to throw to.

Follow Daniel Jeremiah on Twitter @MoveTheSticks.

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