Khalil Tate hopes Lamar Jackson’s success will help his NFL chances

Because of the incredible success Lamar Jackson has enjoyed in his second season with the Baltimore Ravens, NFL scouts may feel inclined to view dual-threat quarterbacks a bit differently going forward. Khalil Tate is among those who are hoping Jackson’s MVP-caliber season boosts his draft stock.

Tate spent four seasons as the quarterback at Arizona. His was one of the best dual-threat players in the country during his sophomore season in 2017, when he rushed for 1,411 yards and 12 touchdowns and threw for 1,591 yards and another 14 scores. After Kevin Sumlin took over as head coach of the Wildcats in 2018, Tate was forced to throw a lot more. He also battled ankle injuries that year.

Tate is participating in the College Gridiron Showcase this week, and he told Drew Davison of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram that he is determined to be viewed as a quarterback.

“The stigma behind me is that I’m just a runner. But when I get out here and spin the ball in front of them, it opens their eyes,” Tate said. “That’s something that they didn’t know I could do.”

Tate said he has no interest in participating in wide receiver drills, which is the same approach Jackson took coming out of Louisville. After throwing for 2,530 yards with 26 TDs and eight interceptions in 2018, Tate’s numbers dipped this past season. He had 1,954 yards passing with 14 TDs and 11 interceptions and added 413 rushing yards and three scores on the ground. He attributed that to transitioning from Rich Rodriguez’s run-first offense to Sumlin’s system.

With his similar build and style of play to Jackson’s, Tate is hopeful the Ravens quarterback’s phenomenal season helps him heading into the draft.

“I feel like it’s perfect timing,” Tate said. “He’s doing really well. It’s something that you can’t be blinded to. You’ve got to accept it and you’ve got to look for that in the future for your organization if you want to elevate to the next level.”

While Jackson has certainly made a lot of people look bad (most notably this former NFL executive), he is clearly an outlier. Teams aren’t going to expect a player in every draft class to enjoy as much success as Jackson has, but his performance is undoubtedly beneficial for dual-threat quarterbacks. Tate could, in theory, be drafted higher because of Jackson’s play than he would have been a year ago.