In a league full of polarizing quarterbacks, Lamar Jackson might be the NFL’s most polarizing.

From the 2018 draft to his first MVP award in 2019, trade rumors in 202o, and his failure to make the AFC Championship game until 2023, each year has been marked by Jackson overcoming doubt while ultimately falling short of a championship.

As the Baltimore Ravens signal-caller heads toward a potential third MVP trophy this season, FS1 host Nick Wright believes NFL media has gotten lost in the sauce when it comes to accurately evaluating Jackson as a player.

“Lamar Jackson was so unfairly maligned at the beginning of his career, that now folks have an allergy to treating him the way we treat Aaron Judge,” Wright said in a Tuesday appearance on The Dan Patrick Show. “Unbelievable, remarkable, historic regular-season player, who it’s not that he’s not the same in the playoffs, every single year is his absolute worst in the playoffs. Every athlete of my lifetime that has fit that profile is treated with heavy, heavy skepticism, except for Lamar. And I blame Bill Polian. I think because Bill Polian said he was supposed to be a wide receiver, everyone since then is still reacting to that.”

Polian infamously appeared on ESPN ahead of the 2018 draft and said Jackson might be a more natural fit in the NFL as a wideout. That comment came after Jackson won a Heisman at Louisville and before he was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the draft — to play quarterback.

At the time, Polian was labeled as everything from stupid to racist. And Wright believes that firestorm has stopped NFL analysts from bringing the hammer down on Jackson the way they do similar playoff underperformers across sports, from Judge to Joel Embiid to even a coach like Kyle Shanahan.

Still, Wright believes Jackson has been great enough this year to buy himself more time from that scrutiny, and likely take home another MVP.

“I think Lamar started in last place before this year. He had everything working against him narrative-wise. He had just won it, he’s never played well in the postseason. The two biggest factors,” Wright explained. “But he’s not only made up the stagger, he’s running away from the field. So I do think (his lack of postseason success) impacts it, but it isn’t disqualifying.”

This is what makes the Jackson experience so mystifying. He went from a controversial first-round pick and question mark as a thrower to a historically great pro quarterback and dominant regular-season player. Yet he has never gotten across the finish line in the playoffs.

That hasn’t stopped Jackson from being constantly bashed as a pocket thrower, winner, leader, and more. When he was theoretically available in a trade, few teams stepped up, and the media seemed to have its own apprehensions about giving him a long-term deal.

Perhaps there’s a window between January and September when NFL analysts should be crushing Jackson like Nick Wright wants. But from September to January, the Baltimore superstar makes it close to impossible to criticize him.

[The Dan Patrick Show on YouTube]