By Jim Johnson
SouthernPigskin.com

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Even Michael Vick, the most dynamic running quarterback ever, was taken aback by Jacksons most recent performance.

Prior to the season, I wrote that Lamar Jackson would be the most fun player in college football since Johnny Manziel. I thought I was being incredibly complimentary of the true sophomore. Through three games, I think I sold him short.

286 passing yards, 119 rushing yards and eight total touchdowns in week one? x9cCome on, it was against Charlotte,x9d the haters said.

411 passing yards, 199 rushing yards, an ACC record for total offense, and five touchdowns in week two? x9cSyracuse cant stop anyone,x9d moaned the detractors.

216 passing yards, 146 rushing yards and five more scores against second-ranked Florida State in week three? (stunned silence)

Even Michael Vick, the most dynamic running quarterback ever, was taken aback by Jacksons most recent performance.

Lamar Jackson 5x better than what I was at V-Tech….Enough said!! #future

x94 Mike Vick (@MikeVick) September 17, 2016

Truly, Lamar Jackson playing football is just that, a performance.

He can contort his body like Sofie Dossi, wiggling through spaces that only exist for him.

He leaps with the grace of Simone Biles, even garnering a perfect score from the Russian judge.

He dances between, around, behind, and sometimes over defenders, as light on his feet as Tamara Rojo, her last name the color of the faces of those who dare to attempt to tackle him.

The way he accelerates out of the read option is a downright magic trick, much more impressive than some silly David Copperfield stunt.

Even watching him read a defense and move through his progressions, a concept he was unfamiliar with last year, invokes a feeling similar to that of which one has upon hearing Morgan Freemans melodious cadence.

The numbers, as unfathomable as they may be, do not tell the whole Lamar Jackson story. The strides he has made from his true freshman to his sophomore season are incredible. From a first-year starter that didnt have a playbook in high school, and didnt know the playbook at Louisville, in 2015, Jackson has become an absolute virtuoso in 2016.

The Heisman trophy is not awarded in September, or October, or even November for that matter. Leonard Fournette looked like the sure winner much later in last season than Jackson currently is this season. There is still a long road ahead of the young signal-caller, including trips to Clemson and Houston; two teams that may have the next two most exciting quarterbacks behind Jackson.

Its premature to start labeling Jackson as anything other than an incredible football artist. For now, lets just appreciate his latest masterpiece.