The Baltimore Ravens have decided to go with rookie quarterback Lamar Jackson over Joe Flacco. They’ve officially passed the torch from one franchise quarterback to another in Week 15. But questions still remain about whether they’ll stick with Jackson if he makes mistakes or if they get too far behind in a game.

The Ravens should ride with Jackson for the final three games of 2018 regardless of how he fares or how close to the postseason they get. And for good reason.

Though I still believe Flacco is the better quarterback at this time, going with Jackson isn’t really about that right now. It’s short-sighted to look only at 2018 when a decision on the team’s starting quarterback is going to get made this offseason regardless of who starts.

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Jackson is clearly this team’s future, considering that Baltimore traded up into the first round to grab him. Staying with Jackson over a healthy Flacco has much more to do with getting their rookie meaningful snaps and experience. It was about hastening Jackson’s development for what will likely be a rebuilding or retooling period starting this offseason. The more quickly Jackson improves, the shorter that rebuild will be and the faster the Ravens can make meaningful runs at the Super Bowl.

I’ve seen Jackson steadily improve this season. From training camp until now, Jackson has grown by leaps and bounds in everything from his spiral to his football IQ. However, his four starts have been mired in screw-ups as well.

Jackson has three interceptions and six fumbles in his four starts, with one fumble returned for a touchdown against the Falcons. Compare that to Jackson’s three touchdown passes and two rushing touchdowns, and that doesn’t necessarily equal a net positive in a ball-control offense. And that’s all perfectly fine.

Of course it would be better if Jackson had thrown for 15 touchdowns, rushed for another 10 and had no turnovers. But the reality for a rookie means that’s not a reasonable expectation. Instead, we’ve seen Jackson learn from his mistakes and attempt to fix them — for the most part — which is all you can ask for.

Jackson now does a better job of getting out of bounds than he did earlier in the season. He picks his moments to run a little more carefully. Jackson doesn’t revert as often to playing instinctual football when pressure gets close. The biggest lesson he needs to learn at this point is to keep the ball tucked in when avoiding pressure or trying to make a play. He hangs it too far out there, and that results in fumbles.

If Baltimore has a large deficit in any remaining game this season, pressure will be on coach John Harbaugh to put Flacco back in — especially if Harbaugh is really on the hot seat. But replacing Jackson for even part of a game would be a mistake.

Had the Ravens simply wanted to make the postseason as their end goal this season, Flacco could have handed the ball off 50 times a game and rode the much improved defense to at least similar results. Instead, the goal was to work on Jackson’s development, something they didn’t do much in the first nine games. A big deficit is a chance for Jackson to sling the football a little more without as much pressure to win. A blowout loss is a learning experience for a rookie quarterback to look back in the film room to see what went wrong. That’s to say nothing of Jackson’s confidence and his thinking the Ravens believe in him as their starter.

Going back to Flacco for even a half could change a loss into a win and it might be all the difference in whether Baltimore makes the postseason. But going all in on this season could really mess with 2019 and beyond.

No matter what happens the rest of this season, Baltimore has to ride with Jackson. They can’t postpone this, and in fact, it’s better for him to have issues early rather than hoping they disappear on their own.