As the defending Heisman Trophy winner, Lamar Jackson is surely used to being paid the highest of compliments.
But former Atlanta Falcons star Mike Vick's praise of Jackson is a bit too high for the Louisville quarterback. Jackson asked Vick to dial back his assessment of him last year after Vick tweeted last fall that Jackson is "five times better than what I was at Virginia Tech." Jackson revealed his request of Vick on Thursday at the ACC Kickoff, per ESPN's David Hale.
Comparisons between the electrifying dual-threat quarterback and Vick have been common since Jackson exploded last season for 51 combined touchdowns to win college football's most prestigious award. In fact, Vick posted his tweet on the very day that Jackson smoked No. 2-ranked Florida State with a five-touchdown performance that helped stamp his claim to the Heisman. Less than two weeks later, Clemson coach Dabo Swinney made the Jackson-Vick comparison.
Vick apparently took Jackson's request to heart; last month, he merely said that Jackson is the closest thing he's seen to himself. If Jackson plays as well in 2017 as he did during much of 2016, the praise might be too much for anyone to dial back.
Here are seven other things we learned Thursday from the ACC Kickoff:
2. Bold claim. Given that Lamar Jackson and his Heisman Trophy are at Louisville, one could argue that FSU star safety Derwin James isn't even the best player in the ACC Atlantic Division, much less the entire country. But one publication has dubbed him just that, and James embraced the notion that he's college football's best player.
3. Jackson to get pro-style experience. NFL scouts will get to see Lamar Jackson operating a more NFL-like offense this fall, according to Cardinals coach Bobby Petrino. Jackson will be playing under center more, with some pro-style flavor in UL's rushing attack, and play-action passes. And the idea isn't just to diversify Louisville's offense: "It's also to help him prepare for the next level, there's no doubt about that," Petrino said, per CBS Sports.
4. Losing Lewis. Florida State coach Jimbo Fisher said Seminoles DB Marcus Lewis will transfer, per ESPN. Lewis made five starts at nickelback last season and came up with an interception of Ole Miss' Chad Kelly in FSU's season opener, but an injury sidelined him for the Seminoles' last five games.
5. Big comp. Petrino likened Louisville freshman OT Mekhi Brown's size, at 6-foot-7, 340 pounds, to that of Pro Football Hall of Famer Jonathan Ogden. Petrino said reports from his coaching staff on the recruiting trail were that Brown can reverse dunk a basketball, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.
6. Bionic Lamar? Syracuse coach Dino Babers reached out and put his hand on Jackson's arm, per ESPN, and said "I just had to touch you to make sure you're human." He certainly must've looked superhuman to Babers on this play.
8. Even more quotable. "I definitely pulled for Clemson (in the CFP title game) because there's nothing worse than a Bama fan." -- Bradley Chubb, per Lauren Brownlow of 99.9 The Fan.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread*.
