NFL First Thoughts: Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens' offense is about to look very different from what you're used to.
Below is a transcript from The Simple Handicap podcast (listen here), presented by Right Angle Sports. We’ll be doing a first-look preview of all 32 NFL teams, followed by more complete team previews prior to the season. Interested in signing up for the RAS NFL service? Join here.
To tell the whole story here, we have to go back to February 21. Todd Monken is introduced as the offensive coordinator and holds a press conference. These press conferences are often hit or miss, but every now and then a coach will give you a good sense of the type of coach he is and who he intends to be. And if you listened to Monken’s press conference, you had to like what you heard.
His first notable response:
“The game has become more of a space game, using the entire width and depth of the field, using space and focusing on your skill players. The game has changed a lot and is continuing to change. At one time, it was tall pocket passers, and now you’re seeing more shorter, athletic players making a difference. The game has changed in terms of utilizing their athleticism. What they bring to the table is very important because it’s all about space. It’s about being explosive. How do you create explosive plays? It’s all about creating space.”
Watching this, your ears have to perk up a little bit. Because the Ravens, under previous OC Greg Roman, have been anti space in almost every way. They play tight, heavy formations. Sixty-two percent of snaps last year came with multiple tight ends. That was 20% higher than Seattle, who was second at 42%. The Ravens are this team that’s heavy personnel, heavy formations. So listening to Monken, it’s immediately apparent that he will be different.
Monken continues:
“I want our offense to have all different kinds of tempo. No huddle. Real fast. Controlled tempo. Call plays at the line. Don’t call plays at the line. These are all things that we need to talk about and things that Lamar Jackson brings to the table and makes us very versatile with.”
Well, that’s interesting too. Because if you think about the weapons the Ravens have, especially this year, being better than they’ve ever been at wide receiver, all of a sudden you start going no-huddle and managing tempo, it becomes very difficult to defend. It also forces defenses into making adjustments due to the dual-threat possibility.
Monken again:
“There’s more and more athletic quarterbacks in the league. Defenses are becoming better at defending them. There’s more spread offense being run, and the more spread offense you run, and the more often you’re in empty personnel, it’s more fun if you have a guy like Lamar who is athletic because he can get you out of trouble.”
The more Monken talks, the more it becomes clear that this year’s Ravens offense is going to look very different from what they’ve been in the past. These seem like good changes. But of course, there’s always the case when coaches and coordinators step up to the podium, tell lies, tell fans what they want to hear, and then once they hit the field it doesn’t match up. The difference with Monken is you can believe every word of it.
Last year at Georgia, everything he said during this press conference was utilized with Stetson Bennett, a guy who is a far cry from the athletic talent that is Lamar Jackson. If you go back to Monken’s previous time in the NFL with the Bucs, his offense threw 10.6 air yards per throw, by far the highest rate in the league. Now you have Jackson and these receivers, who are better than he’s ever had, and you start to look for clues. Will this be the real offense? Is this how it will go?
That brings us to May 4. Jackson, known across the league for using his legs, says the following:
“I want to throw for 6,000 yards with the weapons we have. I’m not an individual award type guy or stat watcher. I want to do it because no one has ever done it, and I feel like we finally have the weapons to do it.”
Big words for a quarterback who has never surpassed 3,200 yards in his career. Clearly Lamar is believing in Monken’s offense. It could be very dangerous in 2023.