Lamar Jackson’s Feelings About Ravens New Offense Revealed

This offseason has been a roller coaster ride for quarterback Lamar Jackson. At one point it looked like he would be joining a new franchise after requesting a trade from the Baltimore Ravens. But, the two sides were able to work things out, agreeing to a contract that made the former MVP the highest-paid player in NFL history.

Now that he has his long-term contract finalized, it is time for Lamar Jackson to get back to work. This offseason, unlike any other in his career, was much different. Not only did he negotiate a new contract, but he is learning a new offense.

Greg Roman, who took over as the Ravens’ offensive coordinator in 2019, coinciding with Lamar Jackson taking over as the full-time starter, was relieved of his duties this offseason. He has been replaced by Todd Monken, the former Georgia offensive coordinator, who is on the opposite side of the spectrum when it comes to game planning.

Under Roman, the Ravens were a smash-mouth, run-first team. He catered the entire offense around Lamar Jackson’s exceptional athleticism and rushing ability. Monken deploys a more wide-open, aggressive passing scheme. It is something that ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reports the Ravens star loves.

“He loves it. I checked with a few people in Baltimore, I get exclamation points back in the text messages that he’s sort of thriving in this new system,” ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler said Sunday on SportsCenter. “He’s got more ownership. He can make more changes at the line of scrimmage. He’s really been working the last couple of years, I’m told, on throwing outside the numbers, sort of that intermediate to deep stuff, throwing deep to wide receivers on the outside. He will have more chances in this offense to do that, and really, he’s responded well. This is a quarterback that ran the ball a little bit less last year, less than 10 rushing attempts per game, really for the first time in his career. So, he’s trying to stay more in the pocket, operate there, really to sustain his career. He’s in a spot now where he’s going to do that even less, probably, he’s going to throw more.” (H/T Tyler Conway of Bleacher Report)

Baltimore’s front office made sure that the transition to a new offense would be as easy as possible as they also bolstered the pass-catching weapons around Lamar Jackson. The Odell Beckham Jr. signing grabbed the most headlines in free agency, but the team also added a deep threat in Nelson Agholor.

In the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft, the Ravens selected Boston College wide receiver Zay Flowers to further bolster the group. That trio will be joining 2021 first-round pick Rashod Bateman and Devin Duvernay in a new and improved wide receiver depth chart. Don’t forget about all-world tight end Mark Andrews as well.

The version of Lamar Jackson that could be on display in 2023 is nothing like we have seen before. He is set up to reach new heights, even surpassing what he was able to accomplish during his MVP-winning campaign in 2019.

The sky’s the limit for this new-look Ravens offense. As long as Lamar Jackson can remain healthy, this is a team that should be right in the thick of the playoff picture in the AFC.