Roman’s empire
Coordinator wants record-setting offense to stay step ahead of foes
A year ago, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman was tasked with any offensive mind’s dream: design a system from the ground up.
Given the offense’s superlatives from last season — the all-time NFL rushing record, the league’s top-scoring offense, the sport’s Most Valuable Player — Roman’s work should be considered a success.
But after the league’s most efficient offense sputtered in a stunning divisionalround loss to the Tennessee Titans, Roman was sent back to the drawing board, left to ponder how to make adjustments for future success while retaining the roots that made the offense so potent.
“I think once the score kind of got out of hand on us, that’s when things really flipped from a balanced attack,” Roman told reporters Tuesday, speaking for the first time since the season-ending loss.
“A game like that, as a coach you always blame yourself first. You always look inwards, you always want to push the right buttons and pull the right levers. I’m the first person I look at when that happens.
“But it’s really just a function of a lot of the little things that we did during the regular season. We just didn’t execute at a high enough level.”
With offseason workout programs becoming virtual because of the coronavirus pandemic, the first time Roman will be able to install his latest modifications will likely come in late July, when teams are scheduled to report for training camp. With defenses now having a season’s worth of film, the trick will be to stay ahead of the curve.
“I think we’ve definitely tweaked things,” Roman said. “We haven’t had the luxury of the OTAs and whatnot to kind of test-run certain things, so we’ve got to be really judicious with how we use that time in training camp to experiment. I think experimenting is going to be very selective.”
Questions about the long-term viability of the offense will ultimately lie with quarterback Lamar Jackson, who broke Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record and passed for a league-high 36 touchdowns but struggled in the loss to the Titans.
“There’s a magic to his style and how he plays, some creativity,” Roman said. “And
you can over the internet.
“I think that it just makes your package more flexible. You’ve got Calais Campbell, who’s the best five-technique in the National Football League, and you’ve got Derek Wolfe. You can work a combination of those guys. It all depends on how fast the younger guys come along. I just think that we’re better up front.”
The Ravens, like the rest of society, have become part of the virtual world. But players can only tolerate so much audio and visual learning. In a physical game such as football, they prefer to spend more time on the field or lifting weights than in a meeting room.
But Martindale and coach John Harbaugh have at least tried to make these virtual meetings interesting. They started a series called “Chasing Greatness,” which featured guest speakers such as Ray Lewis, Ed Reed, former boxing champion Larry Holmes, basketball Hall of Famer Julius Erving, college basketball coach John Calipari and Brandon Scott, the Democratic nominee for Baltimore mayor.
If those people can’t hold your attention, no one will.
“We’ve made Zoom meetings an event that our guys didn’t want to miss them, and they took something away from them,” Martindale said. “It just makes you appreciate the small things in life. It makes you appreciate, as a coach, being hands-on, if you will. But we’re right where we want to be as far as installation and all that.”
The Ravens know they need to get these guys out on the field. All 32 teams in the league have to abide by the same rules, but Martindale is known for his creativity and likes to have versatile players who give him some flexibility in his scheme.
What will the Ravens do with Campbell? Will they move him around the line, including putting him on the outside shoulder of the weakest offensive tackle?
With the additions of Campbell and Wolfe, it will be interesting to see Brandon Williams back at nose guard, which is his best position.
Now, if you double-team Campbell, will that make the pass rushers more effective, especially outside linebacker Matthew Judon, who led the team in sacks last season with 9
There are a lot of schemes Martindale can consider, but he has to find the time to work out the kinks in a compressed training camp.
“I just think it’s the muscle memory and the reps,” Martindale said. “So when we finally do get back together in training camp, I think that it just makes each rep more precious. We’ve had that discussion throughout the defense. We’ve got to be ready to go when we finally do get to hit the grass.”
The Ravens wanted more speed on defense, and they got it with Queen and Harrison. In years past, the Ravens would have had their rookies in camp by now, and the young players would certainly have developed a deeper knowledge of the play book.
In the case of Queen, he’ll probably start immediately.
“I think that it’s going to be a challenge for him because of the practice time that he’s missed,” Martindale said of Queen. “But I know in just speaking with him and being in meetings with him, I think this kid can handle it. We’re lucky that we drafted a smart and driven player. He’s going to rise to this challenge.
“Will it be perfect? No, but we don’t expect that coming out as a rookie. The thing of it is, you can see that he doesn’t repeat errors. You can see that in games. On something that he did wrong, you can see him fix it within a game when you are studying his college tape.
“I can’t wait to get him going. If you’re going to make mistakes … It’s just like I told him, ‘If you are going to make a mistake, make it a 100-miles-per-hour mistake.’ We can live with that.”
With Young, there are still a lot of questions. The Ravens know he has the ability, but in four seasons he has started only 17 of 31 games. He also missed the 2017 season with a knee injury.
Young isn’t that big at 5-foot-9 and 185 pounds. If he can play, the Ravens will have several options with Smith, including playing him at nickel over a tight end in passing situations.
Smith also allows the Ravens to move starting cornerback Marlon Humphrey inside to cover slot receivers.
That’s why Martindale can’t wait to get back on the field. The talent is there, but the Ravens have to find out what works and what doesn’t. The more repetitions, the better a coach feels.
The Ravens have done a decent job in trying to build camaraderie and morale, but there are no replacements for practice.
That’s why Martindale is so antsy.
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