New-look Ravens could put players in prime spot
Space, pace and weapons.
It’s not a military slogan, but how offensive coordinator Todd Monken plans on putting his stamp on the Baltimore Ravens – if training camp and his recent coaching history are any indication.
“Todd is a big advocate of this: Take the guys you have and use them, the things they do well,” head coach John Harbaugh said.
This offseason, the Ravens bolstered the players around quarterback Lamar Jackson. They signed receivers Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor, both Super Bowl champions. Wideout Zay Flowers was their first-round draft choice. And 2021 first-round pick Rashod Bateman is back on the field at “99%” following a foot injury that cost him the bulk of last season.
“I definitely think Todd wants to throw the ball, and we’ve got a lot of talented guys,” said Beckham, who played in Monken’s system in 2019 with the Cleveland Brows. “So, I think, just finding ways to get the playmakers the ball in their hands and be an explosive offense – that’s what stands out the most.”
Jackson, who jokingly said earlier this offseason he wanted to throw for 6,000 yards in 2023 but is deadly serious about putting up big passing numbers, is down with that idea.
“Let’s get these guys the ball and let them do them,” said Jackson, who learned his new playbook by reciting the name of the play out loud, flipping the page, and testing his memory. “We have the guys that will make stuff happen, get yards after the catch.”
How spread out the offense is compared to former offensive coordinator Greg Roman’s scheme stands out, fullback Patrick Ricard said.
“We pretty much brought in a whole other room of skill players here to compete for different roles,” Ricard said.
The personnel around the ball allows the offense to feel like they’re capable of doing “anything and everything,” right guard Kevin Zeitler said.
Earning Monken’s trust and players proving that they are capable of executing his vision will be a determining factor of the unit’s success.
“It’s just on us being able to show him we can master it all and get it done,” Zeitler said.
For the past two years, at the collegiate level, Monken had an advantage over the rest of his competition as offensive coordinator of the Georgia Bulldogs. On their way to consecutive national titles, Georgia’s high-powered recruiting machine paid dividends on both sides of the ball.
It was Monken’s scheme and philosophy, though, that helped push Georgia over the hump and gave a former walkon in quarterback Stetson Bennett the keys for the nation’s second-most efficient offense in 2022.
In that system, Brock Bowers became a first-team All-American and won the John Mackey Award for the nation’s top tight end in 2022 while leading the Bulldogs with seven receiving touchdowns. His three rushing touchdowns were further evidence of Monken’s affinity for feeding his playmakers the rock and not caring much about defined positions.
Ravens tight end Mark Andrews likely won’t be carrying the ball as much as Bowers did, but Jackson’s longtime favorite target will retain a large role.
“We’re always under construction – a player is, an offense is,” Monken said.
Having not playing a regular-season game yet and still learning his players’ strengths and weaknesses, Monken said what the offense will look like later in the campaign compared to the start “remains to be seen.”
Baltimore is hoping Monken can unlock a Ravens offense that faltered down the stretch the past two seasons, with Jackson’s back-to-back season-ending injuries not helping the situation, under Roman.
In 2022, the Ravens were 14th in the league in yards per play (5.5). But that was largely thanks to a rushing attack that ranked tied for second in yards per attempt (5.2).
Another noticeable area of improvement is in the red zone. Baltimore ranked 29th in red-zone efficiency, finding the end zone in less than half of the Ravens’ trips into scoring range. Asked whether Monken’s scheme is an evolution of what Roman built over four years or is a drastic change, Harbaugh said it’s both. The blocking schemes are similar, with offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris still overseeing that unit.
“How new and how different it will be, we’ll find out,” Harbaugh said, “but it will be what we feel we need to do to be most successful.”
One difference will be the use of more screen passes and a greater involvement from the running backs in the receiving game.
“I don’t even have to say it,” running back J.K. Dobbins said. “You can see it. You will see it.”