Ravens go all-in on Lamar Jackson, and their remade offense proves it | TribLIVE.com
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Ravens go all-in on Lamar Jackson, and their remade offense proves it

The Washington Post
| Tuesday, June 25, 2019 5:41 p.m.
AP
Lamar Jackson helped the Ravens go from 4-5 to the AFC North title last season.

OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The speakers behind the end zone of the sun-splashed practice field blared the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage” as the Baltimore Ravens offense broke the huddle.

A wall of offensive players lined up behind the formation, facing the defense. Coaches lurked. A few steps behind center, in the shotgun and in the middle of everything, strode Lamar Jackson.

Having won a division title behind the unpolished arm and supersonic legs of their rookie quarterback, the Ravens started over this offseason. They promoted Greg Roman to replace Marty Mornhinweg as offensive coordinator. At the urging of coach John Harbaugh, and in line with the vision of management all the way up to ownership, Roman and his staff promptly tore down what the Ravens had been and fashioned a new plan built around the strengths of Jackson.

“There are several coaches on our staff that have always wanted to do this: ‘What would I do if I could start from square zero?’ ” Roman said this past week at Ravens minicamp. “So we’ve been granted that opportunity.”

With training camp a little more than a month away, the Ravens represent an offensive laboratory and a study in what happens when a franchise commits to a franchise quarterback. Last year, Jackson was a rookie who spoke softly in the huddle and tossed wobbly spirals. He was a first-round athletic marvel acquired to mature for a season behind Joe Flacco, a former Super Bowl winner at the end of an eight-figure contract and a different species of quarterback. Jackson is now the center of Baltimore’s universe.

Jackson emerged last season after Flacco suffered an injury, steering Baltimore — and its fearsome defense — from 4-5 to the AFC North title after a midstream shift in offensive philosophy and cementing the Ravens’ hopes he would be their future. They spent their offseason reshaping their franchise around him, managing their roster with his skills in mind and remaking an offense to suit the same.

“You build around your players, and nobody more so than your quarterback,” Harbaugh said. “We need to build everything around what he can do. Offense, defense and even special teams are built with that in mind: ‘What kind of a team are we going to be based on the skill set of the quarterback?’ ”

One feature of making a definitive choice of a franchise quarterback is it provides a road map for decision-making. The New England Patriots load up on shifty, versatile wide receivers to take advantage of Tom Brady’s precision and quick release. The Kansas City Chiefs put burners around Patrick Mahomes to take advantage of his extraterrestrial arm strength. The Los Angeles Rams centered their offense on play-action passes to make Jared Goff comfortable. It sets an organizational course.

For the Ravens, this included re-signing Robert Griffin III and drafting Penn State product Trace McSorley to give them two mobile backup quarterbacks who can replicate Jackson’s running ability. They added running back Mark Ingram, a hammering inside runner who complements Jackson’s ability on read-option plays, which ask Jackson to hand the ball off or keep it himself based on what he sees from the defense.

With their first-round pick this year, the Ravens chose Oklahoma wide receiver Marquise Brown, perhaps the fastest player in college football last season, a weapon capable of stretching the field and rearranging the defense’s coverage by himself. The desire to add speed around Jackson reached the top of the organization.

“We realized as much as anybody else did that we had 11 (sets of) eyes on Lamar near the end of the year,” owner Steve Bisciotti said this spring.

NFL teams make changes to their offenses every year, with the usual tweaks Harbaugh compared to a technology company releasing new editions of the same product. This year the Ravens have taken things to the extreme.

“We’re probably doing iPhone 1 now,” Harbaugh said. “We have a whole new idea. It’s not that there’s anything new in there, concept-wise, that has never been done in football before. But the way we put it together, to me, is unique and different.”

In a telling gesture, the Ravens put the locker of new arrival Earl Thomas, one of the greatest defensive players of his era and a renowned leader, next to Jackson’s. Every day before practice, the veteran safety laughs and jokes with the young quarterback.

“He’s a star in the making,” Thomas said. “Box office.”


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