Ravens should wait for Lamar to hire new offensive coordinator
The Baltimore Ravens have a crucial offseason with the status of quarterback Lamar Jackson up in the air. The Ravens are saying all the right things when it comes to wanting to keep Jackson and sign him to a long-term deal. The fact is a deal with Jackson is not done yet and still does not seem close.
The Ravens executives said in their press conference last week that Jackson was going to have a part in their search for their new offensive coordinator. It is likely that a deal with Jackson would be announced before they hire a new offensive coordinator but if they do not, they should wait.
With Jackson the Ravens have a very unique quarterback that can run at a super elite level and pass well too. If the Ravens are not able to reach an agreement with Jackson the Ravens may want to explore changing changing up their offensive system a bit.
The Ravens will always want to be a run first team but with quarterbacks now days they are almost all to an extent mobile. At least mobile in comparison to quarterback play 10 years ago when the pocket passer like Peyton Manning was thriving.
The Ravens are moving on from a very unique style with Greg Roman maybe some concepts will be the same but the Ravens are definitely going to use wide receivers more. Towards the end of Roman’s tender the Ravens basically went full tight ends and running backs for their attack, it looked like a college offense.
I think Jackson could fit in multiple offensive schemes but one tailored around him is one that is quarterback run heavy. An offense with Jackson does not need to be filled with planned quarterback runs for it to be successful. Honestly, I think Jackson would be successful if he simply ran when he saw holes open or was under pressure and had only a few planned runs per game.
The Ravens quarterback room is filled with quarterbacks similar to Jackson in Tyler Huntley and Anthony Brown. Huntley is a discount Jackson who runs almost as well and has a weaker arm. Brown does not run as well but has a better arm than Huntley. If the scheme is completely different and the Ravens are forced to move on from Jackson they may have to redo their entire quarterback room.
The Ravens have a lot of hard decisions to make and it really all depends on what happens with Jackson.