For the first five years of Lamar Jackson’s career with the Baltimore Ravens, there wasn’t a team in the NFL that put fewer assets into the wide receiver position. Focused on building an offense around his ability as a runner, the Ravens built a smashmouth, run-first offense with Greg Roman as the offensive coordinator.
With Roman no longer on the coaching staff, things will change for the Ravens in 2023. Todd Monken has been brought in and he will modernize the offense, making it more of a downfield, passing attack.
It is something that Lamar Jackson is very excited about, as he is excited to get going in this offense. It is easy to see why, as Monken is going to take advantage of his arm talent more this season and the team revamped the pass-catching weapons around him.
In free agency, the Ravens made a splash by signing Nelson Agoholor and Odell Beckham Jr. With their first-round pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, Baltimore selected Boston College wide receiver, Zay Flowers. Those three, along with Rashod Bateman and tight end Mark Andrews, give Lamar Jackson the best group of pass catchers he has had in his career.
The question now, is, will he be able to fully take advantage? Sam Monson of PFF certainly believes so. One of his bold predictions for the Ravens in the 2023 season is that Lamar Jackson will set a career-high for PFF passing grade.
“Jackson’s college offense used three or more receivers on the field 65% of the time. Baltimore was at 12% last year, the lowest rate in the NFL by an order of magnitude. Jackson has shown repeatedly he is an excellent passer at this level, and now he’s going to be in an offense that showcases it.”
11 personnel is something that Monken is planning to use more in 2023, which is what Lamar Jackson used plenty in college at Louisville, per Monson. The Ravens certainly have the weapons to succeed in such an alignment as they go five deep at wide receiver when you include Devin Duvernay as well.
If that group can stay healthy, 2023 is going to be a special season for Lamar Jackson and the Ravens. There are some risks in changing your identity, but Baltimore looks to be a more dangerous team now than they have been in years past.
