The Baltimore Ravens announced the hiring of Todd Monken on Tuesday morning. He will serve as offensive coordinator, replacing Greg Roman. Monken comes from the University of Georgia, where his team won back-to-back National Championships. Prior to that, he was the offensive coordinator for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016-18, and the Cleveland Browns in 2019.
RSR staff react to the hire here.
Rob Shields
Todd Monken is a solid hire. He has NFL experience and has been great at Georgia. He brings a style of wanting to run it while also featuring the air raid passing game. I was hoping for Brian Johnson but I think that isn’t a possibility whether it means he goes to Indy or stays in Philly.
In other words, stay with what we are doing while being more of a creative and downfield threat.
Sounds good to me. Of course, implementing it is what matters but I think he represents the best of both worlds.
The reality is that none of know how any one of these guys are going to do with this group of players and situation. It’s all speculation but for what I have read and seen, I think this as good a hire as could have been expected.
Quite simply, the correct move all the way. I’ve explained my reasons before. Monken’s blend of the college game & NFL is ideal. He can scheme for power, he can scheme for spread. He will offer a more creative, blended approach to the passing game. Checks all the boxes. #Ravens https://t.co/VEtIQc0eAw
— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) February 14, 2023
Chad Racine
On paper it’s hard to argue with Monken’s recent impressive resume with Georgia. Last season his offense averaged 501.1 yards and 40.7 points per game. More importantly, he went up against a list of highly qualified candidates in this extensive and lengthy search.
As fans we don’t have the luxury of hearing what happened in these interviews or what their philosophy will be going forward. We just have to trust John Harbaugh and company that they know exactly what they’re looking for and have found their answer in Monken.
Coming off back to back championships at Georgia, Monken has set a standard of excellence. Let’s hope it carries over here in Baltimore.
Ravens announcing Todd Monken as OC on Valentines Day bc they love us 💜 pic.twitter.com/6xx50V0C6M
— AdamBMore (@AdamBMore) February 14, 2023
Darin McCann
It’s maybe not that sexy hire that many we’re hoping for, but for my money, it’s the right one.
We saw him coordinate a dangerous offense in Tampa, and watched him adapt his Georgia attacks to his personnel.
He should be able to come in and maximize Mark Andrews, JK Dobbins and whatever the receiver room looks like next season. That’s all you can ask for from your coordinator, really.
That next domino to fall at quarterback will be an important factor in Monken’s first-year performance. I think they made a good pick here.
Kevin McNelis
When you look at this hire based on Baltimore‘s existing offensive identity, it makes sense. Monken has been touted for the way he utilizes running backs and tight ends, and I expect Mark Andrews to continue being a key piece of this passing offense.
That said, I was kind of hoping for a more dramatic shift offensively toward a coordinator like Brian Johnson or Eric Bieniemy. Maybe those were pipe dreams given the current status of the receiver room, but it also may have been an uncomfortable proposition for the front office to consider such a dramatic shift in the offensive game plan.
The biggest question remains: how much can this passing game be reinvented under new leadership, and will it be enough?
Nikhil Mehta
I’m a huge fan of this hiring for several reasons. His recent success is undeniable, but I’m even more impressed with how he accomplished those back-to-back championships. Sure, Georgia’s defense made things easy, but the improvement in their offense from 2021 to 2022 is the reason they were able to get past Ohio State in the CFP. That improvement came from Monken’s knowledge of offensive schemes and understanding of his personnel, building around the talent he had while developing the skills of Stetson Bennett.
Monken’s hiring brings plenty of additional questions, particularly to do with Lamar Jackson (and the Ravens’ rumored pursuit of Eric Bienemy).
But with this hire, the Ravens are signaling that they are prepared to modernize their offense with or without Lamar, with an OC who can take what he gets from EDC roster-wise and go to work.
Jared Pinder
When the Ravens started this search weeks ago, I wanted someone who could accentuate what the Ravens wanted to do with a more modern twist. Monken apparently had other jobs on the table but chose the Ravens over other teams like the Bucs. I’m not going to sit here and tell you what makes Monken so different from someone like Greg Roman (I will let smarter people do that) but it seems like Monken is very adaptable and will get the ball to his best players on offense no matter what.
This isn’t the sexy young offensive coordinator that many wanted but Monken probably won’t be as stubbornly stupid as Roman and will do anything to get his best players involved. A really good hire for the Ravens and now we wait for the Lamar shoe to drop.
15 Responses
I wish him all the best and my advice would be to do you own thing and tell Harbaugh to take care of the press conferences.
Let’s see: in his 8 yrs in NFL with Tampa Bay and Cleveland, his teams were 56-72-0 for a 43.75% and 1-1 in postseason! Typical Harbaugh hire……
Yup, typical Harbaugh hire, older guy, not an up and Comer. No threat to his job. He’ll cycle through this guy in 4 or 5 years, then get another one.
Take some damned Prozac. I don’t think I have ever heard you make a positive comment in any forum.
He was the OC under Freddie freaking Kitchens who called his own plays. He has experience in college, in the NFL and as a head coach. His offense at Georgia improved yearly and this year he averaged 40 points a game with a walk on at QB.
If you said something positive once, it would give your constant griping about the team some meaning. But you said the same thing about Billick years ago. Meanwhile we have 2 Lombardi trophies as one of the youngest teams in the league. It could be much worse. We could be the Clowns or the Lions or the Jets.
College football is not professional football! He failed in the NFL, which is how he wound up at Georgia! Facts can be very inconvenient when trying to support a narrative……
2.John Harbaugh is 147-95 ranking him #6 in the NFL active coach win percentage
3. Brian Billick had a 144-80 record giving him a 55.6% win percentage which would also put him high up on the same list, irrespective of his ability to get another job. 4. Monken – Had the #5 ranked offense with Tampa Bay using Jameis Winston and Ryan Fitzpatrick as quarterbacks. 5. Despite the egos, he managed to get over 1000 yard seasons from Odell, Jarvis and Nick Chubb 6. His Georgia offense was historic
You’ve been peddling the same stuff for years. It used to be on the Baltimore Sun until they outlawed comments. Now it’s here. You’re an armchair QB alright. You ought to be a Jets fan with how much you gripe about “your” team. Facts are inconvenient when you are trying to support a narrative.
Just as you are wrong about your allegation that the Baltimore Sun outlawed my comments, if I agreed with your OPINIONS, then we’d both be……WRONG!
If you bothered reading what I wrote, I didn’t say the Sun outlawed you. I said they outlawed comments, as in everybody’s comments. But that would require you to read and think, instead of read and type.
Dude, you’re a troll. Not sure why you watch or care about a team that is such a pile of hot garbage. You said the same stuff about Flacco as you do about Lamar. The same stuff about Harbaugh that you did about Billick. And unless there is another person with the handle armchairqb, it was you then and you now. There are only about 3 or 4 teams in the NFL that wouldn’t happily take our record of accomplishments for theirs. Become a KC fan. But then you’d find fault with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes.
What I said about Billick is that he wasted valuable talent and time convinced that Kyle Boller was a franchise QB, which ultimately got him fired and probably cost him his coaching career! Harbaugh’s problems as a game day coach are legendary as is his arrogant commitment to an offensive system and philosophy that are out of step with the times! But, you’re entitled to your own opinions! As for the Sunpaper, I stopped subscribing years ago and was not aware that they no longer accepted comments and, frankly, couldn’t care less!
Somebody needs a nap …
Billick was fired two years into a 5 year extension and was such a good HC that he could never get another head coaching job! Hopefully, that’s what happens to the current HC who prides himself in a record for preseason wins while his teams have failed in the postseason over the past 8 years! Just more inconvenient……FACTS!
I hope he does well here. He’ll need to find a game plan that doesn’t require outside throws.
Q1) Who was the final decision maker on this hire? 2) What do we expect to get better(offensively speaking of course) with this hire over the prior OC? The current run game is pretty good. The current qb is an average passer – at best. What changes that after 5 years in the league? Will ‘analytics’ continue to dominate? Supposedly our receiver group (sans Andrews) is below average. How does the new OC change that? 3) The elephant in the room is Lamar and his contract/ continuance as a Raven. I’m glad GR is gone and I wish the new guy well.
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yourself? Please reply back as I’m looking to create my own site and would like to find out where you got this
from or what the theme is called. Appreciate it! https://vanzari-parbrize.ro/parbrize/parbrize.php