At the top of every purple-and-black-blooded Ravens fan’s mind heading into this season is the offense.
Oh, take your pick on how that looks. Will Lamar Jackson hold up for an entire season? What about receivers Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman, who have also had injury issues of their own? Or JK Dobbins? Is Mark Andrews entirely through with whatever he was dealing with this last week-plus?
👀 Mark Andrews has returned to practice. https://t.co/C8uYMpf5FG
— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) September 6, 2023
Of course, there is no sure-fire way to predict health, or to voodoo-up a remedy that will ensure sustained health by anybody — let alone human beings who use their bodies as projectiles in the service of their organizations. But if there is something that we can take a look at, based on the data available to us, is what this new Todd Monken-led offense will look like.
ESPN’s Jamison Hensley has been at practice all summer watching the team at work, and has spoken with a ton of people “in the know.” He attempted to guess what this new-look offense will be when the whistle blows to start a new regular season.
The general idea is that the Ravens now have a depth chart that appears on paper to be filled with playmakers, and that should present Monken with options. Options, by the way, that should play out on game days in different ways, against different opponents.
“Hopefully, I have a hot hand this year, and everyone has a hot hand, so defensive coordinators are having nightmares when they see the Ravens on the schedule because we have so many weapons,” Ravens running back J.K. Dobbins said in Hensley’s piece.
Which brings up a key point, when discussing the 2023 Ravens offense: Yes, Monken was brought in largely to modernize and improve the team’s passing attack. But it’s important to note that this team has been structured around a dominant run game the past several seasons, and most of those pieces are still in the locker room. It’s safe to assume that with that personnel, and under the hand of coach John Harbaugh, running the ball is not going to lose its prominent place in the offensive scheme.
Just how that looks might, however.
Hensley notes that the team has acquired more talent at the receiver position, and has shown more three-receiver looks on the field this summer. The general idea, he says, is to create space for these playmakers to, well, make plays. And that includes Dobbins and the running backs, along with the dangerous legs of Jackson.
“I think the offense will look very different than it has in years past,” said Dan Orlovsky, a former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst, per Hensley’s column. “I think years past it would shrink people down. In doing so, [the Ravens] created space. [The Ravens would] go attack that space on the outside.
“I think that it’ll be the opposite this year. It’s gonna be spread people out. In doing so, [the Ravens] will create space and they will attack that space on the inside, both in the pass and the run.”
Hensley also suggested the Ravens will have a faster pace on offense, from huddle to snap, and that will be a refreshing change for Ravens fans who had grown frustrated with watching the time clock tick down to zero time and time again, forcing penalties on the Ravens and allowing defenders to time the snap better as that clock hit three, two, one…
Of course, at the end of the day, this offense’s success, or lack thereof, will come down to Jackson — just as it does for most teams in today’s NFL.
Ravens WR Odell Beckham Jr. on QB Lamar Jackson: "We all follow 8. We go as he goes.
"He's definitely different than any other quarterback that I've had. The leadership comes from the smile on his face, the confidence that he puts within us. … He's a leader, and we follow… pic.twitter.com/0bfsWEyT3i
— Sarah Ellison (@sgellison) September 6, 2023
Also, of note on the Twitter machine:
As expected, the Ravens have done a restructure (Marlon Humphrey) to get Cap-compliant. https://t.co/oXk5k5xB8g
— Brian McFarland (@RavensSalaryCap) September 6, 2023
Shoutout to the Ravens Vs Texans 2011 Divisional round game: pic.twitter.com/7ec2hHGZ0v
— Yuri (@MR___Yuri) September 7, 2023
From a meeting down in South Fla to a movie theater text to celebratory sips of whisky. How one of the most frustrating offseasons in Ravens history turned around and set the stage for this season of high expectations.
($1 per month sub still avail)https://t.co/cFcqViZ3dc— Jeff Zrebiec (@jeffzrebiec) September 7, 2023
