The Monken Factor: How the OC Has Unlocked Lamar Jackson

If you watched The Last Dance, the seismic documentary about the six-time champion Chicago Bulls, you might remember the parts about head coach Phil Jackson. Specifically, the incredible impact he made on Michael Jordan, both from an X’s and O’s perspective, as well as on his approach to the game (more on that in a second).

Back when Jordan was coached by previous head coach Doug Collins, he was the most feared player in the league and he was completely unstoppable. It was Jordan’s athletic gifts on display, every game. Collins even joked once after the famous shot against Cleveland in the playoffs that the play he drew up was “everybody get the f**ck out of the way and let Jordan score” (paraphrasing).

However, Jordan wasn’t able to get to the NBA Finals playing as a one-man show.

Once Jackson took over, he made some immediate changes, one of which was the installation of the triangle offense. It was an offense that required buy-in from Jordan because it required a team-first approach to succeed. Jordan would be required to both pass, and move off, the ball more, instead of the isolation basketball he was used to. Jackson saw the upside of reducing the load for Jordan so other players could make it easier for the superstar.

Jordan has since admitted he wasn’t sure about the offense at first but it ultimately unlocked his game even more as a complete player. And now we’ve since seen how he passed the ball to an open John Paxon and Steve Kerr in different finals games to hit the game-winning shots.

Jackson also challenged Jordan on an intellectual and spiritual level. You could argue that the approach he took with Jordan on a personal level might have been even more meaningful for his development.

In that sense, and speaking of Jacksons, Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken has unlocked all of quarterback Lamar Jackson. The persona, the mentality, the passer, the runner, the decision-maker. The leader. All of it.

Oftentimes the greats, like Jordan, need a coach to elevate them even more. They in fact crave it.

Lamar and The New OC Need to be Partners

I wrote back in January, when the Ravens decided to move on from Greg Roman, that the new OC needed to view Jackson as more of a partner in running the offense instead of the player who takes his orders:

The coordinator the Ravens pick has to earn his trust. He needs to figure out a way to develop that rapport. That means the two should be talking about the game plan, working on it together, and Jackson should really believe in the OC being the leading catalyst for the offense to exploit any defense

In a brilliant piece penned by our good friend Jeff Zrebiec about Monken, Jackson pretty much attested to how the former Georgia OC has empowered him, describing how they are involved in making decisions for the offense together.

“If I see something on the field, I can go to Coach and I’ll be like, “Coach, I feel like we should do this,” Jackson told The Athletic. “He’s listening and he might make a change depending on how he feels, if he likes it, if he’s seeing the same thing I’m seeing. It’s great. I’m having fun with it.”

This is the biggest win that Monken has achieved as an OC for Jackson and the Ravens. More than dialing up a certain play. Or figuring out how to scheme against the Dolphins. He gets it.

Monken has even challenged Jackson to step up and be a more vocal leader, which the quarterback has embraced. Just recently, cornerback Marlon Humphrey lauded Jackson with praise, pointing out that he’s speaking up more and leading by example.

At a certain point, Monken realized Jackson needs to be nurtured and treated as an equal. His greatness could only be elevated if his game evolved, and for that to happen, he had to trust the coach. Pretty clear that Monken and Jackson have a strong connection.

Just like Jordan, Jackson can dominate by simply playing isolation football, if you will. We saw it against the Indianapolis Colts in 2021 when he played arguably his greatest game. He was simply putting the team on his back and doing it all, which is something he did often with Greg Roman as the coordinator.

That didn’t mean it was working. Ultimately, he needed more help and a coach who could harness more of the facilitator side in him.

From afar, it looks like Lamar is playing with a Zen and a calm. He sees the field differently. He’s making his game look like he’s on auto pilot. Yes, there were certain games and plays where he still pressed and tried to do too much. But overall, this season, he’s looked way more at ease with trusting his weapons and playing with the game.

Case in point, a play I tweeted about against Miami where he found Justice Hill on a simple check down on 3rd and 16. He took the right play against Vic Fangio’s soft zone and Hill did the rest, picking up a 1st down.

Revisiting this beauty from @jhill21_

3rd and 16 – pivotal, clutch play. Backed up and down 7-0. That cut by Hill at the end is just not fair. They don’t win without this conversion.

He was leaving Dolphins shaking all game. Electric & timely performance. #Ravens #RavensFlock pic.twitter.com/HBVXdHVmcf

— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) January 2, 2024

The prior version of Jackson might have taken off with his legs to make something out of nothing. Not to say, by the way, that he still doesn’t turn to his natural playmaking instincts to create a play from nothing outside the pocket. In fact, Monken has welcomed those off-schedule plays, alluding to them as a “second play” when the scripted play is shut down. We have seen those plays become back breakers, most recently against the Jaguars and 49ers.

Within that construct, Lamar has figured out how to draw defenders to him and hit passes right over their heads in a very structured way. Like Jordan leveraging the triangle to find the right spacing and hit open shooters in the corner, as Jim described in his recent article here:

This is a sack, right?  When Nick Bosa (#97) and Javon Hargrave (#98) have you boxed-in like that, any other human being playing quarterback is going down. Hard. But with Lamar, this turns into a 39-yd pass play. What the hell does a defense have to do?? It has to drive them absolutely out of their minds.

So Lamar breaks the backcourt trap like a Point Guard, and he creates the 2-on-1 fast break opportunity.

#57 Dre Greenlaw is in no-man’s land. There’s just one of him to account for Lamar and Gus Edwards. If he stays back to guard the wing, Lamar drives right to the hoop: you just can’t let Lamar run free in the open field.  Greenlaw has to come up and challenge. Lamar pushes the ball to “widen” the triangle, and when Greenlaw commits, he dishes the rock to his Power Forward for the finishing dunk, a 39-yd catch-&-run. It’s pure basketball. Trae Young doesn’t do it any better.

The balance has been there all season. What we see is a generational player in Lamar who is playing completely free and within himself, and that is a direct credit to Monken’s influence.

I could have taken up more words to talk about all the X’s and O’s adjustments Monken has made that have also propelled Jackson’s game – spreading the field out more horizontally and playing off his legs to create more misdirection are prime examples. That’s another article for another day.

What we should most credit Monken for is getting the most out of Jackson as a cerebral quarterback and figuring out how to get him excited again. As Jackson said, he’s having fun. If you have the most talented playmaker in the league feeling that way, buying in, and a true partner, you get what the Ravens have achieved to this point, which looks to be an unstoppable team poised for a Super Bowl run.

And frankly, this is only the beginning. This is only year one of the Monken offense. Only 16 games in. What will happen in years two and three when Jackson continues to get more comfortable and the two can devise more in the dirt?

I know I am ahead of myself, but I am already excited for what Lamar Jackson and the Ravens look like on offense *next year,* with another offseason to master the O and build chemistry. In particular, I’m excited to see Lamar at the line next year making checks/changing plays

— Chris B. Brown (@smartfootball) December 31, 2023

The possibilities are exciting and potentially endless. Like Jackson for Jordan, Monken for Jackson has the makings of a transcendent partnership.