Inside Lamar Jackson's adjustments to Ravens' new offense
Under new OC Declan Doyle, Lamar Jackson has the opportunity to embrace a new vision.
NFLBaltimore RavensJamison Hensley
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. -- About a week ago, quarterback Lamar Jackson was ticked off at Baltimore Ravens training camp, spiking his helmet down to the ground with both hands.
Toward the end of a two-minute drill, Jackson hit tight end Durham Smythe down the seam to move the ball just outside the end zone with six seconds remaining. With the clock ticking, Jackson and the rest of his offensive teammates rushed to the line of scrimmage to get one more play off. But time expired and Jackson let everyone know his frustration.
Jackson has experienced his share of ups and downs this summer while learning a new offensive system under coordinator Declan Doyle. There are plenty of practices where Jackson makes several great passes deep downfield and then throws an interception, including one to a 310-pound defensive lineman.
But Jackson's track record suggests he will have more success in adapting to a new scheme than any of the other 21 teams that have a new offensive coordinator this season. Jackson has won the NFL Most Valuable Player award the past two times he has worked with a new offensive coordinator.
In 2019, Jackson became only the second unanimous selection for MVP in his first season under Greg Roman. Four years later, he won MVP for a second time in his first season under Todd Monken.
Now, under Doyle, Jackson has the opportunity to continue the trend where he embraces a new vision -- featuring a different alignment, cadence and targets -- to become the league's most acclaimed player again in 2026.
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"Lamar continues each and every year to push himself and learn and grow and find new ways to innovate," Ravens tight end Mark Andrews said. "Especially when you learn a new offense, you're able to kind of add some things to your repertoire and do some different things that other people haven't seen. He's the most adaptable, smoothest player in the league."
In Doyle's offense, he stresses being physical and explosive. The biggest buzz word with Doyle is detailed. He wants his players to be students of the game, which starts with Jackson, or "L" as Doyle often refers to him.
On every pass, the challenge for Jackson is to find where the defense is most vulnerable for a big play. Doyle believes, if Jackson is using the proper footwork and looking at the right spots, he will know where to distribute the ball.
Doyle has emphasized making the plays as efficient and "schemed up" as possible. The Ravens are trying to take pressure off Jackson by limiting the number of times that Jackson has to go off script when a play breaks down.
Jackson has been more engaged than ever. He attended the voluntary workouts in the spring. He's constantly talking with Doyle on the field, calling the first-time playcaller "a wizard."
Doyle hasn't held back when coaching Jackson. During the spring minicamp, Doyle called out Jackson for pitching the ball instead of running a bootleg.
"I feel like he is doing a great job at that [by] challenging us each and every play," Jackson said. "Even with the huddle, and how the huddle is set up, he challenges us to get to the line of scrimmage fast, execute, break down the defense and process everything fast so that it's a process of elimination when we get to the line of scrimmage."
Jackson's teammates feel he has achieved a comfort level with the new offense this summer, just like he has done in the past.
"Honestly, I do not know how he picks up on systems so fast," wide receiver Zay Flowers said. "It is crazy. I have to study a lot with this [system]. He just picks it up quick. I honestly do not know."
"Lamar's the best player in the league," Ravens coach Jesse Minter said. AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough THE LAST TIME Jackson took an extensive amount of snaps under center in games was youth football. That's likely to change this season.
After primarily working out of the pistol or shotgun formations in his first eight NFL seasons, Jackson has been taking more snaps under center than any previous training camp. Jackson expects this change to continue into the regular season.
"With this balanced type of offense, I feel like it will help us out a lot -- identifying the defense, really keeping the defense on their toes," Jackson said.
Playing less in the pistol and shotgun will be a different look for Jackson, who has been under center for 5% of his career snaps in the NFL. Since 2018, Jackson's 226 snaps under center are the second fewest among quarterbacks with at least 50 starts behind Kyler Murray (202 snaps under center).
Even though Jackson hasn't played under center much, he has been very effective when he does. Over the past eight seasons, Jackson has the highest QBR in the NFL (81.2) when under center, throwing 20 touchdowns and one interception.
Jackson has looked natural under center in training camp, according to Doyle.
"You would never notice that he hasn't been under there that much," Doyle said. "He has the ability to really do all three: He can be under [center], he can be in the pistol, [and] he can be in shotgun. There's a lot of versatility in his game."
Doyle added, "You want to be able to mix all those things and make the defense have to deal with the multiplicity of those sets as [much as] you can. He provides us a lot of value in his ability to go under center and run some of the offense that way."
Doyle has made the point that snap count is the one aspect that the offense knows and the defense does not. AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough KEEPING DEFENSES ON their toes goes beyond where Jackson lines up for the Ravens. Jackson's cadence can give an edge to Baltimore.
Doyle has made the point that snap count is the one aspect that the offense knows and the defense does not. So, the Ravens have been working with Jackson's verbal and rhythmic sequence before the snap.
"Lamar is a very quick learner when you start working with him, and so I have been happy with what we have done," Doyle said. "We are trying to kind of keep the defense honest, and yet, at the same point in time, there are times where cadence might provide an advantage to be able to try to create a big play. So, it all kind of ties together, but there is certainly an emphasis on the tempo in which we break the huddle [and] the cadence we use. That stuff is all a huge piece to what happens post-snap."
Getting defenses to jump offside has been a struggle for Jackson and the Ravens. Since Jackson's first full season in 2019, Baltimore has drawn defenses offside 33 times. Only two teams have had fewer (New Orleans and New England).
According to ESPN Research, that has resulted in 48 "free plays" for Baltimore -- when the flag is thrown on the defense and the offense knows any negative outcome can be erased by the penalty -- which is tied for the fifth fewest in that span. Jackson has one career completion on a free play: a 6-yard pass to Flowers in 2023 at the Browns.
During this summer's training camp, there have been some hiccups along the way. On Sunday, the Ravens varied their cadences to get the defense off-kilter and it had the opposite effect. The offense was flagged for false start eight times.
But, once Jackson and his teammates can get these cadences down, it can lead to the defense jumping into the neutral zone. And when Jackson sees that flag thrown, he is looking to take advantage of that more than he has in the past.
"Free plays, free yards -- we need it all," Jackson said. We're trying to put points on the board."
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough THIS YEAR'S DRAFT gave Jackson more than improved pass protection. He received more targets in the passing game.
After selecting guard Vega Ioane with the No. 14 pick, Baltimore drafted two wide receivers (Ja'Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth) and two tight ends (Matthew Hibner in the fourth round and Josh Cuevas in the fifth).
Asked what advice he could give the rookies to mesh with Jackson, Flowers said, "If I am being honest, Lamar can adjust to everybody. He knows everybody is different. Everybody's play style is different."
Flowers has noticed in training camp how Jackson has capitalized on Lane's leaping ability by throwing jump balls to him.
"So, he kind of adjusts to you," Flowers said. "But at the same time, you can help him by just running. That is all you have to do. Just run."
There should be plenty of chances for the first-year players to make an immediate impact. On the Ravens' current roster, there are two wide receivers (Flowers and Rashod Bateman) and one tight end (Andrews) who have caught more than 10 passes from Jackson.
"It's really important that we're evaluating these guys, we're correcting them and we're pushing them to get better," Doyle said. "But a core belief of mine is that players improve, they get better. If they didn't, then there'd be no reason for us to meet with them or work with them or any of that."
Based on how Jackson has performed in new systems in the past, these new targets will benefit from a quarterback who believes his best football is still ahead of him.
"Lamar's the best player in the league," Ravens coach Jesse Minter said. "When he's out there and he's obviously really engaged like he is, he makes everybody on the field better. So, he makes the offense better. He makes the defense better for having to defend that type of player."
Minter added, "All he has to do is be himself. That's what he's proven that he is over the course of time. I do think sometimes when you're trying to learn new things, it really energizes you because you know that there's a requirement to get where you want to get between now and the game."
