The Baltimore Ravens brought in offensive coordinator Todd Monken last season to adapt the team to a more modern, pass-friendly offense.
As a result, Lamar Jackson won his second MVP while posting some of the best passing numbers of his career.
The rest of the NFL has noticed.
When ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler polled NFL executives, coaches, and scouts on the best quarterbacks in the league, Jackson finished fourth, just slightly behind Joe Burrow (2) and Josh Allen (3).
One NFL “evaluator” told Fowler that Jackson appears to be more focused on throwing from the pocket, rather than scrambling, as a way to prolong his career.
“I don’t think he wants to be the runner he used to be,” the evaluator told Fowler. “He wants to be a pure pocket passer because that’s how you prolong your career and win late in the season.”
Another AFC executive told Fowler that Jackson’s pocket passing was better than it seemed.
“He was better than the numbers say as a pocket passer. Really efficient. May not have had crazy production but always made a lot of plays. Watching it, you feel the impact. Definitely more accurate.”
These evaluations seem to be in line with how Jackson and the Ravens are progressing toward 2024. The Ravens are giving Jackson more control of the offense and allowing him to call audibles at the line of scrimmage. The extra responsibilities seem to be aimed toward advancing Jackson’s abilities as a passer.
The personnel evaluator’s opinion of Jackson as a runner also lines up with Ravens’ fullback Patrick Ricard saying he believes Jackson doesn’t run as hard with the football anymore to better protect himself. That is, rather than sprinting as hard as he can to gain yards, Jackson is more conscious of getting down, going out of bounds, and protecting himself.
Jackson did lose 25 lb over the last two years, saying he wants to be more “agile” on the field. While that could be interpreted as him wanting to be faster, dropping a few pounds may make it easier for him to slide around the pocket and to get rid of the ball quicker.
Still, fourth is a bit of a low ranking for a two-time MVP on the team with the best record in the AFC last year. With Jackson’s playoff record coming under fire this offseason, it’s clear he’ll need to take his game up a level in 2024 to win more skeptics over.
