Baltimore Ravens Step into Crucial 2023 Season with make-or-break expectations

Thu, Aug 17, 2023
by CapperTek

The Baltimore Ravens flirted with being some of the off-season’s biggest losers during the contract extension saga of superstar quarterback Lamar Jackson, with rumors swirling that he might want out of town if the Ravens didn’t take care of him properly.

Now that Jackson is back in the fold, though, with a new set of offensive weapons around him and an offensive scheme under Todd Monken that helped the University of Georgia win back-to-back national championships the past two seasons, it’ll be fascinating to see what the Ravens are able to do.

New Look Offense

The Ravens suffered from offensive stagnancy under former coordinator Greg Roman. Roman’s philosophy (predicated on running the football) helped establish Jackson as one of the best two-way threats the league has ever seen, but poor situational play calls and poor offensive players around them meant that Jackson had to do too much on the field, putting his body on the line far more often than he should’ve had to as he tried to extend a play while a receiver got open, dropped his shoulder to drive for that extra yard.

As such, Jackson has struggled with injuries in the past few seasons. The best ability is availability, and Monken’s scheme should help Jackson stay on the field. Rather than calling a series of predictable run plays that the opposing defense is able to foil, leaving Jackson hanging out to dry on third and long, Monken’s offense focuses on attacking every area of the field, whether that’s deep shots to the boundary, sweeping outside runs or opportunistic use of the middle of the field (and, most importantly, a healthy mix of all these things), keeping the other team off balance, reeling as they wait to see what happens next.

That balance will make Jackson all the more dangerous, as his ability to reach deep into his bag of tricks and pull off a highlight reel play will be that much more effective when teams aren’t able to sell out to zero in on him.

Help for Jackson

Keeping Jackson in Baltimore was the first step in an ongoing battle. While having an NFL MVP under contract raises the floor of a team considerably, it can be hard to get enough weapons around them to put a team over the top when they’re taking up a massive chunk of the salary cap. Jackson’s contract, for example, pays him an average of $52 million per year, more than one-fifth of the cash used to fill out a 53-man roster. As such, the Ravens are going to have to pull off some salary cap magic in order to put together a Super Bowl-winning roster. One way they can do so is through tenacious drafting, as rookie contracts mean they can acquire talented players for pennies on the dollar: with such a crucial season on their hands, Ravens fans may be interested in using promotional codes for sportsbooks, as the Ravens are always going to be a threat to go deep in the playoffs with Jackson at the helm.

One example of building through the rookies is wide receiver Zay Flowers, whom Baltimore picked up in the first round. He’s a speedy, shifty slot option who can sneak his way open over the middle of the field, giving Jackson an excellent target as he wriggles his way in and out of traffic. The Ravens also went out and grabbed veteran receiver Odell Beckham Jr., who showed he can be a championship catalyst with the Los Angeles Rams in 2021.

What’s the Outlook?

The Ravens are one of the hardest teams in the league to get a good read on. They’re going to have an excellent chance at winning as long as Jackson is in town, and the steps they’ve taken to make sure he doesn’t have to stand on his head without any help on offense could go a long way to correcting the flaws that have caused them to fall short in each of the four seasons he’s been the full-time starter.

Baltimore has had one of the deepest rosters in the league for years: they’ve just had trouble flushing out that depth across the board. Monken’s balanced scheme can help get the best out of the young players, making Baltimore an enticing championship pick.

There’s a good shot Jackson wins a Super Bowl at some point during his tenure with the Ravens, as he’s just that special of a player… it’s just difficult to gauge when that magical season might come.