Consistency at offensive coordinator is what the Baltimore Ravens need

The Ravens have had a ton of different offensive coordinators throughout in recent years. It’s nice to finally see some consistency, whether people like it or not.

After the 2016 season, there was a lot of frustration about the Baltimore Ravens offense. As good as the defense was, the offense couldn’t find a rhythm. They were inconsistent all around the board. There was virtually no run game and the pass game was sporadic. Because of this, many called for the firing of offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.

John Harbaugh quickly shot down those hopes in one of his first offseason press conferences. He announced that Mornhinweg would be returning for the 2017 season.

While many were furious with the decision Harbaugh said, “You could go a different way and you could justify or argue or make a case for any kind of direction, but in the end, I have to balance all of that out and say, ‘My heart and my head and my gut say that this is the best way to go,’ and that’s what we’ve decided to do.”

The decision by Harbaugh shows that the Ravens offense needs consistency at offensive coordinator.

OC Have Come And Gone

Joe Flacco has had his struggles but there hasn’t been much consistency at offensive coordinator in the first play. Since 2012 he’s played under 5 different coordinators. Some of these coaches like Jim Caldwell and Gary Kubiak left because they got head coaching gigs. Others like Cam Cameron and Marc Trestman got fired because of the offensive struggles.

At some point, the offense needs to stick with one and that’s what Harbaugh has done with Mornhinweg. Although the Ravens virtually abandoned the run game last season, there’s still confidence that it can change.

I am a proponent of seeing a full sample size and Morhinweg didn’t get that chance last season. He came in mid-season and it can be hard to implement everything you want. I would like to see what he can do with a full offseason and a 16-game season. This way he can really work with the players and coaching staff to get this offense going. And if it doesn’t workout and the Ravens eventually fire him, fair enough.

But running the offense is not just Marty’s job. The Ravens made moves elsewhere on the offense and that was the right way to go.

Changes Made Elsewhere

While the Ravens didn’t make a change at offensive coordinator, they made changes at other positions on the offense. Offensive Line Coach Juan Castillo left for the Bills and the Ravens fired Assistant Offensive Line Coach Todd Washington. In doing this they hired Joe De’Alessandris as the offensive line coach and brought in Greg Roman to be a senior offensive assistant and tight ends coach.

This was exactly the right way to go. It was clear the problems with the offense stemmed much deep than just Marty Mornhinweg. The offensive line has had it’s struggles with Juan Castillo running the show the past couple years. Roman has history with the Ravens and had great recent success with Bills run game. Alessandris is a long-time coach that has a ton of experience working with different offensive lines. Some fresh new faces should help revitalize this stagnate running game. They have too talented of running backs to not be rushing for over 100 yards a game.

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It’s obvious Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti gave Harbaugh the reigns with this decision. It’s not a move that’s popular with the fans, but it might just be the best thing for this team.

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