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The Baltimore Ravens clearly believe in Lamar Jackson

By Chris Schisler

MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 25: Lamar Jackson #8 and Robert Griffin III #3 of the Baltimore Ravens warm up in front of head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens before a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - AUGUST 25: Lamar Jackson #8 and Robert Griffin III #3 of the Baltimore Ravens warm up in front of head coach John Harbaugh of the Baltimore Ravens before a preseason game against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on August 25, 2018 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Mark Brown/Getty Images) /
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Lamar Jackson will have a full offseason to prepare knowing he is the starting quarterback of the Baltimore Ravens:

It’s hard to imagine that Lamar Jackson doesn’t have a chip on his shoulder as the offseason gets underway. The Baltimore Ravens just lost a playoff game where many of the fans not only booed Jackson but called for Joe Flacco to replace him. Late in the second half Jackson had -2 passing yards which fueled his doubters. Jackson has a lot to prove in 2019.

Having a full offseason as the starter is going to make a huge difference. Jackson will come into the season knowing he’s the guy. He’s not waiting behind Flacco any more. He’s the starting quarterback of an organization that traded up to get him with the 32nd pick.

Jackson went on a stretch where the Ravens went 6-1 to make the postseason as he replaced an 11 year starter for the Ravens. When things went south in the playoff, Harbaugh didn’t pull him. Harbaugh doubled down. The Ravens have made it quite clear that Jackson is their guy and that they believe in him. When the media asks Harbaugh about Jackson’s ability to throw he always responds with something along the lines of “He’s a quarterback.”

Jackson energized the team and he’s going into the offseason, knowing that his franchise is fully behind him. Eric DeCosta’s first priority is going to be putting the tools around Jackson to be successful. John Harbaugh was just extended for four years. The offensive guru who constructed the Ravens number popping run game (Greg Roman) was promoted to be Jackson’s offensive coordinator. The play-caller that handcuffed Jackson in the playoff game and came into it unprepared to change anything (Marty Mornhinweg) has been let go.

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The plan was always to have Jackson take over for Flacco. However, Jackson took the job quicker than the team predicted. Jackson was supposed to sit behind Flacco an entire season. Instead, he ousted Flacco of his job due to a timely injury. While it was rough to see Flacco go through the hip injury, it propelled the change that saved the season of the 2018 AFC North Champions.

Jackson was shown the love by the purple and black before he was even their quarterback. Many pundits pushed the story-line that the Ravens’ interest in Jackson was nothing more than a NFL Draft smokescreen. In actuality the Ravens interest in Jackson was so real that they couldn’t contain it.

They bought in during the draft process. That means that Ozzie Newsome, DeCosta and John Harbaugh all had to be on board with it. This is a move for the future so if DeCosta and Harbaugh weren’t feeling it, Newsome wouldn’t have done it in his final draft. There have always been a long list of doubters when it comes to Jackson as an NFL quarterback. The Ravens believed in him from the word go.

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Don’t underestimate the value of this belief. The Ravens are all in on making it work with Jackson. Flacco never got the full help he needed. If the Flacco era teaches Baltimore anything, it’s that they need to invest around their quarterback, not just in their quarterback. Look for DeCosta to build this team around Jackson because the team has given every indication that he’s their guy.

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