Ravens offense could be both revolutionary and old school

The Baltimore Ravens want to do things a little differently. What they are really doing is connecting old school football with the game in the NFL today:

There has been a lot of talk about the Baltimore Ravens offense being revolutionary, completely different and unorthodox. Lamar Jackson became the Ravens starting quarterback for seven regular season games in 2018 and the offense became run oriented. Everything was built on Jackson’s dual threat ability and it leaned heavily on his natural ability to make plays with his athleticism. The NFL has seen athletic quarterbacks before. Jackson has shown elements that we saw out of Michael Vick and yet he still seems one of a kind.

It’s been a while since the run game in the NFL had really seen a big change. The zone blocking scheme that coaches like Mike Shanahan and Gary Kubiak made popular was the last big shift in how an NFL offense ran the ball. Tony Sparano and the Miami Dolphins made the wild cat a bit of a fad. The wildcat may be a precursor to what the Ravens are attempting to pull off, but it was really just a wrinkle to an offense.

The Ravens are bringing a lot of old school concepts to the running game. Like in the wildcat, the mesh point is the big area of focus. Making the defense guess and taking what is given is half the battle for the Ravens. The Ravens aren’t doing this with a running back taking a direct snap. They’re doing this with a quarterback touching the ball on every play, with a full offense being run.

Baltimore gets all the benefits of the wildcat offense with none of the draw backs. When Jackson runs the ball the Ravens essentially have 10 blockers for one ball carrier. When Jackson hands the ball off at the mesh point it creates a second of hesitation for the defense.

When they call a passing play, the defense still has to worry about Jackson as a runner. In all three scenarios Baltimore forces the defense to be preoccupied with speedy play-makers out of the backfield. It’s not a wrinkle to the offense, it’s the foundation of it.

Don’t forget that Jackson has a lot more talent as a quarterback than he gets credit for. Giving him weapons like Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, Justice Hill and three very good tight ends make the passing attack very viable. Combining a more efficient and stronger passing game will make the offense dangerous.

The offense could be revolutionary because of Jackson’s ability to be a play-maker. That doesn’t mean it’s not rooted in old school football. One of the things that was so special about last season is that the Ravens offense was never a mystery. The run game was the main ingredient. Baltimore was going to line up and run the football. The defense knew what was coming and the Chargers were the only team to have an answer for it.

Greg Roman is an inventive play-caller but nothing was really built on a revolutionary system of blocking. Roman is experienced with tried and true methods of the running game. He uses a lot of different concepts and none of them are new ideas that baffle the opposition. With Marty Mornhinweg out of the way the Ravens has a chance to be revolutionary. It will be unique and different than the rest of the offense displayed in the NFL. Really, it’s just a new way to play old school, smash mouth football.