The Ravens signed quarterback Lamar Jackson to a new contract because of what he can do on the field, but new offensive coordinator Todd Monken said on Wednesday that the team doesn’t want him carrying the entire offensive load.
Baltimore added wide receivers Odell Beckham Jr., Nelson Agholor, and Zay Flowers to an offense that already featured players like Mark Andrews, Rashod Bateman Devin Duvernay, J.K. Dobbins, Gus Edwards, and Isaiah Likely in an effort to surround Jackson with as much talent as possible in 2023. While discussing the offense, Monken made a reference to baking and said cookies taste better with sugar than vinegar so you want to “surround yourself with sugar” on offense.
“I think the more talented you are around your quarterback, the less he has to burden — take on that burden — shoulder the load, because you’re excited about getting others the football where they can utilize their skill set,” Monken said, via the team’s website. “As you get further into your career, as Lamar gets older — as everybody does — you want to take some of that off of the player as best you can. But he has a unique trait, a unique skillset. You can’t take that completely out of his toolbox because that’s a huge weapon for him and for us, is using his feet.”
Jackson said he wants to throw “for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have” this season. That may be more sugar than even Monken is planning, but there’s a lot of room to bake a sweet offense even if Jackson doesn’t set any records at the helm of the Ravens’ new offense.