For a while this offseason you had to wonder just how old-school Ravens coach John Harbaugh was willing to get.
Wing T?
Maybe just run inside and outside veer, play after play?
It seemed like he must have been digging through old offensive concepts for a Ravens roster that, at least for a bit, looked to be prepping for an entirely different era of football than the pass-heavy one the NFL has entered.
The Ravens have since used the No. 25 pick in the draft on speedy wide out Marquise Brown, so maybe cancel any bets you placed on whether QB Lamar Jackson will even have 100 passing attempts. Baltimore GM Eric DeCosta knew he had to get Jackson, who moved past Joe Flacco into the starting role last year, some support.
Still, the Ravens are clearly zigging where the rest of the league has zagged. They signed running back Mark Ingram in free agency and seem to understand that Jackson will need to use his prodigious running talent to be effective as he learns how to complete passes at this level.
The ultimate goal, of course, is to make defenses account for multiple possibilities after the ball is snapped, so Baltimore forcing them to defend the QB as a runner sets up all sorts of possibilities in the RPO. In reality the Ravens are likely working their way toward some version of a modern offense but will need time to get there.
The NFL is — and should be — a passing league. That doesn’t mean the Ravens can’t find success by pushing the other direction — and it will certainly be interesting to watch.
