OWINGS MILLS — When Ravens coach John Harbaugh looked at the film from this past season, he saw an offense that was in its infancy.
Quarterback Lamar Jackson was working with first-year offensive coordinator Todd Monken, and the Ravens had some growing pains.
Despite that learning curve, Jackson was named NFL MVP, and the Ravens had the best record in the NFL (13-4), advancing to the AFC Championship Game against the Kansas City Chiefs, where their offense broke down in a 17-10 loss to the eventual Super Bowl champions.
Harbaugh expects Jackson and the rest of the offense to play better this season because there will be more of a familiarity with the direction of the team.
“I think it progressed naturally. We’re just beginning. We’re just starting,” Harbaugh said at the 2024 NFL Scouting Combine. “We’re one year into this thing. There are so many things that I feel like, looking back on it now, they actually were baby steps. They were hard steps for us to take because it was a sea change in terms of offensive philosophy, but they were baby steps looking back on them. We have so, so far to go.”
Despite some hiccups, the Ravens’ offense was fourth in scoring (28.4 points per game) and sixth in yards per game (370.4) in the NFL last season, with both marks ranking Top 5 in single-season history.
Baltimore tied for its most 30-point games in a single season, reaching that mark in eight games. The team’s six games with at least 400 yards gained tied for the second-most in franchise history, trailing only the 2019 campaign (eight).
The Ravens also had the league’s top-ranked rushing attack, averaging 156.5 yards per game.
There is reason for optimism moving forward.
“Lamar is excited; Todd [Monken] is excited; All the coaches [are excited],” Harbaugh said. “We have a plan. We came out the very first day after the AFC Championship game talking about where we were going to go offensively. We had a staff meeting about it. I met with Todd. I met with all the coaches individually. I met with Lamar a couple of days after that. I met with different players, and we have a direction right now on where we want to go.”
Jackson threw for 3,678 yards and 24 touchdowns with career highs in completion percentage (67.2) and yards per completion (8) over 16 regular-season games. He also led the Ravens with 821 yards rushing, averaging 5.5 yards per carry and five scores.
Jackson’s seven 50-yard rushing games gave Jackson 54 in his career, tying Michael Vick’s all-time mark for quarterbacks. He also became the first quarterback to run for 700 or more yards in five consecutive seasons, He was named the AFC Offensive Player of the Week for Weeks 7 and 17.
Harbaugh expects Monken to further tailor the offense to Jackson.
“We want to understand how this offense applies to Lamar and our players, and we want to do right by our players, and we want to do right by Lamar and build the best operation that we can for him so his talents can really shine,” Harbaugh said. “I think we’re just starting with that.”