Last year, quarterback Lamar Jackson spoke about how Todd Monken, the first-year offensive coordinator, had given him “the keys to the offense.”
Jackson will do much more this season than drive the car. He’s been given the green light to take the car out on the wide-open road, put the hammer down, and see what that high-performance machine can do.
As has been documented this off-season, the reigning NFL MVP is going to have more pre-snap responsibility (authority to change plays, protections, and cadences if he so desires) in running the offense this season.
And Ravens Quarterback Coach Tee Martin has compared that system to a Ferrari.
“You’re not going to give a guy keys to the Ferrari and tell him to do 30 [miles per hour],” the Tennessee Vols legend said at mini-camp last week.
“Sometimes as coaches, you can’t be scared when they make mistakes, and you can’t allow the mistakes that they make to put fear in your heart for not calling that play the next time, because without that, there is no growth.”
Jackson has already won two MVP awards, but he can reach yet another level in 2024, and it sounds like this stuff is going to 1. open up the playbook for him and 2. give him more autonomy in what he wants to do.
Undoubtedly, he’ll be more comfortable in his second year running the system, which will provide more opportunities for growth and development.
“It’s like that smart kid in the classroom, you can’t allow them to get bored, right?” Martin added.
“He’s like that. You have to constantly add things, tweaks, and things of that nature and responsibilities.”
Most of all, Martin instructs his signal caller to believe in himself further and follow his intuition.
“With Lamar, I tell him, ‘Hey man, No. 1, whatever hits your brain first, we’re going to live with it, and as long as we’re all on the same page, it’s not a wrong call,” the QB Coach added.
‘It’s not a bad call.’ So, that’s where it starts, and that gives him the confidence and freedom to go out there and confidently do what he wants to do. We’re not playing scared, we’re not coaching scared, and that’s the only way you can grow into this type of offense.”
When the league’s most valuable player is your quarterback and the guy who led the league in carries four of the past five seasons is your tailback, comparing your offense to a very high-end luxury sports car is certainly an apt analogy.