Tag: Greg Roman

Emotions in Motion: Why almost everything in the NFL happens before the snap

More and more, NFL offenses are using pre-snap motion to set defenses on edge. Here’s how it works.

In Part 1 of the “Emotions in Motion” series, Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar takes an in-depth look at the NFL’s increasing use of pre-snap motion, and how it’s changing the ways in which offensive and defensive football are played. 

One of the biggest plays in the 49ers’ 26-21 Week 17 win over the Seahawks last season was a 49-yard pass from quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to fullback Kyle Juszczyk. On the play, tight end George Kittle motioned from left to right pre-snap, which gave Garoppolo the indicator that Seattle was playing zone defense in its usual base (three-linebacker) alignment. Juszczyk was aligned in the right slot — fullback displacement has been a hallmark of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s playbooks for years — and as the ball was snapped and Kittle moved back to the left side for a backside blocking assignment.

Garoppolo was able to spot a weakness in Seattle’s defense that he could exploit — Juszczyk covered by linebacker Mychal Kendricks, who was preoccupied to a point by Kittle’s presence aligned to the right side of the formation. Because of that preoccupation, Juszczyk had a free release to head upfield, and though he certainly wasn’t going to challenge Tyreek Hill in any footraces, he was able to run free against a defense that had been forced to react late as a result of Shanahan’s ability to design and implement motion and displacement concepts to the detriment of every defense he faces. Kendricks followed Juszczyk outside, but it looks as if the intention was for Kendricks to cover the flat, while the 49ers extended Juszczyk downfield. Kittle motioning back to the left side also took linebacker Bobby Wagner out of the picture — as a hook/curl defender, he had nothing to defend. Whenever you can remove your opponent’s best defensive player from the equation, you have an obvious advantage.

“I would say that Kyle’s the best at that right now,” former NFL quarterback and current ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky recently told me. “Kyle takes people out of the play without doing anything other than motion and alignment. I’ve said this – Kyle’s the best mathematician in the NFL.”

Of course, the 49ers took Shanahan’s brilliant offense and Robert Saleh’s radically re-energized defense all the way to Super Bowl LIV, where they lost in late-game fashion to Andy Reid’s Chiefs on this particular play.

Not that any of this is new. Pre-snap motion has been around for decades — Tom Landry did as much as anyone to develop it with the Cowboys in the 1960s and 1970s, and Bill Walsh was not above availing himself of the concept with the 49ers back in the day. In a

If you want to see another play in which the quarterback heads right as the guards head left, leaving an open target against a confused defense, this is a good example (Thanks to John Tunney of the excellent Pro Football Journal blog for the highlight pull).

In an NFL where defensive front versatility is the order of the day and coverage schemes are more advanced than they’ve ever been, it behooves those who design offenses to bring to the table anything possible to plant their flags in the turf. Pre-snap motion, which is used to varying degrees throughout the league to varying degrees of effectiveness, has become a mandatory construct among many of the most effective offenses.

But none of the public subscription-based football metrics services — not Football Outsiders, not Pro Football Focus, and not Sports Info Solutions — make pre-snap motion charting-based stats available, and therefore, we as football fans and and football analysts have no way of knowing the exact effectiveness of the methodology. The first real reference I saw to pre-snap motion in an analytical sense was in Warren Sharp’s 2020 Football Preview, and Sharp laid it all out in compelling fashion.

Per Sharp’s charting, NFL teams used pre-snap motion in the first three quarters of games on 39% of passes, 49% of rushes, and 43% of all plays in the 2019 season. The 49ers led the league with pre-snap motion on 66% of their passes, followed by the Patriots (65%), the Titans (63%), the Ravens (57%), and the Chiefs (53%). Two of those teams made the Super Bowl, the Ravens were the AFC’s number-one seed, the Titans made it to the AFC Championship game, and the Patriots ranked 11th in Football Outsiders’ Offensive DVOA metrics despite a receiver group that couldn’t bust a grape.

However, they used pre-snap motion at below average rates, yet saw much more improvement when passing with pre-snap motion. Look at the comparison vs the league average with the advantage gained by using pre-snap motion prior to passes.

Per Sharp’s metrics, teams had 0.2 more yards per attempt, a 3% success rate increase, and 0.02 more EPA per attempt. The Vikings, who used the 20th-most pre-snap motion on passing plays last season, saw a bump of 1.6 in yards per attempt, a 6% success rate bump, and an increase in EPA per attempt of 0.25. The Buccaneers, who could have desperately used anything to make Jameis Winston more efficient in 2019, used pre-snap motion on just 37% of their plays, one of the lowest rates in the league. The league average was 40%.

With Tom Brady now on board in Bruce Arians’ offense, expect a big uptick. Brade has utilized pre-snap motion for years to help discern coverage concepts, to isolate and remove specific defenders, and to give his receivers an advantage that their physical gifts don’t always present. One the Bucs have a new sense of pre-snap trickeration and Brady has Mike Evans and Chris Godwin to throw to… well, things could get interesting.

When talking about the specific schematic advantages of pre-snap motion, most people will point to the ability of the quarterback to read man versus zone coverage based on the motion defender. If the defender follows the motion receiver through the formation, it’s generally man. If the defender stays put and hands the responsibility through the formation, it’s generally zone.

But defenses are starting to show dummy man/zone looks, and as Orlovsky told me, that’s not the ultimate advantage for quarterbacks — or, for that matter, anybody on the offensive side of the ball.

“Yeah, I think we’re all past man vs. zone,” he told me. “We’re kind of beyond that. The big thing was creating leverage on certain players. That’s a big deal. You could get certain guys – when you line up in your formation, and you’re moving your personnel, you can get certain [defenders] to move where you want them. When you use motion, and you kind of know how your opponent will respond, you will call certain plays to be run at certain guys.

“We’re seeing more coaches understand that… motion doesn’t have to be married to man/zone. It could be to try and get your run game to be run at certain people. Or, to try and get your passing game directed at certain people, whether it’s man or zone. Because if that nickel defender doesn’t kick over to trips, you can have your slot receiver working on a safety. So now, just off motion, even if it’s against a zone defense, you have really created an advantage. That safety really wants to play the run more than he wants to play the pass. So, it’s really about trying to create advantages, whether it’s via leverage, or via fits in the run game. I think we’ve seen great growth on that in the NFL.”

Pre-snap motion also creates specific advanatges in the run game — it’s a big reason the Ravens had the NFL’s most schematically evil rushing attack in the NFL last season.

Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman has been brilliant at cooking up different kinds of motion concepts, which is the next level of this — when offensive minds continue to realize that it’s the complexity of motion that really puts defenses on a string — as the Ravens, 49ers, and Chiefs already have — the advantages grow in an exponential sense.

“I don’t necessarily care if an offense motions,” Orlovsky said, putting his defensive coordinator hat on. “But when they have different motions, that’s when I’ve got a problem. [Remember when] Chip Kelly was the greatest thing in the world because he played with tempo? Well, defenses caught up and started playing with tempo. Then, the great coaches, Sean McVay being one of them, they’ve got all different kinds of tempo. They’ve got stupid-fast tempo, then the fast tempo, then the ‘okay no-huddle’ tempo, then the slow tempo. That’s what screws with defenses. Because then, you don’t know. You’ve got to be ready all the time. That’s when you’re on your heels, and you’re guessing rather than dictating. Those offenses that are constantly changing the way they’re doing the motion – for defenses, you can no longer feel confident in what you’re doing. You are always going to be a step slow.”

In part 2 of the “Emotions in Motion” series, we’ll get into more specific examples of run and pass motion concepts that have taken over the NFL. In Part 3, we’ll talk about what defenses need to do to put a cap on these particular innovations.

Don’t lock Devin Duvernay into a single role with the Ravens

After producing from the slot at Texas, wide receiver Devin Duvernay wants everyone to know he isn’t just a one-trick pony for the Ravens

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One of the main reasons why the Baltimore Ravens selected wide receiver Devin Duvernay in the 2020 NFL Draft was his blazing speed. Duvernay was clocked running a 4.39-second 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. Many believe the Ravens will line up Duvernay as a slot receiver, but he was quick to point out he has more than one string to his bow.

“I feel like I can do both (play outside and in the slot),” Duvernay said at his press conference after being drafted. “My freshman year and senior year, I played strictly slot. My junior and sophomore years, I played strictly outside. So, I feel like I can be productive at both, and be able to move around on the field.”

Duvernay isn’t the only one that has a say in where he lines up. But when asked about the bevy of choices the Ravens have in the slot, coach John Harbaugh noted that they like to move their players around and don’t lock someone into a specific position.

“We don’t just have an X and a Z and an S and a Y, a U and an H,” Harbaugh said following the final day of the draft. “We play all the guys in different spots, the same as we do on defense.

“So really, I don’t think we really have a ‘slot’ player or an ‘outside’ player. You’ll see those guys play in all the different spots in different times. And then, we try to put them in position to do the things that they do well. The things you see Willie Snead doing are the things we think he does best, and he’s a very versatile player, for instance. We’ll try to do that with all the guys we have.”

While all the pre-draft talk had Duvernay playing in the slot, the thought of being pigeonholed was something he clearly wanted to put out of people’s minds. When asked what he brings to the Ravens, Duvernay talked about his intangibles first, mentioning his “versatility, toughness, physicality,” while also noting he can take on a number of different roles, like “being able to not just go deep but go short, take it the distance, be involved in the screen game and with blocking.” Duvernay said he’ll be “an all-around player” in Baltimore.

Harbaugh continued to back up Duvernay’s belief, dissuading anyone from believing either he or James Proche would be locked into one specific role or one specific spot on the field.

“So, when Devin [Duvernay] can go outside – and then James Proche has been outside, too – outside, inside, in motion, runs, twitch routes, out of the backfield.”

While this versatility will no doubt be utilized by offensive coordinator Greg Roman, it’s likely that Duvernay will spend a good deal of time in the slot for the Ravens. In 2019, Willie Snead led all Baltimore wide receivers with 409 snap slots, averaging 7.7 yards per target. Given his speed and all-round game, it would surprise no one if Duvernay was to eclipse these marks as a rookie.

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Greg Roman wins Assistant Coach of the Year award

After completely redefining the entire offense around quarterback Lamar Jackson, Greg Roman wins the Assistant Coach of the Year award.

The Baltimore Ravens have started their likely run of awards for the 2019 season. Offensive coordinator Greg Roman won the Associated Press’ Assistant Coach of the Year award.

It’s a well-deserved honor for Roman who set the entire league on fire with his unique run-first offense. Roman went to work this offseason, after replacing Marty Mornhinweg, to create a completely new playbook that included entirely new language to take advantage of quarterback Lamar Jackson.

Along with Jackson’s help, the Ravens’ offense led the league in points scored and ranked second in total yards, while breaking what had been a 41-year old record for the most single-season rushing yards by a team. Roman’s offense helped propel Jackson into the spotlight, taking advantage of his athleticism and stable of running backs to create confusion in opposing defenses. In turn, Jackson is expected to win the NFL’s MVP award as well.

Roman was in the running for the head coaching vacancy with the Cleveland Browns but ultimately wasn’t selected. Instead, Baltimore will get a chance to further tweak their offense with Roman and Jackson at the helm in an effort to improve over what was a historically great 2019 season.

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The Mahomes/Lamar era of QBs means (most of) the NFL has caught up to college

From Alex Smith to Patrick Mahomes to Lamar Jackson, the expansion of quarterback skill sets has set a new market efficiency in the NFL.

The first time I talked with an NFL executive about the feeder stream of collegiate quarterbacks coming from various spread and option offenses to the pros was with then-49ers general manager Scot McCloughan at the 2008 scouting combine. Back then, we were still in an era where spread offenses were considered a weird curiosity by a lot of NFL coaches and executives — at that time, McCloughan told me that there were a lot of “false positives” when analyzing players in collegiate offenses.

“It makes it tougher for some positions to figure out,” he told me. “It’s kind of nice when you go watch a college team on tape like USC, when you can see an NFL-style offense. It’s, ‘oh, it’s easy to see what the guy can or can’t do.’ It’s the same for every team.”

Since then, of course, the idea of a “NFL-style offense” has been turned on its head. It was going to be a clear example of market efficiency when NFL teams figured out how to merge spread concepts into their playbooks, and that started to happen through the early 2010s. The Panthers mixed Gene Chizik’s concepts from Auburn with what Rob Chudzinski wanted to run for Cam Newton. Mike and Kyle Shanahan took their play-action, zone-based schemes and added a bit of Baylor for Robert Griffin III. Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman took elements of Chris Ault’s Nevada offense when Colin Kaepernick, who had played for Ault, became San Francisco’s starting quarterback, replacing Alex Smith. And with both Smith and Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid was able to succeed because he had been well ahead of the current curve — not only did he assign a “Spread Game Analyst” title to assistant coach Brad Childress in 2013, he also hired Ault as a consultant.

“He had other teams interested in having him come in, but not to the degree that Kansas City stepped forward,” agent Bob LaMonte said in 2013 — LaMonte counted Reid and Ault among his clients. “It’s a good job, and he’s excited for it. He went with the team that gave him the best opportunity to be a consultant.”

Mahomes sat most of his rookie season in favor of Smith, who was traded to the Redskins after the 2017 campaign so that Mahomes could thrive as the starter. This he obviously did, becoming the third quarterback in NFL history (after Tom Brady and Peyton Manning) to throw 50 touchdown passes in a season. That Mahomes did it in his first full year as a starter was a testament not only to his own ability to thrive beyond his gunslinging days at Texas Tech, but also Reid’s vision in paving the way for a quarterback of Mahomes’ specific skill set. Mahomes’ upcoming appearance in Super Bowl LIV is proof of the same.

And of course, the Ravens went whole-heartedly into a run-based offense with all kinds of passing shot plays available with Roman as its offensive coordinator after selecting Louisville’s Lamar Jackson with the 32nd overall pick in the 2018 draft, and making Jackson the starter over Joe Flacco in Week 10 of Jackson’s rookie season.

As Reid had with Smith and then Mahomes, Ravens head coach John Harbaugh and his staff turned their offense over to Jackson not only literally, but also conceptually. Roman was once again on board as the offensive coordinator for a head coach named Harbaugh, aligning what Jackson did in college with what he needed to do to succeed at the NFL level. Jackson was good in fits and starts in his rookie season, but with a full offseason to put everything together, he was able to not only break Michael Vick’s single-season rushing yardage record for a quarterback, but also to lead the league in touchdown passes with 36 in the regular season, and one more in the 2019 playoffs — though Baltimore’s 28-12 divisional round loss to the expertly-coached Tennessee Titans was not Jackson’s finest day by any stretch.

Not that everybody is on board. During a Wednesday Senior Bowl telecast , the conversation turned to Alabama/Oklahoma quarterback Jalen Hurts, who has already been asked by media this week whether he’d be willing to switch positions. This despite the fact that Hurts threw a total of 80 touchdown passes to 20 interceptions in four seasons for two of the NCAA’s most prominent programs. One analyst said (to paraphrase) that it’s great that Hurts is an athlete who can run, but at a certain point, it’s going to be third down and there won’t be play action (why?) and he’ll have to make a throw. One analyst, a former NFL general manager, then compared Hurts to Brad Smith, the former Missouri quarterback who threw 56 touchdowns to 32 interceptions in college and switched to receiver in the NFL.

Well. Per Sports Info Solutions, in 2019, on plays of third-and-6 or more — the real clutch situations, we’re assuming — Hurts completed 42 of 62 passes for 647 yards, 308 air yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. Under the same conditions, Oregon’s Justin Herbert, who was praised by the same crew for being big and tall and the kind of quarterback you want in bad weather, completed 58 of 71 passes for 489 yards, 271 air yards, five touchdowns, and one interception.

The statistics are relatively similar. The perceptions are most certainly not. Just as there are teams that have adapted to, and thus advanced, the new realities of the position, there are those who will stick with the big guy/big arm/pocket passer paradigm because it’s what’s comfortable for them. It’s what they can work with. And that’s fine. There will always be pocket passers who are big guys with big arms for those teams to develop.

But more and more, teams that want to be on the cutting edge of offensive football will have to open their minds to quarterbacks who can do everything — whether it fits the NFL’s old school or not.

Touchdown Wire editor Doug Farrar previously covered football for Yahoo! Sports, Sports Illustrated, Bleacher Report, the Washington Post, and Football Outsiders. His first book, “The Genius of Desperation,” a schematic history of professional football, was published by Triumph Books in 2018 and won the Professional Football Researchers Association’s Nelson Ross Award for “Outstanding recent achievement in pro football research and historiography.”

Ravens John Harbaugh named PFWA’s Coach of the Year

The Baltimore Ravens going 14-2 and setting several records this season pushed coach John Harbaugh to be the PFWA’s Coach of the Year winner

The Baltimore Ravens had a magical season, surpassing every offseason expectation en route to a 14-2 final record and No. 1 seed in the NFL playoffs. While the season didn’t end on the high note many fans and pundits eventually predicted, Baltimore is the likely landing spot for many awards this offseason.

With the Pro Football Writers of America awards up first, the Ravens are already cashing in. Quarterback Lamar Jackson was named the PFWA’s MVP and Offensive Player of the Year. Now, coach John Harbaugh has been named the Coach of the Year while offensive coordinator Greg Roman was named Assistant Coach of the Year.

It’s the first PFWA awards for both Harbaugh and Roman, who were the chief architects for the Ravens’ emergence this season. Both worked together to completely redo Baltimore’s offensive scheme around Jackson, including the playbook and even the terminology. The end result was the Ravens’ offense finishing the season ranked No. 1 in points scored and No. 2 in yards while Jackson transitioned into an MVP-caliber quarterback.

Baltimore’s 14-2 record for 2019 set a franchise record for wins and gave the Ravens their first-ever No. 1 seed. Roman’s offense also broke a 41-year old NFL record for the most rushing yards by a team in a single season.

While the PFWA awards are just the start of the recognition for Baltimore, the real prize is the Associated Press awards given out during the NFL Honors ceremony the night before Super Bowl LIV. Ravens players and staff are expected to win the NFL MVP, Coach of the Year and Executive of the Year for the 2019 season.

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4 NFL coaching candidates teams should avoid: Is Robert Saleh just Gus Bradley 2.0?

Robert Saleh will be a hot name this offseason. Here’s why he shouldn’t be.

Black Monday has taken its toll on the NFL coaching landscape, and the dust hadn’t even settled yet before rumors linking candidates to jobs started flying. The Redskins didn’t waste any time and have reportedly picked Ron Rivera as their next coach.

Things are moving fast! It’s time to get some takes off.

It’s always hard to judge these candidates, especially if they’ve never held NFL coaching jobs before. But that won’t stop me from doing so anyway. Here are four popular coaching candidates that I’d stay away from if I were hiring a new coach this offseason.

1. Matt Rhule, Baylor head coach

Jay Biggerstaff-USA TODAY Sports

I’m not going to lie: I didn’t know much about Rhule’s coaching philosophy before his name started popping up in these coaching searches, which forced me to do some research. And this quote, in particular, raised some major red flags:

“Run pass option has been my deal with the devil,” he said, via Football Scoop. “We won a couple games, but it wasn’t played the way I wanted it to be played. I want the game to look a certain way, with a certain brand. Run pass option has been a bridge for me a way to win. We want to be tough. We believe in full gear, weightlifting, the Oklahoma drill. All the people tell us to be careful about doing, I believe that’s exactly what we need to do.”

Now, Rhule does deserve some credit for being willing to adjust and employing more spread concepts but ignoring the benefits of this schematic shift and wanting to get back to his own “brand” of football because that’s how he thinks the sport should be played is. well, troubling. That’s not how great coaches think.

He’s been successful everywhere he’s been — most recently at Baylor, where he inherited a program in shambles — but building up a mid-level college football team doesn’t necessarily require the same skill-set as building up an NFL team. Maybe Rhule turns out to be Jim Harbaugh, who shared a similar offensive philosophy, but we saw how quickly things went south after the 49ers started losing talent.

2. Robert Saleh, 49ers defensive coordinator

Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The track record for defensive coaches from the Pete Carroll tree is not very good. Dan Quinn is the closest thing we have to a success story, and it was the Falcons offense that drove his most successful teams. That doesn’t bode well for Saleh.

Based on his three years in San Francisco, Saleh appears to be a non-factor as a coach. He won’t actively hurt your team; but he won’t make it any better, either. When the 49ers defense lacked talent, it ranked in the bottom third of the league. In 2019, the roster is loaded and Saleh has turned in good results. But he won’t be bringing all that talent along with him to his new coaching job, so it’d be foolish to expect him to replicate those results.

Saleh gives me some serious Gus Bradley vibes. Bradley worked under Carroll in Seattle and was seen as a motivator. The Jaguars hired him to recreate Seattle’s defense and build a similar culture in Jacksonville. The result was one of the worst coaching jobs in NFL history. Will another team make the same mistake?

3. Mike McCarthy, former Packers head coach

Jeff Hanisch-USA TODAY Sports

The NFL Network recently did a feature on McCarthy, who has apparently spent this sabbatical studying new offensive schemes and diving headfirst into analytics.

Yeah, I’m not buying the “changed man” routine. McCarthy was one of the more conservative coaches in the league during his time in Green Bay and his offense hadn’t evolved since the mid-2000s. It’s easy to talk about how you’re going to be bold, but in the heat of the moment, people typically revert back to what makes them most comfortable. For McCarthy, that’s calling a million slant-flat route combinations per game and punting on every fourth-and-short.

While I do think McCarthy is capable of taking a good roster and turning it into a playoff team, that’s not necessarily what those ready-to-win teams are looking for. They want a coach who can get them over the hump and into Super Bowl contention. I don’t think McCarthy is that guy.

4. Greg Roman, Ravens offensive coordinator

Evan Habeeb-USA TODAY Sports

I know, I know. The Ravens have the league’s best offense. It’s also fun as hell to watch. But I just don’t know how efficient Roman’s run-first approach is when you don’t have one of the best offensive lines in football and/or Lamar Jackson orchestrating things from behind center.

This is the first season of Roman’s career as a play-caller that he’ll finish with a top-10 scoring offense. After a good start in San Francisco, his offenses declined every season from 2012 to 2014 when he was fired. He coached the Bills offense to a good finish in 2015, but he was fired in September the following season and the offense didn’t regress under Anthony Lynn. While those Bills and 49ers teams could always run the ball, Roman’s passing game left a lot to be desired. And if you don’t have Lamar running behind an elite offensive line, can you really rely on a running game to carry your offense? Not in this economy.

If Roman was willing to take John Harbaugh’s aggressive, analytics-based philosophies with him to his new team, I’d be much more optimistic, but we don’t know if that’s the case. And I don’t know if this Lamar-centric scheme is enough to get me excited about Roman’s prospects as a head coach.

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Report: Browns request interview with Ravens OC Greg Roman for head coach job

The Cleveland Browns are showing some initial interest in Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman after his prolific season.

The Cleveland Browns are once again on the hunt for a new head coach. Cleveland fired coach Freddie Kitchens following the team’s Week 17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. It had been a disappointing season for the Browns, who had playoff aspirations on the back of an expensive offseason that saw the team add star players like wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr.

With another offseason without a coach in place, Cleveland has turned their attention to the Baltimore Ravens’ coaching staff. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, the Browns have requested permission to interview offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Roman is a solid option for Cleveland, who has a wealth of offensive talent but wasn’t able to translate that into points. The Browns finished the season at 6-10 and ranked 22nd in the league in both points scored and total yards gained while seeing quarterback Baker Mayfield take a giant step backward in his development.

If Cleveland is looking for an offensive mind who has gotten results, they’d have it in Roman. Roman crafted a unique scheme around quarterback Lamar Jackson and a tough rushing attack that broke a 41-year old NFL record for single-season rushing yards and ranks No. 1 in the league in points scored (531).

Last week, Roman told reporters his focus was on the Ravens and the playoffs rather than head coaching vacancies. And with Baltimore holding the top seed in the AFC and currently the favorites to win Super Bowl LIV, it’ll be interesting to see if Roman shows some interest in the Cleveland job and if the Ravens would even allow him to leave for a division rival.

Of course, there’s no guarantee the Browns would even choose Roman for their top spot. They’ve also shown interest in several other candidates, including San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, according to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

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Ravens OC Greg Roman focused on Ravens, not other head-coaching jobs

Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman says he has too much to do to focus on potential head-coaching gigs

The Baltimore Ravens sit at 13-2 and look to be the best team in the league, largely thanks to their prolific offense. It’s a unit that has utilized quarterback Lamar Jackson to his fullest — making him the frontrunner for the NFL’s MVP award — and a rushing attack that has eyes on an NFL record in Week 17. So it should come as no surprise that the guy responsible for the scheme is considered a hot head-coaching candidate already.

Ahead of the final regular-season game of 2019 and with several teams really beginning their search for their next coach, Ravens offensive coordinator Greg Roman fielded questions about his future with the team.

Roman essentially deflected, focusing on the task at hand and his current job, rather than adding fuel to the kindling rumor fire.

As much as I’d love Roman to stick around for another year, the Ravens don’t really have a good track record of keeping any coordinators who’ve been rumored targets for head coaching jobs, let alone offensive ones.

The last time the Ravens had a stellar season offensively, spurred by one of the best performances a quarterback wearing black and purple has had, that coordinator promptly fled to Denver where he won a Super Bowl. I’m, of course, speaking of Gary Kubiak, whose playcalling and stewardship of the offense led to Joe Flacco’s best season (statistically) as well as a playoff berth and run.

Overall, we’ve seen some of Baltimore’s best coordinators depart for greener pastures (i.e. lucrative head coaching roles) after some of the team’s best seasons. Aside from Kubiak, Jim Caldwell left for Detroit after helping the Ravens offense win Super Bowl XLVII. On the defensive side of the ball, Marvin Lewis, Rex Ryan, and Chuck Pagano all left for head coaching roles after noteworthy seasons.

So if history is any indicator, the likelihood of Roman remaining with the Ravens after Lamar Jackson’s performance this season, and subsequently one of Baltimore’s best seasons offensively, is pretty slim.

But there may be an x-factor here which keeps Roman in Baltimore. The Ravens’ offense is unlike anything this league has seen or even capable of being run by any other team right now. It’s plausible that other teams shy away from Roman while they try to work with prior draft picks and existing players that don’t fit the scheme that has developed in Baltimore.

Now, that might change as teams try to capture their own magic by copying the Ravens’ formula this season. It’s possible that owners and general managers see Roman as a catalyst that could spark some new creativity for teams that are looking for a rebuild and rebrand of sorts.

Either way, the Ravens have proven one thing this year: Doing things differently, taking risks and unconventional approaches can take the league by storm. The team currently has the best record in the NFL, home-field advantage in the playoffs and the best odds to win the Super Bowl.

Unfortunately, those factors undoubtedly make Roman a worthy target as opponents look to be the next Ravens . . . if it’s even possible.

What happens after the season is anyone’s guess, but Baltimore’s brass should do whatever they can to keep this unprecedented momentum moving forward.

Honestly, fans can only hope that Roman chooses to stay with the Ravens, especially with the prospect of being able to recapture and even build upon what this team has accomplished this season… if it’s even possible. Keeping Roman gives them as good a chance as any to make the possible a reality.

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Ravens only 93 yards away from setting NFL record for rushing yards

The Baltimore Ravens need to get just 93 rushing yards in Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers to break a 41-year old NFL record

If you’ve been following the Baltimore Ravens this season and watching their offense, you’ve seen something special. It can be easy to forget during individual games but Baltimore’s offense has been prolific this season, especially on the ground.

In a league that has prioritized high-flying offenses led by quarterbacks with a ton of passing yards, Baltimore has been doing things a little differently. They’ve bullied opponents on the ground and seen their unconventional offense wrack up the yards and time-of-possession as a result.

Entering Week 17 against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Ravens have rushed for 3,073 yards. That’s just 92 yards short of the 1978 New England Patriots’ 3,165 yards, which is an NFL record.

With the record within sight, offensive coordinator Greg Roman put the praise on the players themselves.

“That would be quite an accomplishment for our guys,” Roman said. “They’ve worked hard, starting in OTAs, and we don’t make it easy on them.”

While quarterback Lamar Jackson has deservedly gotten most of the praise for his MVP-caliber season, the entire offense has eaten opposing run defenses for lunch.

Running back Mark Ingram broke the 1,000-yard mark in Week 16 against the Cleveland Browns before suffering a calf injury that’ll keep him out until at least the playoffs. His 10 rushing touchdowns rank seventh in the league.

Jackson actually leads the Ravens in rushing yards, breaking Michael Vick’s single-season rushing record in Week 15 and finishing the regular season at 1,206 yards and seven touchdowns on the ground. He’s the only player to ever throw for at least 3,000 yards and run for at least 1,000 in the NFL’s history.

But don’t forget about Gus Edwards, who has been spectacular in a reserve role, hitting 5.2 yards-per-carry and sitting at 581 rushing yards this season. Justice Hill has been no slouch either, adding 186 rushing yards in his rookie campaign and getting his very first rushing touchdown last week.

Baltimore will sit several starters this week, including Jackson and Ingram. It could slow down the Ravens’ prolific rushing offense and put the record at risk. With Baltimore grinding for 138 net rushing yards in Week 5’s game against the Steelers, this will be a big test for Edwards and Hill specifically.

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Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson spearhead QB change in NFL

Teams will look differently at how players such as Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson will be examined in the future.

The Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen and the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson are leading the charge for change among NFL quarterbacks. The duo will be on display on the same field Sunday afternoon at New Era Field when the Baltimore Ravens (10-2) travel to face the Buffalo Bills (9-3).

The league has been trending toward mobile quarterbacks for some time now. However, the league has not seen a tandem such as Allen and Jackson for decades. 

Both players showed their undeniable talent during their time in college. Jackson’s penchant for making electric plays and Allen’s sheer arm strength put them on the map for the 2018 draft. 

However, there were concerns about the players making the jump to the NFL level. They didn’t necessarily fit the traditional mold of what franchise quarterback should reflect. Jackson was so athletic that there were calls that he should switch positions. Allen faced criticisms with his accuracy while playing for a program where little few people saw him on display. 

Nevertheless, it took the ideal situation and some forward-thinking of certain NFL organizations to see the long-term benefit of each player. The leadership in Baltimore and Buffalo saw the high ceiling of the players and were not afraid of being patient with their respective players’ development. 

They went outside the box, and it’s paying off. They focused on what lanes these players special and altered their systems for the players. They created a new paradigm.

Both franchises went deep into the numbers and statistics to see how to best make these players successful. 

Baltimore and Buffalo looked at the weaknesses of the players and found ways to mitigate these while simultaneously giving the players time to grow and develop. Jackson and Allen were thrust into their starting roles earlier than expected. Jackson took over for an injured Joe Flacco while Allen was given the starting gig with Nathan Peterman’s ineffectiveness.

The franchises knew mistakes would be made, but the rewards are potentially infinite. The patience they have exhibited with these players has been quite impressive. 

Because of this, both players would not relinquish the starting jobs.

Baltimore and Buffalo both recognized the special qualities of these players. It was of the utmost importance to pair the players with coordinators who would bring out the best in these players. Enter the Ravens’ Greg Roman and the Bills Brian Daboll. 

Roman found success with the 49ers, as he helped guide the offense under Colin Kaepernick. And with Jackson’s skill set similar to Jackson, the hire made sense. 

Daboll, for his part, was able to produce adequate results from a bunch of C-level quarterbacks in the past. His creativeness and adaptability would be the biggest assets that he brought to Western New York. In addition, Allen would be the most talented quarterback with whom Daboll as worked as a coordinator.

Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson. Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Both quarterbacks are still growing within their game. Both players have improved their accuracy and decision-making throughout their second season in the league. Jackson is on the verge of a 1,000-yard rushing season, while Allen is the fourth quarterback since the 1970 merger to have multiple seasons with at least eight rushing touchdowns. They have cut down on turnovers on turnovers while improving their efficiency. 

Both players have placed their teams in a near-ideal spot for earning a playoff berth. 

Not a believer? The combined 19 wins with the two at the helm of their respective offenses shows differently. 

The league is taking notice as well. The athletic ability of Jackson is well-noted. However, the combination of his ability to cause chaos when he runs plus an improvement with his pass game has made him nearly unstoppable when he’s under center.  And while Allen might not have the speed of Jackson, teams must worry when he breaks the pocket. Whether he is hurdling a defender or diving for a first down, Allen’s improvisational skills have put defenses on their heels.  

For both, placing a spy on the quarterback has not been enough to limit the success of these quarterbacks. Teams who have failed to appreciate the dual-threat abilities of theses quarterbacks have not done so to their detriment. 

With the success of these two players, the league will do well to shift how they evaluate the long-term viability of players such as these two when entering the league. 

Now, there’s a limit to how much disrespect can be thrown in their direction, as both players are first-round picks. Even so, teams will have to adjust how they evaluate such players during their time in college. Thus, the shift will be to focus on the positive attributes of the players rather than being solely scared away from the perceived negatives within the players’ games. 

Buffalo and Baltimore stuck to their guns with these selections. They recognized what several other teams could not see in these players. Thus, the payoff will only grow with these teams. The teams’ collective belief that they could help refine the rough edges of these players’ games while bolstering their strengths has led to the selection of a franchise quarterback.

Since the NFL is a copycat league, expect teams to take a second look at quarterbacks who might cause questions in the draft. With the proper support, once these players suit up on Sunday, the best of these players’ abilities are on display. These franchises and players are on the cusp of a culture change in the NFL. 

Teams will look differently at how players such as Allen and Jackson will be examined in the future. Now, Jackson and Allen are the players that other teams will compare their players to in the future.

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