The Ravens spent the offseason trying to give Lamar Jackson a cleaner runway, and there are real reasons to think the plan could work. Jackson has already clicked with new head coach Jesse Minter and new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, and Doyle is expected to lean more heavily into the passing game and explosive plays.
But Baltimore still has some obvious stress points on offense, and they all circle back to the same question: did the Ravens actually do enough to support Jackson?
The biggest concern sits right in the middle of the line. After losing Tyler Linderbaum to the Las Vegas Raiders, Baltimore never brought in a proven answer at center. Instead, Danny Pinter and Jovaughn Gwyn are battling for the job, which leaves the Ravens with an untested situation at a spot that can wreck an offense if it goes sideways.
That matters because Jackson has already dealt with shaky protection before. If the center spot becomes a problem again, it could put him in harm’s way and make life harder for the entire offense.
Baltimore did make moves on the interior line. The Ravens added Vega Ioane in the draft and signed John Simpson, giving the guard room a boost. Still, there’s fair reason to ask whether those additions are enough to offset the uncertainty at center, especially when it’s not clear how much Simpson raises the floor or whether Ioane can be a true difference-maker as a rookie.
The other major question is at receiver. Zay Flowers remains the top option, but the Ravens still don’t have an established No. 2 beside him. They tried to address that by drafting Ja'Kobi Lane in the third round and Elijah Sarratt in the fourth, but that’s still a bet on rookies contributing right away.
There are other paths to solving the problem. Devontez Walker could break out, Rashod Bateman could bounce back, and Doyle’s system might help squeeze more out of the group. But there’s also a very real scenario where Jackson is left without a dependable receiver beyond Flowers, and that would create problems.
The overall outlook is still pretty optimistic. Jackson has shown he can produce even when the supporting cast isn’t perfect, so a strong regular season is absolutely on the table.
The issue is that Baltimore isn’t chasing regular season comfort. The standard is a Super Bowl.
That’s where these concerns get louder. In the playoffs, when everything tightens up, the Ravens will find out whether the offseason really gave Jackson enough help.
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Sean Payton Sees One Reason Ravens Gamble Could Actually Work
Declan Doyle arrives in Baltimore with the kind of background that naturally invites comparison, even if the Ravens are trying to avoid turning him into a carbon copy of Sean Payton. The 29-year-old rookie offensive coordinator comes from Paytons coaching tree, and that lineage has not exactly been a factory for polished play callers, but Payton pointed to one thing young assistants often get wrong: they chase the mentors personality instead of carrying over the habits that matter.
For the Ravens, the more relevant test is how Doyle fits in with a locker room that has already shown a willingness to respond to him. After working through Greg Roman and Todd Monken in recent years, Baltimore players have reportedly taken to Doyles leadership, and Lamar Jackson has already embraced him even after being pushed on the practice field. The bigger question now is whether Doyle can keep that early trust while making the offense his own. [Read more 🡒]