The Baltimore Ravens want to empower their star quarterback Lamar Jackson in the upcoming 2023 NFL season.
The team hired a new offensive coordinator earlier this year, signing Todd Monken, who previously served the same role at the college level for the University of Georgia Bulldogs.
As part of the veteran 57-year-old coach's plans, he will be accepting input from Jackson while formulating the team's offensive schemes, doubling down on a previous statement earlier this month where he said that it is important to empower a team's quarterback for him to play at his best.
"The thing you like about Lamar is, he's becoming more diligent. He wants to be great. He wants to be elite," Monken previously said, talking about Jackson.
Jackson is delighted that Monken has been listening to him, saying that he has been sending him plays of stuff he's been seeing, and Monken has been putting them into practice, and they are working.
Monken has previous experience in the NFL, serving as the wide receivers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars from 2007 to 2010 and holding the offensive coordinator post for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 2016 to 2018 and the Cleveland Browns in 2019.
Monken is already the third offensive coordinator that Jackson has had in his NFL career since he was drafted by the Ravens in the first round of the 2018 NFL Draft with the 32nd overall pick.
Marty Mornhinweg was the team's offensive coach during Jackson's rookie year, having served the team since 2016. The Ravens released him at the end of the 2018 season.
Greg Roman has served as Baltmore's offensive coordinator for the last four seasons, where they experienced plenty of success. During his first season in charge, the Ravens scored the most points in total around the league for the whole season with 531.
Roman stepped down from his duties after the Ravens' elimination during the 2022-23 NFL Playoffs in the wild-card round against the Cincinnati Bengals.
Ravens commit to Lamar Jackson as franchise quarterback
The Ravens have committed to the 26-year-old by giving a long-term deal during the spring.
Jackson signed a five-year extension in Baltimore, valued at $260 million, with $185 million in guaranteed money. During the signing, it made him the highest-paid player in the NFL in terms of average yearly salary, which stands at $52 million annually.
Los Angeles Chargers star quarterback Justin Herbert slightly surpassed Jackson's contract after signing a five-year extension worth $262.5 million at the end of July, equivalent to $52.5 million annually.
Jackson is regularly ranked as one of the best quarterbacks in the league, becoming just the second unanimous league MVP in 2019. He is only the fourth African-American quarterback to win the accolade.
The former Louisville Cardinals player was also named a First Team All-Pro member and played the Pro Bowl game during the same year, breaking several NFL records, including the most single-season rushing yards by a quarterback and most single-season rushing attempts by a quarterback.
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