Ravens Coach Named Second-Best in NFL

The Baltimore Ravens' offense is in good hands under second-year coordinator Todd Monken.

Jon Alfano | Jul 31, 2024

Jul 27, 2023; Owings Mills, MD, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) smiles at a fan with Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken standing in the background following training camp practice at Under Armour Performance Center. Mandatory Credit: Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports / Brent Skeen-USA TODAY Sports

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Baltimore Ravens

With frustrations around offensive coordinator Greg Roman reaching a boiling point last offseason, the Baltimore Ravens finally decided to go in a different direction, much to the delight of their fans.

Their search eventually led them to Todd Monken, who had previously been an NFL offensive coordinator with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Cleveland Browns. However, his most notable accomplishment came in the college ranks, as he helped the Georgia Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022.

The expectation was that Monken would bring a new, more-balanced perspective to the offense, and he absolutely delivered in Year 1. Baltimore's offense was still very run-heavy, but featured a far healthier balance and allowed Lamar Jackson to have the best passing season of his career.

As Monken enters Year 2, the expectation is for his offense to take yet another step forward. The hype around Monken is palpable, so much so that Pro Football Focus ranked him as the NFL's second-best offensive coordinator today, only behind Ben Johnson of the Detroit Lions.

"The Ravens hired Monken from Georgia to revitalize their passing game, and he did just that in 2023," PFF's Zoltán Buday writes. "Baltimore's passing attack generated 0.01 and -0.03 EPA per play in 2021 and 2022, respectively, before improving to 0.08 on pass plays in 2023 under Monken, which ranked eighth in the league and contributed to Lamar Jackson winning his second MVP award and earning a career-high 90.4 PFF overall grade.

The biggest benefit of Monken going into Year 2 is that the Ravens already know the fundamentals of his scheme, allowing them to hone in on the finer details.

"Well there's a lot to build on, and there's a lot to get better at – a lot of things that we worked on in the offseason, like any offseason, like, 'How do we streamline this? How do we make this to where we feel like we have the answers moving forward collectively?' And that the players know that," Monken told reporters Tuesday. "That's probably as much as anything as, alright, you're in a meeting, 'OK we're doing XYZ, why?' – And that they can say it back, say, 'That's exactly why we're doing xyz' – that's critically important; to anticipate calls; anticipate what we're going to do against a certain defense and those things.

"It's been great, [the] offseason was great, and our guys being here in the offseason, it's been a great start."

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Published Jul 31, 2024

JON ALFANO