Monken’s Ground Attack vs. KC a Head-Scratcher

The Ravens debuted their new offensive line in their season opener against the Chiefs, and the results were mixed, to say the least. Roger Rosengarten and Daniel Faalele both struggled early, forcing Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken to change the way he called the game offensively. There was not time for a drop-back downfield passing game, and the offense was largely reduced to RPOs, quick passes to the outside and Lamar Jackson hero ball. While this style of play is not sustainable and brings up its own set of questions, they were at least able to find answers that allowed their passing offense to keep the Ravens in the game. The same cannot be said for the running game.

While  Jackson ran for 122 yards, much of that came on scrambles, not designed runs. According to Next Gen Stats, Jackson scrambled on 19.5% of dropbacks, his third-highest rate in a game over the past four seasons. And outside of Jackson’s dynamism, they could not find answers in the run game. While Derrick Henry ran for a touchdown on the opening possession, he finished with 13 carries for just 46 yards. Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken insisted on continuing to run the ball from under center, making life harder on the offensive line while also taking away Jackson’s ability to affect the game without the ball in his hands.

With perhaps the exception of Tyreek Hill, no offensive player in today’s NFL puts more stress on opposing defenses simply through their presence on the field than Jackson. When most quarterbacks turn to hand the ball off to their running backs, the defense is reacting to two possibilities- a run or a play-action pass. But when Lamar turns to hand the ball off to his running backs, the defense has to react to three possibilities: a run, a play-action pass or a quarterback keeper, and that third option is the most terrifying. This slows defenders flowing to the ball carrier because they definitionally need to be more indecisive when facing running quarterbacks, and no quarterback runs like Jackson. That split-second indecision can be the difference between a three and a six-yard run, and is why the Ravens have finished in the top-three in average yards before contact in each season since 2019.

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Adding in under center runs has been a priority for Monken, something which makes sense considering the variety he brings in contrast to the one-dimensional Ravens offenses from the Greg Roman years. But against the Chiefs, that pendulum swung too far. While the theory of running Henry from under center sounds great, the reality is that 2021 was the last time he performed better on under center runs than in the pistol or shotgun. And with a struggling offensive line and a human cheat code at quarterback, this run game should not be leaning on designs from under center.

Against the Chiefs, seven of Henry’s 13 carries came from under center, gaining only 18 yards, all of which came after contact. He only received two carries from the shotgun, but the real power of this Ravens offense should come from pistol. While Henry’s numbers from the shotgun have been very good the past couple of seasons, he is also a back that likes to receive the ball on the run and get ahead of steam. Any Offensive Coordinator needs to take their own players’ comfort level into account, but the pistol allows the Ravens to get the best of both worlds. The biggest benefit of the pistol is that it keeps the threat of the quarterback run alive while allowing the back to receive a traditional handoff, and few teams have been more primed to take advantage of that dynamic than this year’s Ravens. Even when Jackson turns to give a straight handoff from the pistol that does not include the quarterback option, the defense does not see that until he turns his back, meaning their first step is still slower.

In his four Week 1 carries from the pistol, Henry gained 21 yards, 12 of which came before contact, according to Next Gen Stats. While it is a small sample size, these numbers are largely in line with his last years in Tennessee. The reality is that this Ravens offensive line is not much better than what Henry ran behind the past couple of seasons, and when they go under center on 1st and 10 they are back in the world of smashing him into a group of defenders for little gain.

Derrick Henry playing with Lamar Jackson is in theory one of the scariest possible running combinations the NFL has ever seen, but when Jackson is under center they are not really playing together. Having to choose between trying to tackle Jackson or Henry is a petrifying thought for a defense, and  Monken only forced Chiefs defenders to make that choice six times in Week 1.

Trying to scheme around this offensive line in the passing game will be a challenge as the season progresses, and hopefully, Rosengarten and Faalele will also develop and make life easier for everyone. But in the running game, the answers are pretty simple. The Jackson run game has always been centered around the pistol and the shotgun, and there is no reason to deviate from that now. While there are still questions about how the structure of this year’s passing game will operate, the answers for the run game are already there. Monken just has to utilize them.

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