Lamar Jackson Reveals Where Ravens Are Trying to Improve on Offense
By Peter Dewey
Lamar Jackson is already one of the league’s most dynamic players, but he may have a chance to showcase a new skill set in 2021.
The Baltimore Ravens are trying to have Lamar play more under center in 2021, but they also want to improve their downfield passing this season.
"People are always saying we throw short, intermediate routes and stuff like that – little 5-yard, 10-yard routes," Jackson said. "But we had some chances last year. We hit some of them, but we're just trying to be more consistent this year. That's where the strides happen. It starts in practice, and hopefully it transitions to the game. We've just got to keep working on it."
Jackson’s longest pass in 2020 went for 47 yards and he averaged a career-low 8.6 intended air yards per passing attempt.
The Ravens certainly want to improve offensively to allow Jackson to use his legs more, and a better downfield passing game would take some attention away from Jackson in the pocket.
WynnBET has the Ravens projected to win 11 games in 2021, with the over (-105) as a slight underdog to the under (-115). Baltimore is expected to be one of the better teams in the AFC, but the offense looked stagnant last postseason.
Baltimore is a massive favorite to make the playoffs at -320 odds, but with Sammy Watkins and Rashod Bateman now in the fold, Baltimore clearly thinks it can take things to the next level after it lost to the Buffalo Bills in the divisional round last season.
"I'll do something individualized with my guys. I'll get with the receivers while we're down in Florida and stuff like that and pretty much grind, because the season is here," Jackson said.
"It's really not the offseason anymore. For us, I'll say, we've just got to keep grinding and stay in shape. We can't go backwards right now, because we already had our fun and did whatever we did during the regular offseason. Not this time; it's straight go-mode right now."
Jackson seems excited to get going, and he is looking to build off another strong campaign from last season. While it wasn’t the same as his MVP season, I’d expect Jackson to improve in 2021 with better weapons and a new game plan on offense to maximize his skills.