Todd Monken will 'unlock' Lamar Jackson in 2023, Dan Orlovsky says

The Baltimore Ravens have made several moves this offseason to ensure that Lamar Jackson is poised for success in 2023. The team bolstered its receiving corps by bringing in veteran Odell Beckham Jr. and drafting Zay Flowers in the first round, and hired a new offensive coordinator in Todd Monken.

Monken comes to Baltimore after spending the past three seasons in the college ranks at Georgia as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. He helped the Bulldogs win back-to-back national championships in 2021 and 2022 and will now aim to get the Ravens to reach their potential with Jackson.

ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky joined Get Up on Wednesday morning to explain why he believes addition of Monken will provide a big boost to Jackson’s production.

“OBJ is an important piece but their offensive coordinator Todd Monken is the guy that’s going to unlock Lamar Jackson,” Orlovsky said. “Lamar Jackson’s going to have over 4,500 yards of total offense this year. That would be the best season of his NFL career and we’re about to see it both as a thrower and still utilized as a runner.”

Jackson received a five-year contract extension worth $260 million this offseason, so the Ravens are officially all-in on him for the foreseeable future. He won the MVP award in 2019 after throwing for 3,127 yards and a league-high 36 touchdowns while rushing for another 1,206 yards and seven scores.

Jackson hasn’t quite been able to follow up on that season since, however. Injuries have played a part over the past two seasons as he missed a combined 11 games. He has just 33 passing touchdowns and 20 interceptions in that span, including a career-worst 13 picks in 2021.

Jackson is set to enter a new system under Monken, who will be his third offensive coordinator in six years. The new OC will reportedly give more freedom to the quarterback, allowing him a greater opportunity to call audibles when he sees fit.

“Todd Monken comes from Georgia, he’s going to unlock parts of Lamar’s game we’ve never seen before; give him ownership at the line of scrimmage, change protections, allow him to get in and out of certain plays, change route combinations,” Orlovsky said. “The reality is we have never seen Lamar in this type of scheme, surrounded by this type of talent. They’ve got to stay healthy, that’s also the missing piece of this. But the offensive coordinator and the scheme change is the real difference we will see with Lamar Jackson’s performance this year.”

Jackson has already said he is “loving” the new scheme, which should have Ravens fans excited about what’s in store. They’ll get to see it in action for the first time when Baltimore opens the preseason against the Eagles on Aug. 12.