No matter what the Ravens cook up offensively in 2026, Lamar Jackson remains the key ingredient.
How well Jackson adapts to Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle's new system will play a major part in determining how far the Ravens go.
After having the NFL's top-ranked offense in 2024, the Ravens fell to 16th in total offense in 2025, and Jackson dealt with injuries most of the season. Playing just 13 games, Jackson had his fewest passing yards (2,549), touchdown passes (21), and rushing yards (349) of his career, while tallying his lowest completion percentage (62.3) since 2022.
Now, many people are wondering if Jackson, a two-time MVP, will have a bounce back season.
He won an MVP in his first year with former Offensive Coordinator Greg Roman in 2019, and in his first year with former Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken in 2023. Can Jackson do it again in 2026 in a totally new offense? We're about to find out starting Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts, but after watching Jackson practice in Doyle's offense for months, his teammates believe this latest version of Jackson could be the best – electrifying and coldly efficient.
"I think he's been under scrutiny ever since he won the Heisman in college," Pro Bowl safety Kyle Hamilton said. "He has disproved every theory against him, and I think for him all the talk really does not matter. …He really does not care.
"Him and 'Dec'…I think they have a good dynamic going on. I'm excited to see how he approaches this year and how the whole offense looks, because I think they're really excited to get out there and stop talking about it and do it."
Here are things to look for from Jackson in the new scheme:
Different Footwork
Doyle and the Ravens' coaching staff have implemented changes in how Jackson will operate from the pocket.
For the first time in his NFL career, Jackson will receive snaps with a "left foot open" stance – his left foot placed behind his right foot. Previously, Jackson received snaps with his right foot placed ahead of his left foot.
Why the change? It coincides with how Doyle and Quarterbacks Coach Israel Woolfork want Jackson to mesh the timing of his drops with the routes being run by Ravens' pass catchers. When Jackson's back foot hits the final step of his drop, it's time for the ball to come out.
"I feel like it is helping with the progression," Jackson said. "I am not hitting my back foot, staying on my back foot too long. I feel like it has helped a lot."
Jackson started working on his new footwork this spring, and Doyle said it only took the quarterback about a week to feel comfortable. That's one of the beauties of working with Jackson. He's such a gifted athlete, he can adjust quickly to what coaches want.
"In my first conversation with Lamar, we talked about it," Doyle said. "When I was interviewing on Zoom, it was like, 'Hey, this is something that I believe in, what do you think?'
"He was like, 'I am totally open to trying that.' It was something that came very naturally to him. It took a few days and then it was like, OK, it times out right."
More Snaps Under Center
During his career, Jackson has thrown primarily out of the pistol or shotgun formation. Over 80% of Jackson’s dropback passes came from those looks last season.
This season, Jackson will run plays from under center far more, and Doyle explained why.
"More than anything, it's the play-action element," Doyle said. "Being able to turn your back to the defense and simulate the run for a longer period time allows things down the field.
"The longer you're in that fake, the longer it looks like run, and all the plays that come off that scheme. As opposed to you being in the pistol or the gun, when the mesh happens much faster and the defense sees what's happening quicker. You're just buying time, more than anything."
Hunting a Higher Completion Percentage
Doyle thinks Jackson can have his most accurate season as a passer, topping his career-high completion of 67.2% in 2023.
"We want to be around 70%," Doyle said. "That is just like a highly efficient offense where we are finding our checkdowns, we are finding the space that the defense is giving us."
Jackson has repeatedly talked about the importance of being precise in Doyle's system.
"If one guy is off with something, it can pretty much screw up the whole dynamic of the offense, or whatever play we have drawn up," Jackson said. "He has been over-emphasizing the details. The detail, the detail, the detail — that is all he has been coaching us pretty much."
On Wednesday, Doyle explained the weekly process of how he will game plan with Jackson, a detailed regimen that the quarterback has fully embraced. In Doyle's first season as a play caller, he has built a strong relationship with Jackson and they realize the importance of staying on the same page.
"I never want to call a play that he doesn't feel great about because he's the one who has got to go execute it," Doyle said. "So that communication has been great; it'll continue to be that way."
Mark Andrews, who joined the Ravens with Jackson in 2018, is the franchise's all-time leader in receptions, receiving yards, and touchdown catches. Nobody has caught more passes from Jackson than Andrews, and their connection extends beyond the field. Knowing the competitor that Jackson is, Andrews enjoys watching Jackson's determination to master the new offense and is eager to see the results.
"I think, [Lamar Jackson] continues each and every year to push himself and learn and grow and find new ways to innovate," Andrews said. "Especially when you learn a new offense, you're able to kind of add some things to your repertoire and do some different things that other people haven't seen. He's the most adaptable, smoothest player in the league and for him just to be able to hear another voice and learn some new things — he's going to add that to his bucket, and the more things he adds, as the MVP, it's going to be dangerous, for sure."
More Consistency With His Dropbacks
Part of Jackson's troubles last season, beyond his injuries, was taking sacks. His sack rate per dropback jumped from 4.63% in 2024 to 10.65% in 2025. Despite missing four games, he took the ninth-most sacks in the NFL (36).
If the pass protection in front of Jackson is more secure than last season, it will make his efficiency easier to improve. The Ravens have three new starting offensive linemen – guards John Simpson and rookie Vega Ioane, and center Jovaughn Gwyn, who will make his first NFL start after winning the competition over veteran Ethan Pocic.
Ioane was Baltimore's first-round pick, Simpson is a veteran with a solid track record, and tackles Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten will again be counted to protect Jackson from the league's elite pass rushers.
After watching film of Ravens' game from last season, Woolfork said the Ravens have established sweet spots from the pocket from where they want Jackson to throw from more often, rather than drifting to different spots.
"We tried to get on the same page with the O-line," Woolfork said. "We are setting a depth in the pocket where we want him to be, so that allows the tackles to work on their drops and their sets to make sure they know where the launch point is. That should avoid some things on the edges and up-and-unders, because they know where 'L' is going to be in the pocket no matter what.
"I think also just knowing the offense — and when things do get dirty, where do I have my check-downs? Where can I work to get the ball out of my hand to avoid negative plays?"
Lamar Being Lamar
When the pocket does break down, Jackson's ability to escape and extend plays is something the Ravens will still encourage. There's no quarterback who's quite like Jackson, and Woolfork doesn't want that to change, especially when he's starting the season feeling healthy.
"He's the best second-play quarterback in the NFL," Woolfork said. "I do not want to change who he is and what he can do when things break down and his ability to be explosive after the first play breaks down.
"He is aging like fine wine, I would say. I think he is getting better. I think he is highly motivated this year. I think the people around him — I think what 'Dec' is doing with him in the offense and how we are being multiple — is going to help him be even more explosive."
Entering his ninth season, Jackson has an unwavering belief that the Ravens can reach the Super Bowl and win it. But for now, he's not focused on the destination. He's focused on the details, as the pilot of a new offense that takes flight on Sunday.
"From what I see, [there are] a lot of moving parts," Jackson said. "We can put guys in different positions to win. I feel like the success rate should be high. That is what I am expecting, but we will see."
