Oldfaithful
Hall of Famer
The 2018 Ravens Season looks to be a triumphant way to ring in the new era with Lamar Jackson. For the first time since 2014, the Ravens clinched a postseason birth with a new look offense. Greg Roman and James Urban have done wonders for Lamar's development, as with the read option, our rushing attack has found new life. Rookies have taken over the Ravens offense and have done so splendidly. Mark Andrews looks like a future perennial pro bowler in the making, Orlando Brown looks like he could develop into a dominant left tackle, in limited snaps Bradley Bozeman has displayed long-term quality starter upside, and when allowed to play, Hayden Hurst also looks the part of a good tight end. Additionally, Gus Edwards looks like he has a spot in our future. Lamar Jackson has opened up the offense significantly.
However, recent questions have emerged from others, myself included about whether this offense can remain sustainable. We have seen offenses like these flame out in no time, between the 2010 Eagles(with our own OC at the helm), to the 2011 Carolina Panthers, to the 2012-2013 San Francisco 49ers(With our own Greg Roman), to the 2012 Redskins, to the 2012 Seahawks, the read option can be used as a potent tool, but history has suggested that building an offense around the concept entirely has proven to be unsustainable. The only two exceptions on the list above are the 2011 Panthers and the 2012 Seahawks, as both Russell Wilson and Cam Newton have developed into smart, and poised pocket passers. Both still, albeit less occasionally, integrate read option concepts into their playbooks, as it would be foolish not to. Both Wilson and Cam are gifted runners.
Lamar Jackson's development has been nothing short of spectacular so far. He's gotten better as a passer with every game, and as a result we have slowly opened up the playbook more and more, and as a passer he generally is a smarter player, even if his accuracy is inconsistent. Lamar has the tools, and displays them from week to week, with at least one stellar passing play.
In August 2018, I wrote an article, which has since been deleted due to a technical error, about how Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews are going to be the foundation of the offense moving forwards, something I believe we've seen flashes of this offseason. I believe that if we add a competent starting center in the offseason, the Ravens could field a sustainable passing attack thanks to Hurst and Andrews, and through this article I am going to explain how.
The star for so many Ravens fans this season has been Mark Andrews. In the coming weeks before we drafted him many criticized him for being too slow, and playing in a weaker conference, but those criticisms were clearly idiotic and I knew so at the time. I had him ahead of Mike Gesicki for a good reason, Andrews straight up has a gift as a route runner, and is already a proficient one as a rookie. He is gifted in finding the softer spots in the zone and presents the classic tight end mismatch that NFL offensive coordinators have loved to exploit since Shannon Sharpe came onto the scene in the 1990s. He's too big for the slot corners to cover, and he's too fast for linebackers. Any thought of him being too slow was vanquished with his long touchdown against the chargers. He can stretch the field very well.
I feel as if one of the more underrated stories of the regular season was how far Andrews has come as a blocker. In college he was exclusively a move tight end, who would line up in the slot and make slot corners pay. In the NFL the majority of his bigger plays have come from lining up inline, and when asked to block he's remained competent. Not good, but we don't need Andrews to turn into Maxx Williams or Nick Boyle. Tony Gonzalez, widely considered to be the greatest tight end in NFL history, as merely a competent blocker. That's all we need Andrews to be, and I'd argue he's already become that. He's certainly better as a blocker than Pitta was and that makes him extremely dangerous moving forwards.
Hayden Hurst remains unpopular with the Ravens fanbase for completely unfair reasons. Many criticize him simply for the fact that we traded back and rookie sensation Derwin James was selected after. Willie Hernandez and Calvin Ridley could have also been our draft picks. It's unfair to pin this on Hurst, as a player he's fine, it's of the fault of Ozzie(and likely Harbaugh). However, Hurst has not looked like a bust.
His lack of production being typical of a rookie tight end, until you account for the fact that he missed the first month of the season with an injury. He was slower to get back, but since the bye week whenever Lamar has looked in his direction, good things have happened. Hurst's injury was likely a factor as to why the rushing attack faltered. Upon examination of the tape, Hurst's blocking has led to at least one critical run per week. He's not at the level of Boyle or Maxx yet as a blocker, but has certainly displayed the ability to eventually get there one day. When given the ball, Hurst is typically wide open(indicative of a good route runner) and he's pretty reliable and has made some of the tougher catches you could ask of him. Against the Browns it appeared as if Hurst's athleticism wasn't exactly because he was more developed than everyone else in college either. He finally got a chance to have a play where he had yards after the catch and that to me shows that he could also stretch the field.
Although Andrews has been better this year, I still think Hurst has a higher ceiling, though not by too much. I could see this duo being as potent of a duo for Lamar Jackson moving forward. But we need to examine why we drafted each and how both could be integral for Lamar moving forward.
Lamar, similarly to Flacco, has always depended heavily on his tight ends, far more than your typical quarterback. It makes logical sense, tight ends are typically the security blanket on third downs, and are the best threats in the red zone, but Lamar's athleticism makes this entirely different. With Lamar, the safeties have a much harder job, as they have to account for RPOs and quarterback draws. When you have an athlete as explosive as Lamar Jackson is, and a scheme that is tailored to power running, defenses are going to have to play eight in the box more often. The two tight end send remains a clever way to counter this, as you can then put seven on the line and continue to ground and pound normally. This option is typically unpopular with NFL offensive coordinators as it is rare for teams to have one talented receiving tight end, let alone two, and limits the option of a play action pass.
With Lamar the play action pass is essential, as in college he proved he could thrive off of this. It makes logical sense, as defenses will put 8 in the box at all times and someone is bound to be left wide open.
Enter Hurst and Andrews. Two tight ends that can both stretch the field, both can flex out into the slot, both are excellent receivers, and both have become competent(at worst) blockers at the NFL level. Hurst is a little different as Hurst is more flexible. Hurst is similar to a wide receiver with the ball in his hands athletically, faster short area explosiveness, and more willing to run you over like a tank. Additionally, Hurst played the H-Back position in college, so even if we decide to put Andrews as an inline tight end full time, Hurst can come in and pave the pay for a Gus Edwards, or Kenneth Dixon.
If we choose to role with both on the line, that presents an even bigger challenge for defenses, as when we decide to go play action with Lamar Jackson, we suddenly have a tight end who is gifted in finding the softer spots in the zone in Andrews, and a tight end who can play power football and (in college he showed this) a jumpball tight end in Hurst who can play power football and can just beat you with his size. Both of them are excellent after the catch as well, and if you give either a chance to make a play, both of them can do anything between a 20 yard gain to a 50 yard touch down. Additionally, both of them present the classic "too big for a corner, too fast for a linebacker problem", barring a few exceptions such as Deion Jones, Telvin Smith, Myles Jack, etc. The play action pass becomes more potent, and the rushing attack becomes harder to stop, especially if we fulfill our biggest need of drafting a center. The red zone offense likely benefits as well, as we can now confidently stack the line and kill you with power football to either tight end.
In order for the offense to become sustainable, both Andrews and Hurst need to continue developing. Either looks like a guy who you could designate as a #1 receiving option in a passing attack, and I think one of them is going to be that. But even if they don't, both tight ends are capable of attacking all three levels of the defense, as well as contributing in the blocking scheme to some degree.
If this team can address the center position, then these two in tandem with Lamar Jackson could become a nightmare for defenses to deal with.
However, recent questions have emerged from others, myself included about whether this offense can remain sustainable. We have seen offenses like these flame out in no time, between the 2010 Eagles(with our own OC at the helm), to the 2011 Carolina Panthers, to the 2012-2013 San Francisco 49ers(With our own Greg Roman), to the 2012 Redskins, to the 2012 Seahawks, the read option can be used as a potent tool, but history has suggested that building an offense around the concept entirely has proven to be unsustainable. The only two exceptions on the list above are the 2011 Panthers and the 2012 Seahawks, as both Russell Wilson and Cam Newton have developed into smart, and poised pocket passers. Both still, albeit less occasionally, integrate read option concepts into their playbooks, as it would be foolish not to. Both Wilson and Cam are gifted runners.
Lamar Jackson's development has been nothing short of spectacular so far. He's gotten better as a passer with every game, and as a result we have slowly opened up the playbook more and more, and as a passer he generally is a smarter player, even if his accuracy is inconsistent. Lamar has the tools, and displays them from week to week, with at least one stellar passing play.
In August 2018, I wrote an article, which has since been deleted due to a technical error, about how Hayden Hurst and Mark Andrews are going to be the foundation of the offense moving forwards, something I believe we've seen flashes of this offseason. I believe that if we add a competent starting center in the offseason, the Ravens could field a sustainable passing attack thanks to Hurst and Andrews, and through this article I am going to explain how.
The star for so many Ravens fans this season has been Mark Andrews. In the coming weeks before we drafted him many criticized him for being too slow, and playing in a weaker conference, but those criticisms were clearly idiotic and I knew so at the time. I had him ahead of Mike Gesicki for a good reason, Andrews straight up has a gift as a route runner, and is already a proficient one as a rookie. He is gifted in finding the softer spots in the zone and presents the classic tight end mismatch that NFL offensive coordinators have loved to exploit since Shannon Sharpe came onto the scene in the 1990s. He's too big for the slot corners to cover, and he's too fast for linebackers. Any thought of him being too slow was vanquished with his long touchdown against the chargers. He can stretch the field very well.
I feel as if one of the more underrated stories of the regular season was how far Andrews has come as a blocker. In college he was exclusively a move tight end, who would line up in the slot and make slot corners pay. In the NFL the majority of his bigger plays have come from lining up inline, and when asked to block he's remained competent. Not good, but we don't need Andrews to turn into Maxx Williams or Nick Boyle. Tony Gonzalez, widely considered to be the greatest tight end in NFL history, as merely a competent blocker. That's all we need Andrews to be, and I'd argue he's already become that. He's certainly better as a blocker than Pitta was and that makes him extremely dangerous moving forwards.
Hayden Hurst remains unpopular with the Ravens fanbase for completely unfair reasons. Many criticize him simply for the fact that we traded back and rookie sensation Derwin James was selected after. Willie Hernandez and Calvin Ridley could have also been our draft picks. It's unfair to pin this on Hurst, as a player he's fine, it's of the fault of Ozzie(and likely Harbaugh). However, Hurst has not looked like a bust.
His lack of production being typical of a rookie tight end, until you account for the fact that he missed the first month of the season with an injury. He was slower to get back, but since the bye week whenever Lamar has looked in his direction, good things have happened. Hurst's injury was likely a factor as to why the rushing attack faltered. Upon examination of the tape, Hurst's blocking has led to at least one critical run per week. He's not at the level of Boyle or Maxx yet as a blocker, but has certainly displayed the ability to eventually get there one day. When given the ball, Hurst is typically wide open(indicative of a good route runner) and he's pretty reliable and has made some of the tougher catches you could ask of him. Against the Browns it appeared as if Hurst's athleticism wasn't exactly because he was more developed than everyone else in college either. He finally got a chance to have a play where he had yards after the catch and that to me shows that he could also stretch the field.
Although Andrews has been better this year, I still think Hurst has a higher ceiling, though not by too much. I could see this duo being as potent of a duo for Lamar Jackson moving forward. But we need to examine why we drafted each and how both could be integral for Lamar moving forward.
Lamar, similarly to Flacco, has always depended heavily on his tight ends, far more than your typical quarterback. It makes logical sense, tight ends are typically the security blanket on third downs, and are the best threats in the red zone, but Lamar's athleticism makes this entirely different. With Lamar, the safeties have a much harder job, as they have to account for RPOs and quarterback draws. When you have an athlete as explosive as Lamar Jackson is, and a scheme that is tailored to power running, defenses are going to have to play eight in the box more often. The two tight end send remains a clever way to counter this, as you can then put seven on the line and continue to ground and pound normally. This option is typically unpopular with NFL offensive coordinators as it is rare for teams to have one talented receiving tight end, let alone two, and limits the option of a play action pass.
With Lamar the play action pass is essential, as in college he proved he could thrive off of this. It makes logical sense, as defenses will put 8 in the box at all times and someone is bound to be left wide open.
Enter Hurst and Andrews. Two tight ends that can both stretch the field, both can flex out into the slot, both are excellent receivers, and both have become competent(at worst) blockers at the NFL level. Hurst is a little different as Hurst is more flexible. Hurst is similar to a wide receiver with the ball in his hands athletically, faster short area explosiveness, and more willing to run you over like a tank. Additionally, Hurst played the H-Back position in college, so even if we decide to put Andrews as an inline tight end full time, Hurst can come in and pave the pay for a Gus Edwards, or Kenneth Dixon.
If we choose to role with both on the line, that presents an even bigger challenge for defenses, as when we decide to go play action with Lamar Jackson, we suddenly have a tight end who is gifted in finding the softer spots in the zone in Andrews, and a tight end who can play power football and (in college he showed this) a jumpball tight end in Hurst who can play power football and can just beat you with his size. Both of them are excellent after the catch as well, and if you give either a chance to make a play, both of them can do anything between a 20 yard gain to a 50 yard touch down. Additionally, both of them present the classic "too big for a corner, too fast for a linebacker problem", barring a few exceptions such as Deion Jones, Telvin Smith, Myles Jack, etc. The play action pass becomes more potent, and the rushing attack becomes harder to stop, especially if we fulfill our biggest need of drafting a center. The red zone offense likely benefits as well, as we can now confidently stack the line and kill you with power football to either tight end.
In order for the offense to become sustainable, both Andrews and Hurst need to continue developing. Either looks like a guy who you could designate as a #1 receiving option in a passing attack, and I think one of them is going to be that. But even if they don't, both tight ends are capable of attacking all three levels of the defense, as well as contributing in the blocking scheme to some degree.
If this team can address the center position, then these two in tandem with Lamar Jackson could become a nightmare for defenses to deal with.
