ESPN ranked Baltimore fourth in its league-wide 2026 team preview and identified Lamar Jackson as the Ravens’ biggest strength. This is hardly surprising; two-time MVPs do not exactly grow on trees, but whether Jackson can return to his old form will go a long way toward determining Baltimore’s ceiling this season.
A Tale Of Two Seasons
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In 2024, Jackson put together one of the greatest quarterback seasons we have ever seen. He threw for 4,172 yards with 41 touchdowns against just four interceptions while adding another 915 yards on the ground. He also led the league with a staggering 119.6 passer rating, the fourth-highest single-season mark in NFL history behind Peyton Manning in 2004 and Aaron Rodgers in 2011 and 2020.
That would be impressive enough on its own, but Jackson paired that passing efficiency with elite production on the ground. He led all quarterbacks with 915 rushing yards and served as the centerpiece of an offense that finished first in total yards and third in points per game.
When Jackson is on, the Ravens’ offense becomes a nightmare to defend. He can punish a defense with either his arm or his legs, while Derrick Henry adds another problem with his rare combination of size and speed. When Jackson is operating below his best, though, Baltimore’s offense can lose some of that explosiveness because so much of its ceiling depends on his individual brilliance.
In 2025, Jackson suffered a hamstring injury early in the season that cost him three games, while knee, ankle, toe, and back issues followed later in the year. The accumulation left Jackson either unavailable or operating at less than full strength for much of the season. His numbers fell sharply from their 2024 heights, with his rushing production dropping from 915 yards to 349 and his attempts falling from 139 to 67. His passing production dipped as well, as Jackson finished with 21 touchdowns against seven interceptions and a 103.8 passer rating.
Jackson will be looking to bounce back after an offseason of rest, and new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle could help make that return to form easier. Doyle worked with Caleb Williams last season and is already carrying over some of the lessons from that experience. During a Sept. 2 press conference, Doyle explained that Baltimore changed Jackson from a right-foot-up stance to a left-foot-forward setup to better match the timing demands of the offense.
Jackson took to the change fairly quickly due to his experience with it in college, and he also sounded excited about the offense from a schematic perspective. During an early-summer press conference, Jackson said, “It’s a different system than what I’m accustomed to being in.” He added that he expects the offense to be explosive while praising Doyle’s attention to detail and creativity.
The Ravens’ offense will still largely hinge on Jackson. Personnel may ultimately matter more than play-calling, but the scheme surrounding that talent still matters. Doyle now has a new quarterback to execute the ideas he has spent years refining, and there are few signal-callers in the league better equipped to turn those ideas into results than Jackson.
