If Ravens 'Cater' to Lamar Jackson? 'Best Team in AFC on Paper'

“I think I told someone like, 'Man, I wanna throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have,” Lamar Jackson says ... in which case the Ravens really might be the AFC's best team.

We don't want to see the phrase "cater to'' be misunderstood here. This isn't about babying Lamar Jackson or about serving to Lamar Jackson. This is just about the right way to build an offense that operates around him. And one former NFL receiver thinks that if the Baltimore Ravens do that, the former MVP Jackson will be in line for that level of award again.

Andrew Hawkins, speaking on the "Get Up'' TV show, said Jackson can "absolutely" be better as the centerpiece of year's revamped Ravens offense than he was in 2019, when he won that NFL MVP campaign. Hawkins' theory is based in part on the hiring of top assistant coach Todd Monken.

"With this new offensive coordinator, they'll be able to cater plays to his abilities, and they gave him weapons on the outside," Hawkins said. "Lamar Jackson is the highest-paid player in the NFL for a reason."

Monken is replacing Greg Roman as Baltimore's coordinator after serving in that same capacity at the University of Georgia during back-to-back national championship seasons. In fairness, the Ravens won with Roman's run-centric attack. But now they figure to do even more after having signed Odell Beckham Jr. and drafting Zay Flowers with the No. 22 overall pick.

But ... up and over the 2019 level? Think back: He threw for 36 touchdowns (pretty good for a "run-centric offense) while setting a quarterback record with 1,206 rushing yards.

Jackson, 26, could surely eclipse that season's 3,127 passing yards. By how much? 

“I think I told someone like, 'Man, I wanna throw for like 6,000 yards with the weapons we have,” Jackson said. “And I’m not an individual award-type guy or a stat watcher, I just want to do that because no one’s ever done it and I feel like we have the weapons to do it.”

The single-season record is 5,477 yards, set by Peyton Manning in 2013 ... so that doesn't seem realistic. But Hawkins said the Ravens are "as good as any AFC team" on paper. ... so while "catering to'' the QB might not get him the passing-yards record, it might make that team-based prediction come true.

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