Ravens Ex Greg Roman Joins Jim Harbaugh's Chargers; Will Face Baltimore in 2024
It's officially official: Greg Roman is back in the AFC. After being the Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator from 2019 through to 2022, he was replaced by Todd Monken this season, and now he's back in the NFL after a year off.
Roman has been named the offensive coordinator for the Los Angeles Chargers as Jim Harbaugh looks to get back to a physical style of offense in his first year in charge.
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Under Roman, the Ravens were a run-heavy offense that was brutal and tough to stop once the run game got rolling. In his four seasons as offensive coordinator, Baltimore was a rushing juggernaut, and looking at the numbers, it was quite impressive.
In 2019 and 2020, the Ravens led the NFL in rushing yards (206/g in 2019, 191.9 in 2020) in Roman's first two years as coordinator. The following year, the Ravens ranked third (145.8/g), and in his final season in 2022, Baltimore was the second-best rushing attack in the league (160/g).
Now, it is hoped that he can bring that level of production to the Chargers, who had the 21st-ranked offense this season.
With running back Austin Ekeler a free agent and with a market value of $7.4 million APY, could the Chargers now work harder to get a deal done and pair him with Roman, who loves running the football?
Joshua Kelley is also a free agent and would be considerably cheaper than Ekeler, but both could see an uptick in carries and production in Roman's scheme.
Roman is as experienced as they come, as he has ten years of experience as an offensive coordinator, and let's not forget he transformed Lamar Jackson into an MVP winner in his first year. The thought is he could now do that with Justin Herbert in L.A.
In a nice little twist, the Ravens and Chargers will face each other next season as Baltimore will make the trip to SoFi Stadium.
