Aligning Under Center Worked Wonders For Caleb Williams Last Season. Lamar Jackson Is Next

The Ravens finally started becoming a less shotgun-dependent offense the last three years under coordinator Todd Monken. Expect things to swing even more in that direction under rookie coordinator Declan Doyle.

Anything else would be shocking.

A year ago Doyle was in Chicago working with Caleb Williams, entering just his second season and coming from a college system that was all-gun, and immediately Bears play caller Ben Johnson had Williams under center exponentially more than Lamar Jackson has ever been. And Doyle’s primary mentor, Denver coach Sean Payton, much like Johnson, is deeply committed to being able to hit deep shots on under-center passing – generally leaning heaving into play action, as we’ve broken down - and also physically manhandling defenses with old-school, under center rushing, in an I formation.

It’s a fundamental core tenant for both.

After Doyle witnessed how much immediate success Payton had with a middling rookie quarterback prospect in Bo Nix getting him under center, and then seeing Williams’s rapid ascent after a rough rookie season, going heavy under center, you can’t convince me this isn't coming to Baltimore in a far more meaningful way than we’ve ever seen before.

Here’s what Johnson had to say last spring, during the owner’s meetings, about what he was bringing to Chicago for Williams: "There are some things that we're going to encourage that he looks to do a little bit differently. He's been predominantly a shotgun quarterback for most of his high school and college career, and so he's very comfortable there.

"We're going to work to see the comfort level under center and how much of that applies. We had a lot of success where I was last, that going under center for the run game did translate in play action."

As Payton broke down what needs to improve for a Broncos team that nearly went to the Super Bowl, in his season ending press conference in late January, he made this observation:

“What we’re doing, I feel like we’re far enough along with some of the RPOs (run-pass options) and things like that, but when we want to run under center and control the game, we’ve been able to do it a few times, but not as much as I’d like. That will be an important study with urgency. That would be one of the points of emphasis that I think we research and look into. I want to play from the gun, but I also will always want to play with a two-back and multiple-tight-end mindset and have that flexibility. It’s one of the key things we have to do this offseason.”

So, um, you don’t think Doyle, having just turned 30 and putting his own play book together for the first time and calling plays for the first time, is bringing this as a hallmark when his longtime boss, 30 years into his coaching career, is still harping on it?

Getting Under Center And Staying Under Center

From 2019, his first full season in the NFL, through last season, Jackson and Jalen Hurts have been, by far, the quarterbacks in the shotgun the most. Jackson has been in the gun 85.4% of the time, and Hurts 85.5%, while the NFL average in that span is 64%. You’ll never see a Johnson or Payton offense doing that.

Shotgun % On 2025 Snaps (per TruMedia)

Jackson: 67.1% - 14th most

Nix: 64.5% - 18th most

Williams: 51.6% - 29th most

It’s fairly striking how aggressive they got shifting Williams’s footwork and getting him adjusted to a new primary mode of operation, considering that in his rookie season, before Johnson and Doyle arrived, he was in the gun 71.2% of the time.

Lamar was already downshifting in gun usage under Monken from where he was with Greg Roman (exclusively in gun or pistol whether running or throwing). Here’s Lamar’s snap % in shot gun by year:

2024: 70.9% 2023: 83.4% 2022: 86.6% 2021: 94.8% 2020: 96.8% 2019: 93.5%

Under Center Is Not Just For Play Action

Getting under center isn’t just a device to boost play action tendencies or throw a change of pace, it’s more a way of life for Payton and Johnson. It’s hardwired into their run-game philosophies as well, and when you study their overall use of formations on rushing plays, the dichotomy between that and what we’ve seen here during the Jackson era are stark.

The Ravens have executed 76.2% of their run plays from shotgun since 2019, highest in the NFL. Last year, Johnson/Doyle called just 29.5% of their run plays from the gun (25th most). When Johnson was in Detroit as their playcaller (2022-2024), the Lions ran just 27.9% of their run plays from the gun, second fewest. Of course immobile QB Jared Goff offered no threat or even ability to really move the launch point, but still, this is the exact opposite of what Baltimore has been doing.

As for Payton, since returning to coaching with the Broncos (2024-2025), he’s run just 34.8% of his run plays from shotgun, 26th most. If you recall, Derrick Henry was in an offense in Tennessee that relied on under-center runs more than any other in the NFL, at the same time Lamar was in the run more than anyone else. This is natural for him.

If you look at the Lions from 2022 (when Johnson starts calling plays for them) through last season (why they tried, unsuccessfully, to run his offense with others calling plays), Detroit utilized the gun on 50.5% of its total plays; the league average is 68.3% in that span. Last season the Bears were in the gun on just 51.7% of their plays (with a spry QB like Jacson), which ranked 28th in the NFL.

“I think you’re probably going to be looking at an offense that’s going to be centered around running the football, getting the quarterback under center, play action shots,” NFL analyst Solomon Wilcots said on “The Daily Flock” this week (full episode linked below). “More timely throws that allow him to really get the ball out of his hands, but more importantly, put the defense in s state of flux and in between.

“You’ve got to read it out – quarterback under center, more ball fakes, ball handling. Remember, the defense can’t play fast until they’ve decided, ‘Is a run or is it a pass?’ And when you put your quarterback entirely in shotgun you’ve removed the mystery.”

I think we’re going to get a lot more mystery in 2026.

Subscribe On YouTube For The Best Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google