The Ravens Are Implementing A Sean Payton Offense In 2026 And Will be Under Center More Than Ever

Declan Doyle, a protege of Payton's, has only be around offenses that skew old school and stay out of the shotgun more than almost any others

Jun 16, 2026; Englewood, CO, USA; Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton speaks to the media following mini camp drills at Broncos Park. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

In the aftermath of their season-ending loss to the Patriots in the AFC Championship Game, one of the immediate tasks for future Hall of Fame head coach Sean Payton and his coaching staff was to run a study on why they were not being effective enough running the football under center.

It’s a core tenant that Payton believes in and instills in his assistants. It’s hardwired into Ravens rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle at this point, and was reinforced by the 2025 season Doyle spent under Ben Johnson in Chicago, where, guess what, they operated under center more than pretty much every team in the NFL, too.

We’ve crunched the numbers and watched the games and dissected the post-game comments by Doyle’s coaching mentors about this topic, and few people demand under-center execution more than Doyle and Johnson. A year ago Doyle and Johnson took shotgun-exclusive QB Caleb Williams and got him under center al the time, and no QB in the NFL has spent more time in the shotgun on pistol than Lamar Jackson since he became a full-season starter in 2019.

Big change is coming.

And as Sean Payton spoke about this element of his offense on “The Daily Flock Show” recently, you could sense his visceral it is for him. He isn’t imparting wisdom to Doyle anymore and will be competing with the Ravens for playoff position most likely, but years and years of Payton’s speeches and research assignments and adjustments have helped him get where he is.

The Johnson reinforced all of it with his own dynamic offense with under center snaps central to it.

A Little Old School Goes A Long Way

I’m a little bit of a traditionalist in a few ways,” Payton explained, “and yet I’m never not wanting to look at new thoughts and ideas. So, um, man you get a guy like Bo Nix who has a vast databank of RPO (run-pass options) offense in the run, and we’re going to do that.

“But there is a portion of what we want to do under center – both in the run game, play action passing game, and also with a fullback sometimes – now that fullback can be a tight end or a traditional fullback. But I do think you’re kind of seeing it trending back a little bit …

“So, yes, I think Declan will have a portion of that. And I know it won’t be strange to see Lamar doing a great job with the boots and nakeds and the play action, because we’ve seen him in that role. It’ll be more about what we do when we’re under center.”

Ravens veteran running back Derrick Henry was under center more than any back in the NFL during his tenure in Tennessee, so none of this will be foreign to him. And there was already more of a melding of the under center run and pass concepts that Todd Monken had been implementing in Baltimore.

That’s going to continue to evolve into more of a part of their offensive identity. And it could help unlock more people in the pass game as well, particularly downfield buying time to get open with under-center play-action shots. And they’re going to be coming on early downs, and not just third and forever.

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