Three Key Changes Coming To Ravens Offense With Lamar Jackson Likely Out

The Ravens will be preparing as if they do not have MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson the next two weeks. Trust us.

If it turns out that he plays against the Browns in Week 6, great, but as we explained on Monday, when a player of this import leaves a game and does not return and then gets an MRI on his ankle and he is asked to do as much as Jackson does, and we are still in early October, and the team has Super Bowl ambition, that superstar is going to spend at least a week on the sidelines. And the Ravens have already shown the propensity to take the long-view with Ronnie Stanley and Zay Flowers and Trey Hendrickson this season.

So, alas, even more change is coming to an offense that has seen Stanley, the star left tackle, and Flowers, maybe the best receiver in the NFL right now, in and out of games with injuries and that will start yet another new offensive line deployment Sunday night in Atlanta with more injuries taking hold. And it would be very wise to get real and leave rookie guard Vega Ioane as the starting center. Enough fluctuation is already being dictated by injury.

And this means veteran back-up Snoop Huntley, who stabilized the 2025 season after Jackson went down, will be called into action, offering some of the athletic traits that Jackson employs, but not nearly to the same degree.

“He might not be a ‘win-because of’ quarterback, but he's certainly a ‘win-with quarterback,’” longtime former top GM Marty Hurney told me on “The Daily Flock Show” Tuesday. “He has proven that. And I like Tyler Huntley. I have a lot of confidence in him. So, you know, if I was inside that building, I would just be saying, ‘Listen, you know, when Lamar's ready, he's ready, but let's not push him.’

“‘Let's take our time. We have a great option that we know can win for us, and let's just be smart about this. Because we're 3-1, we're going to be in this thing the whole way and let's just be judicious and make sure that Lamar doesn't come back too quick.”

Huntley, of course, is not close to Jackson and almost no one in the history of this game is. His absence will require significant recalibrations, and here are three key changes rookie Declan Doyle will make against a tough Atlanta team Sunday night, with the Ravens also dealing with the loss of premier blocking tight end Durham Smythe for the season:

Horizontal Over Vertical

Aug 28, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens quarterback Tyler Huntley (5) drops back to pass during the first quarter against the Washington Commanders at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Jackson is leading the NFL with 10.1 yards per attempt; Huntley is below six yards per attempt in his career. That ain’t changing with a makeshift OL up front and at a time when the run game is suffering and falling behind the stick chasing low-percentage attempts doesn’t make much sense.

Huntley is far more adept spraying the ball around in the screen game and expect to see more of a reliance on YAC (Flowers is the only regular pass catcher getting any so far this season, with Derrick Henry, not seen much in the pass game, second on the team in yards after the catch, somehow).

The Ravens OL strength is on the perimeter and the passing game and running game must lean into that, and the ball is not going to be carrying nearly as much downfield. The Falcons are likely to blitz more than Baltimore has seen given its going to be QB 2 and a OL-in-progress, and sharp screens and finding the hots out quicky will be everything. Also, to that end …

Flowers On The Ground

Oct 4, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Zay Flowers (4) runs after a catch for a first half touchdown against the Tennessee Titans at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Falcons are going to attack as we noted and while beating them with 50-yard throws downfield might not be in the cards with Huntley, finding some chunk yards with playmakers like Flowers out of the backfield in the ground game on the boundary makes too much sense to ignore. Atlanta is allowing just 2.7 yards/rush, ridiculously effective (no one else is below 3.2/carry), and this will require some creative workarounds to reach the desired volume in the run game against a defense that is showing out like this.

Rashod Bateman and Devontez Walker catching balls behind the line of scrimmage or getting end arounds is something else we might see. Atlanta’s 72% success rate against the run is obscene but Baltimore much show conviction with it.

Henry’s Hands

Jan 4, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22) goes for a catch during the second quarter against the Cleveland Browns at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

No one thinks about him as a pass catcher and he’s barely seen the field on third down in his career – even at his peak prime – unless it was a short-yardage situation. But more targets for him are in order. If the Falcons blitz as much as we suspect, that naturally calls for Justice Hill in the backfield, but they need Henry to bleed the clock and shorten the game and try to grind that defensive front down.

Perhaps we see more pony packages with both backs on the field; they have been sporadic-at-best in the past (former offensive coordinator Todd Monken used them in six games during his two years in charge), as Doyle has yet to attempt it. Henry has caught all seven of his targets for 44 yards this season; he had 15 catches for 150 yards all of last season and 13 for 193 in 2024.

The pace of usage in the pass game is already trending up and the way the Falcons play will likely lend itself to more targets.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" for Urgent Ravens Content And Conversations:

Add us as a preferred source on Google