Baltimore Ravens: New Offensive Coordinator Equals New Offense

Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Baltimore Ravens recently hired a new offensive coordinator.

Yes, I am a little late, but since nothing is happening, I cannot be too late. There is still much to say of how Gary Kubiak will affect the Ravens.

I have seen in multiple places that Kubiak is bringing his own, newly-made playbook to the Ravens, which he is still finishing as I write this (as far as I know he is still making it).

Kubiak is supposed to be using quarterback Joe Flacco in a more athletic way. There has been some say on the types of new plays Flacco will be doing, but I am sure there is much more than what has already been talked about.

Until he finishes that playbook, or if it is released, we can only speculate on what it could be which some analysts already have.  

Flacco is no Russell Wilson or Colin Kaepernick or even Cam Newton. He is not a duel-threat quarterback, but has enough athleticism to fit into this new scheme.

Kubiak loves a play-action offense. I saw it many times when he was with the Houston Texans.

I am sure he will bring that same love to the Ravens, so he will have to include Ray Rice into the offensive mix. If the Ravens’ run game continues to struggle, the play action simply will not work.

Though Flacco can stand up in the pocket, Kubiak may try to use his athleticism to further the Raven’s offense, which ranked poorly this past season.

I certainly would like to see more designed plays to get Flacco moving. Not that he needs to, but so he can expand his options rather than staying in the pocket the entire game. Kubiak seems to be onto this type of playing style.

Kubiak is supposed to be adding bootlegs into the playbook, which I think Flacco will be able to adapt to quickly. He has done variations of the bootleg in the past.

Ravens’ fans should know the bootleg well with Pittsburgh Steelers’ quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. If Flacco can begin to play a bit more like Roethlisberger,  no matter how much I hate to say it, the offensive will improve and Flacco will become a more diverse quarterback.

Again with the bootleg, it is often associated with play-action, which means the running game will have to improve.

So along with the offensive focus on Flacco, Kubiak will have to focus on working with the running back coaches to get the Ravens’ ground game to improve.

This is not brand new information; most knew Kubiak would use the running game. Now with the current Rice situation, this could mean using multiple running backs. Unless the Ravens pick up another top running back, but that is another subject altogether.

With the different aspects Kubiak is incorporating, I believe the Ravens’ offense will certainly become an integrated offense. An offense that relies on both the running and passing game.

However, presuming Kubiak does not make a vital mistake, the two sides of the offense will complement each other, but will not replace each other. That way if the opposing defense shuts one aspect, the Ravens can still win the game.

Flacco will probably be asked to do much more on the field, and after this past season, I am sure he will be more than willing to do it. He has shown in the past he will speak up about disagreements with his coaches.

I just hope that not only Flacco can adapt to the new system, but the entire offense over the course of this offseason.

This past season the Ravens had to try to adapt to injuries, and I would not want to watch more games when the offense has to adapt to a new coordinator during the season.