Ravens proprietor: QB Jackson will run much less in 2019
OWINGS MILLS, Md. — Baltimore Ravens proprietor Steve Bisciotti mentioned Wednesday evening that the imaginative and prescient of the group is to construct the group round Lamar Jackson and to lower the dashing makes an attempt for its younger franchise quarterback.
In an hourlong convention name with season-ticket holders, Bisciotti was requested a number of questions on Jackson, together with any concern over elevated threat of damage. Final season, Jackson set the NFL document for quarterbacks by working 147 instances, surpassing Bobby Douglass (who had 141 in 1972).
“I feel you may be pleasantly stunned that Lamar just isn’t going to be working 20 instances a recreation,” Bisciotti mentioned in his first public feedback in additional than a 12 months. “That is not what this offense is about.”
When Jackson took over for Joe Flacco round midseason, he gained six of seven begins to steer the Ravens to their first AFC North title since 2012. He additionally averaged 17 carries per recreation.
Bisciotti mentioned Jackson’s excessive variety of rush makes an attempt have been an element of Baltimore doing no matter it took to get to the postseason for the primary time in 4 years. The Ravens spent this offseason tailoring the offense round Jackson’s distinctive talent set, and Bisciotti expects a big quantity of development from the No. 32 total decide in final 12 months’s draft.
“Every thing falls to Lamar,” Bisciotti mentioned. “We consider in him. We consider he’ll be nice. He wishes to be nice. We are going to proceed to construct the group round his strengths, and he’ll proceed to work on his weaknesses.”
The Ravens’ precedence this offseason was to encompass Jackson with playmakers. Baltimore signed two-time Professional Bowl working again Mark Ingram II in free company and chosen two of the draft’s quickest broad receivers and the quickest working again within the first 4 rounds.
“We realized as a lot as anyone else did that we had 11 eyes on Lamar on the finish of the 12 months,” Bisciotti mentioned. “I feel they have been targeted on him, and to be able to make him develop, we needed to put some pace round him.”
Listed below are different subjects addressed by Bisciotti:
The thrill across the Cleveland Browns: “I feel that Cleveland has lots going for them. On paper, they’re definitely lots higher group. We will have our fingers full. Who is aware of? In the event that they’re that a lot better, perhaps they’re going to begin beating Pittsburgh. We solely must play them twice a 12 months. It’s going to be attention-grabbing to see how rapidly they grow to be the sort of group that some individuals assume they’re.”
Free-agent defensive sort out Gerald McCoy, who visited the Ravens over the previous two days: “I feel all people on the market has seen what he can do. I feel he is a little bit of a game-wrecker. These days, you want that sort of strain from the within.”
The potential of Baltimore internet hosting the NFL draft: “I’d like to look into it. To ensure that us to think about it, we should get the NFL down right here and discover out what sort of venues they’re on the lookout for. If it is one thing our followers would need … I’d completely like it. I feel now we have a greater likelihood of getting that than the Tremendous Bowl.”