Ravens’ Declan Doyle Wants Lamar Jackson Using His ‘Superpower’ Earlier in Plays

Jesse Minter’s first Baltimore Ravens training camp is underway, and the new coaching staff already has a specific idea for how to get more out of Lamar Jackson. According to The Athletic’s Robert Mays, offensive coordinator Declan Doyle wants Jackson leaning on his field-reading instincts sooner in the play, not just when things break down.

Baltimore fired John Harbaugh on Jan. 6, ending an 18-year run and closing out the franchise’s only head-coaching era most fans had ever known. The team moved fast, hiring former Ravens defensive backs coach and Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter as the fourth head coach in franchise history on Jan. 22. Minter then filled out his offensive staff by hiring Declan Doyle, previously the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator under Ben Johnson, on Feb. 2. Doyle, 29, is the same age as Jackson and will call plays for the first time in his career.

Mays, on stop No. 11 of his 2026 Training Camp Tour, relayed what he’s hearing from inside the building about how Doyle sees Jackson’s game. According to ClutchPoints, Mays described a specific trait the new staff is trying to build the offense around.

“This staff sees Lamar Jackson’s superpower, one of his superpowers, is just his ability to sense where defenders are in space and being able to understand exactly what he’s looking at on a given play,” Mays said on The Athletic Football Show. “The way that it was described to me is it’s almost like a Madden-like vision where he’ll come back to the sideline after a play and just with an incredible recall be able to describe everything that he saw and how everything unfolded.”

That instinct isn’t new. Jackson has always been dangerous once a play breaks down, using his legs and his arm to turn busted protection into explosive gains. What Doyle’s staff wants is different: they want that same field-reading ability showing up earlier, before the play even starts to unravel.

Why Doyle Wants Precision Before the Break

Mays explained where the staff sees the biggest opportunity for growth.

“Where you see that really take hold is deeper into plays. His ability to sense when something is going to come open if he hangs on it and lets it come open. That’s where he’s been at his best, even as a passer from the pocket. I think the charge from this staff is what sort of military-like precision can we get from Lamar earlier in downs, on the first part of plays. Just playing through everything precisely, with rhythm, with timing.”

That’s a scheme conversation as much as a talent one. Structured, rhythm-based passing — reading the defense presnap, working through progressions on time, delivering the ball on schedule — is what most NFL offenses are built around before anything ever breaks down. Jackson has never needed structure to be dangerous. He’s made a career out of freelancing his way into big plays once the pocket collapses or a route takes an extra beat to develop.

The idea from Doyle’s staff isn’t to strip that away. It’s to add a layer in front of it. If Jackson can execute the rhythm-and-timing passing game with the same efficiency he already shows extending plays, Baltimore’s offense doesn’t just get more explosive on schedule — it becomes far harder to defend on early downs, when defenses are still trying to disguise their looks.

It’s the kind of adjustment that sounds small on paper but could be the difference between an offense that’s dangerous in flashes and one that’s consistently ahead of the chains.

What’s Changed Around Jackson

Doyle isn’t the only new voice in Jackson’s ear. Baltimore also brought in Anthony Weaver as defensive coordinator in February, giving Minter a full staff built largely from outside the building, save for Minter’s own history in Baltimore from 2017 to 2020.

Jackson enters the season under his third full-time playcaller in three years, following a 2025 campaign that ended with an 8-9 record and no playoff berth — Baltimore’s first missed postseason since 2021. That backdrop is part of why the “superpower” framing matters. It’s not just a compliment from a national reporter relaying staff chatter. It’s a signal of what the new coaching group considers the foundation to build the entire offense around.

None of this is confirmed as a finished scheme or a locked-in plan — camp is where ideas get tested, not implemented. Mays’s report reflects what he’s hearing from people around the building this week, not an official team statement on offensive philosophy. How it translates once Baltimore opens the regular season remains to be seen.