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What could quarterback Lamar Jackson, running back Derrick Henry and wide receiver Zay Flowers look like in a Declan Doyle offense? The most intriguing question of the Ravens’ offseason might also be the most unknowable.

Doyle, the rising-star 29-year-old who’s reportedly set to be named the Ravens’ offensive coordinator, never called plays in 2025, his first and only year as the Chicago Bears’ offensive coordinator. That was head coach Ben Johnson’s duty.

Doyle never called plays in his first three years as a New Orleans Saints offensive assistant (2019-21) or in his two years as the Denver Broncos’ tight ends coach (2023-24). That was coach Sean Payton’s duty.

All of which makes Doyle something of an enigma. Under new coach Jesse Minter, he could be anything. His offensive schemes could be anything. His vision for Jackson could be anything.

Only this much is certain: Doyle will arrive in Baltimore as a vessel for two of the NFL’s most respected offensive minds. If he brings Johnson and Payton’s influences to Baltimore, here’s a look at how the Ravens could configure their 2026 offense.

Outside-zone runs

With the hire of offensive line coach and run game coordinator Dwayne Ledford set to be announced, the Ravens were already expected to major in outside-zone, or “stretch,” runs, which challenge defensive fronts by stretching them laterally, forcing them to account for gaps around the edge and potential cut-back lanes. Doyle’s arrival all but confirms those intentions.

According to Sports Info Solutions, the Atlanta Falcons, Ledford’s former employer, easily led the NFL this past season with 286 outside-zone runs. And the Bears were second with 176. Behind one of the NFL’s best offensive lines, their zone runs were hard to stop. Chicago ranked 10th in yards per carry (4.9) and first in success rate (58.5%).

The Ravens had their own high-volume outside-zone running game in 2025. They finished fifth in the NFL with 138 such carries, leaning on Henry’s experience in the scheme and the lateral mobility of starting tackles Ronnie Stanley and Roger Rosengarten and Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum.

With a shift to a more outside-zone-heavy attack, Jackson’s literal place in the offense could also change. The Bears used under-center formations on 48.3% of their plays, one of the NFL’s highest rates, according to Sharp Football Analysis. Under-center looks help sell run fakes more convincingly, and Chicago was among the league leaders in play-action rate in 2025 (32.3% of drop-backs, according to the NFL’s Next Gen Stats).

The Ravens, meanwhile, operated from the shotgun on 63.7% of their snaps and used play-action on just 24.4% of their drop-backs. Even with Jackson’s mobility perhaps better weaponized in shotgun formations, he could start plays closer to the line of scrimmage in 2026.

Presnap motion

Johnson’s heavy use of presnap motion (60.6% of plays, according to Sharp Football Analysis) amplified the Bears’ running game and, in turn, opened opportunities for explosive pass plays downfield.

No game better exemplified Johnson’s mastery of eye candy than the Bears’ Week 13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Chicago quarterback Caleb Williams went just 17-for-36 for 154 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but against a good Eagles run defense, the Bears rolled for 281 yards (6 per carry) and two touchdowns.

Presnap motion was the engine behind nearly every big run. In the first quarter, Williams shifted wide receiver DJ Moore into the backfield, where he lined up as a fullback, then motioned tight end Cole Kmet to the strong side of the formation just before the snap.

With the Eagles’ second-level defenders responding to the motion and safety Reed Blankenship taking himself out of the mix to cover Moore as he cut against the grain and into the flat, running back Kyle Monangai found a lane for an easy 17 yards.

Later in the quarter, Williams motioned Kmet over from the strong side to the weak side just before the snap, only for Kmet to peel back and cut-block defensive lineman Moro Ojomo, who’d been intentionally left alone up front. The misdirection helped get left guard Joe Thuney and center Drew Dalman to the second level easily, clearing a path for a 23-yard run by running back D’Andre Swift.

In the third quarter, Williams sent wide receiver Rome Odunze into motion. Because the Eagles were in zone defense and the greatest threat for a handoff had now moved elsewhere, Blankenship dropped farther from the line of scrimmage. Philadelphia, which had allowed a 10-yard run to Moore on an end-around earlier in the quarter, adjusted its alignment to account for the possibility of another surprise handoff.

But Johnson’s play call was designed to attack the side of the field Odunze (and Blankenship) had vacated. The Bears had numerical superiority and took advantage. Monangai wasn’t touched until he was nearly 20 yards downfield on a 31-yard run.

All that pounding took a toll on the Eagles’ attention to details. In the fourth quarter, Chicago lined up in 13 personnel (one running back, three tight ends and one wide receiver), a run-heavy grouping. There was no presnap motion this time, but after a run fake and a bootleg by Williams, Kmet came open down the seam. Williams found him for a 28-yard touchdown that gave the Bears a decisive 24-9 lead.

The Ravens weaponized presnap motion creatively and frequently under former coordinators Greg Roman and Todd Monken, but they fell back to the middle of the pack in usage rate (52.1%) in 2025.

Quick-game passes

Williams had the NFL’s longest average time to throw this past season (3.2 seconds), and Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix (2.86 seconds) wasn’t far behind, as the 14th slowest, according to NGS. But it wasn’t because Johnson and Payton were averse to quick-game concepts.

Nix, playing in Payton’s hybrid West Coast offense — a system initially premised on a precise, short-range passing game — led the NFL with 86 screen passes and was second with 40 throws on run-pass-option plays, according to SIS. Williams had just eight run-pass-option pass attempts in 2025, but he finished seventh with 63 screen passes.

With Johnson’s impressive play sequencing, successful screens could be used to set up easy-money explosive plays later in games. Early in the Bears’ wild-card-round win over the Green Bay Packers, Williams hit wide receiver Luther Burden III for a 12-yard gain on a wide receiver screen out of a “trips” formation (three receivers aligned to one side of the field).

Late in the fourth quarter, with the Packers leading 27-24, Chicago lined up in a nearly identical trips look. Williams took the snap and faked a quick hitter to Burden as Moore and tight end Colston Loveland bluffed as if they were blocking.

Instead, Moore slipped by an overaggressive Packers cornerback, Carrington Valentine, and Williams hit him in stride for a wide-open, go-ahead 25-yard score.

The Ravens had one of the NFL’s best screen games in 2024, but their reliance on those plays and success with them tumbled in 2025. According to SIS, only nine teams attempted fewer screens than the Ravens (40). Only three teams, meanwhile, had fewer RPO passes (seven).

Trick plays

There wasn’t much razzle-dazzle on Monken’s play sheet in his three seasons in Baltimore. In the Ravens’ divisional-round loss to the Buffalo Bills in 2024, Jackson took a sack on a red-zone drop-back seemingly designed to get Stanley open near the goal line. In a Week 3 loss this past season, the Detroit Lions sniffed out a running back pass play in the red zone for Henry, who was looking for wide receiver Tylan Wallace. Otherwise, the Ravens mostly stuck to their meat and potatoes.

Johnson and Payton, however, aren’t afraid to have fun in the sandbox. As the Lions’ offensive coordinator, in a 2024 win over Chicago, Johnson schemed up a 21-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jared Goff to tight end Sam LaPorta on an awkward-looking drop-back that was a trick play called “Stumblebum.”

This year, in a win over the Cincinnati Bengals, Williams got open on a “Philly Special”-esque double-reverse pass for a 2-yard score on fourth down. Later, he was the recipient of a double pass, which he turned into a 20-yard gain.

Payton has his own bag of tricks. In a 2024 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Nix lined up at wide receiver for a double-reverse shot play that ended with him finding wide receiver Josh Reynolds for a 49-yard completion. And, in a loss later that season in Baltimore, wide receiver Courtland Sutton squeezed a 2-yard touchdown to Nix despite tight coverage on another “Philly Special”-esque play.

Jackson, whom some NFL evaluators considered to be a better wide receiver prospect than quarterback prospect when he was coming out of Louisville, has rarely lined up out wide in his pro career. But, if Doyle brings a new level of creativity to the Ravens’ playbook, a few trips outside the hash marks might be inevitable.