Todd Monken has done a hell of a job in his two seasons as Ravens’ offensive coordinator. It won’t be a surprise that one of these days he gets a head coaching offer that he can’t refuse. What’s going to happen to Lamar Jackson and John Harbaugh then? With Monken’s help, Jackson became the youngest QB to hold 2x MVPs since the merger. No doubt teams would be interested in the OC.

If anything, Mike Florio didn’t expect the Ravens to pop off under Todd Monken as they did. His thought process? Monken is nowhere near the likes of Bill Walsh. But that’s an unfair expectation to have. With two different eras of football, it’s hard to find a common ground. But watching the Baltimore team for the last two years has changed the NBC analyst’s mind.

Is Lamar Jackson’s MVP run in danger?

John Harbaugh’s hopes of making it to the Super Bowl were on Cloud 9 last year. There have been some complications this year. But the offense is still thriving. They lost the last game against the Philadelphia Eagles due to too many missed field goals and if it weren’t for that, Baltimore would have had a chance to finish their season 13-4, just like they did last year. Watching all this unfold was a wake-up call to Mike Florio, who is a Todd Monken believer now.

“Look, I was candid with my skepticism when he became the coordinator last year. Like, ‘this guy is not Bill Walsh, look at his track record. Like, why is everybody expecting he’s going to be some revolution to the Ravens offense?’ But he’s done a remarkable job. Last year, they were the one seed. This year, the offense, arguably better,” Florio said on PFT.

Last year was Monken’s first year as the Ravens OC and the team finished on a high note: 13-4. They reached the AFC Divisional Playoffs and lost to Kansas City. They were just one step away from making it to the Super Bowl. The Ravens are 8-5 this year, but still have a chance to make it to the playoffs, just maybe not the one seed. Baltimore’s defense is lacking this year, and maybe that’s one of the reason for those losses.

On that note, Lamar Jackson’s performance this season prompted Chris Simms to make a case for Monken to be an HC somewhere. “If there’s a list, he should be on the short list of the head coaching candidates. He’s done a phenomenal job for two years here now. You’re right, the offense is, there’s no question Lamar Jackson has looked as good as he’s ever looked before. And their offense has everything,” Chris Simms told Mike Florio on PFT.

The point is, the Ravens didn’t only make it to the playoffs last season, but Lamar Jackson also became the MVP. As of now, three head coaching positions are open in the NFL. The Jets fired Robert Saleh, the Saints fired Dennis Allen, and the Bears recently fired Matt Eberflus. But until they reach out to Monken, we won’t know if he’d leave the Ravens or not.

Though Simms would like the Ravens to run the ball a bit more, he believes the Ravens OC is doing a fine job of getting players open and is certainly a creative coach. Clearly, if he ends up leaving, Lamar Jackson’s chance to secure another MVP might be in jeopardy. While people are speculating all kinds of things about Todd Monken, it’d be crucial to see what the main man has to say for himself.

Todd Monken opens up about his future

The Ravens OC has expressed no desire to leave the Baltimore Ravens. It’s a team that can make it to the Super Bowl. Does Monken really want to miss that chance? Who would? He denied all the speculations and said that he’d like to focus on the Ravens for the rest of the season—a logical choice.

“I don’t deal with it,” Monken said. “I don’t deal with it because it has nothing to do with the here and the now and nobody really knows anything. I don’t control that. All I control is the job I have here. That’s the most important thing. It’s winning here and scoring points because if you don’t worry about that, you don’t have a job here. Then the other stuff doesn’t happen.”

Reportedly, the Panthers and the Chargers were interested in him as a head coach last year, but he chose to stay in Baltimore. When Monken took the job at the Ravens, he elevated them to the sixth-best offense in the league last season. This year is even better with the addition of Derrick Henry to the backfield. The Ravens are on top as far as offensive football is concerned.

Hopefully, they will do better than last season. Though, it will be difficult because there are a lot of good, playoff-worthy teams in the 2024 NFL season.