Welcome to the Quarterback Notebook, where I’ll be covering the past week in NFL quarterbacking — from the most interesting passers, plays and storylines that caught my eye while watching film this week.
In this season-opening edition, we’ll be looking at how the Ravens’ new offense maximizes Lamar Jackson, breaking down Justin Herbert’s disappointing debut, and lamenting the state of the Chiefs’ passing game.
Let’s talk quarterbacks.
It’s never too early to abandon a preseason take, kids. Cowboys QB Dak Prescott was my MVP pick before the season, and it took one week of watching Lamar Jackson in the new-look Ravens offense to change my mind. That’s how much I trust new offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, the 30-year-old Ben Johnson protégé. We’re working with a sample size of one game — Baltimore’s 41-23 shellacking of the Colts — but I’m calling it now: The NFL’s youngest playcaller has the goods.
He also might be the first Ravens coordinator who doesn’t feel the need to lean on Jackson as a run-game crutch. Jackson logged just one designed run against the Colts, a walk-in touchdown on creative design by Doyle.
But most of Baltimore’s run calls put Jackson under center, eliminating the threat of a zone-read style play. That doesn’t mean Doyle isn’t capitalizing on the threat Jackson’s mobility poses to the defense; he’s just doing it differently than his predecessors.
Based on the first week, I’d expect the Ravens to lean heavily on boot action that puts Jackson on the edge of the defense to create situations like this, where he can run into open grass or look for a receiving option downfield.
If defenses want to use an edge rusher to contain Jackson, that will leave a player open in the flat for an easy dump-off. If they try to contain Jackson and get that flat route covered, that’s two run defenders the Ravens don’t have to worry about blocking, which just opens up more rushing lanes for Derrick Henry.
It only took until Year 9, but the Ravens finally put their star quarterback in a true pro-style offense that operates from under center. Baltimore ran 34 plays from under center on Sunday. That’s the highest mark in any game Jackson has started for the team, per Next Gen Stats. And the numbers will have you wondering why they didn’t do it sooner.
Baltimore’s under-center offense vs. the Colts, Week 1:
- Yards per play: 7.1
- Yards per pass: 9.4
- Yards per run: 6.1
- Explosive play rate: 20.6%
Jackson’s throwing and processing ability has always been underrated. Even his own team seemed to believe that Jackson needed to play in a certain style of offense, predicated on an option-based run game, to succeed in the NFL. Jackson was good enough to make it work under Greg Roman before proving he could light it up in a more dropback-style passing game under Todd Monken.
The results were good, but neither offensive coordinator maximized Jackson. That he still managed to win two MVP awards — and should’ve had a third in 2024 — under those coaches speaks to his remarkable ability.
Despite those accolades, some still wonder if Jackson needs to run to succeed. Doyle will test that theory this season.
The Under-Center Revolution Will Be Televised … But Check Your Local Listings
The transition to an under-center offense wasn’t so successful for other quarterbacks across the league. The Bengals, Commanders and Eagles are all making similar changes to their offenses in 2026, and the early returns were mixed.
Getting Joe Burrow under center more often has been a goal in Cincinnati for a few offseasons. The hope is that it makes Burrow’s job easier when it comes to creating explosive plays. Defenses have to get into certain looks against an effective under-center run game, which leaves them vulnerable in pass coverage. It’s difficult to get a safety over the top of Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins when you also need an extra run defender in the box.
The opener against the Buccaneers was promising in some ways. The Bengals run game did its part, producing a healthy 4.1 yards and 0.16 EPA per attempt, per Next Gen Stats. But Cincinnati called just five under-center dropbacks, which produced a measly 29 yards total. Most of Burrow’s dropbacks came from the gun, which is how the offense has typically operated.
That’s been Burrow’s stylistic preference throughout his career. With the offense running through him, it’s difficult to envision that changing, despite the offseason chatter. When the games count, quarterbacks tend to revert to what they know best.
That was certainly true for the Commanders, who are looking to put Jayden Daniels under center more often this season. They committed to it early against the Eagles, but the offense didn’t come alive until first-year coordinator David Blough reverted to the old offense Daniels ran under Kliff Kingsbury over his first two seasons in the league.
That could be seen as Blough waving a white flag, but he should be commended for his flexibility. Blough said in preseason that he’d do whatever fit Daniels’ game, and he kept his word in game one.
The Eagles were also on “Under Center Watch” in Sean Mannion’s debut as offensive coordinator. While Philadelphia did shift its run game from the gun to under center, it called the fewest under-center dropbacks in the league this past week.
There have been questions about Jalen Hurts’ ability to operate from under center — even in the Eagles’ building — but I don’t think the passing game will be the biggest obstacle to making this transition under Mannion. The run game could be a bigger issue.
The Eagles don’t have many pass-catchers who are willing and able to block on the perimeter, which is necessary to create explosive run plays. Dallas Goedert is a bad blocking tight end, and DeVonta Smith and Dontayvion Wicks are built like basketball players. First-round rookie Makai Lemon is a solid blocker in theory but hasn’t contributed in the passing game at all. Unless Mannion plans on giving blocking tight end Johnny Mundt a bunch of snaps, the under-center run game won’t work as intended, which limits the benefits of going under center in the pass game.
The NFL is in the midst of an under-center revolution …
… but Week 1 showed that not all teams — and not all quarterbacks — are ready for it.
It was a humbling weekend for the Herb-verts, but I’m imploring all my fellow Justin Herbert defenders to stay calm and practice patience after watching our boy lose to a Cardinals team that’s expected to contend for the first-overall pick.
Yes, the numbers from Sunday are ugly. Herbert managed only 207 passing yards and threw an interception that I still can’t explain after watching the play a dozen times. But there were also some encouraging signs! At the top of the list was Herbert’s average depth of target: a very healthy 10.1 yards per attempt. New offensive coordinator Mike McDaniel is installing the kind of passing game we want to see a big-armed quarterback like Herbert run.
That passing map doesn’t include the two deep throws that drew defensive pass interference flags and generated 5.3 expected points added for the Chargers offense. If Sunday’s game is an indication, Herbert will be chucking the ball downfield all season. And as he grows more comfortable making anticipatory throws — which McDaniel’s offense requires — we’ll see more absurd throws like this one.
But the passing game and the offense overall will eventually have to produce more than highlights. And there’s a lot of crap that needs to be cleaned up before that can happen. Five different Chargers players were flagged for a false start against Arizona. Running back Omarion Hampton fumbled away a promising drive in the first half. Los Angeles had a punt blocked, leading directly to a Cardinals touchdown. Those two plays cost the Chargers about 27 points of win probability and 9.6 expected points, per RBSDM.com.
Herbert’s interception, as indefensible as it was, was a relatively small drop in win probability, cutting L.A.’s chances of winning from 22% to 17%.
Outside the obvious blunders, the Chargers’ offense moved the ball … until they fell into obvious passing situations and Arizona could exploit L.A.’s weak interior offensive line and McDaniel’s flawed pass-protection rules. This clip went viral on Sunday, with everyone poking fun at the Chargers’ offensive line.
But that breakdown falls on McDaniel and the offensive design. Herbert is expected to throw “hot” against overload blitzes like that one. But Arizona, coached by another Kyle Shanahan acolyte in Mike LaFleur, knows this and used the Chargers’ pass protection rules to the Cardinals’ advantage. Zoom out, and you’ll see Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilson knew where Herbert’s hot option was and covered it up.
Arizona sent a similar blitz earlier in the game. Herbert threw to the “hot” option, but the receiver didn’t get his head around in time to find the ball.
If McDaniel, Herbert and the Chargers’ pass-catchers can’t iron out these issues, it could be a long season for us Herb-verts. If they can, this will be a highly entertaining passing game that puts Herbert’s unreal throwing ability and processing skills on full display. The first game did not inspire confidence, but it’s a long season.
The Next Gen Stats Passing Map That Made Me Nostalgic For 2018
The Chiefs scored 31 points against a good Broncos defense, and the team’s big offseason addition, running back Kenneth Walker, was everything Kansas City hoped he would be in Monday night’s win.
The offense had plenty of exciting moments, but few came through the passing game. Patrick Mahomes scrambling for a touchdown less than a year removed from an ACL tear was exhilarating. Seeing 36-year-old tight end Travis Kelce slalom down the field for 59 yards was a shot of nostalgia — you just have to watch it at 1.5x speed to get the full effect.
Other than that, the passing game resembled what we’ve been watching for the past two seasons, with Mahomes dinking and dunking his way downfield and mixing in timely scrambles to move the chains. He didn’t complete a single pass over 6 air yards, which should get Andy Reid and the Chiefs’ receivers thrown in football jail. It’s a crime against the sport!
Mahomes took the blame for the lack of downfield passing, saying he needs to be more patient in the pocket to allow deep opportunities to develop.
Good on him for taking some of the blame, but we’re now in year three of the Chiefs quarterback giving that same sound bite. Here he is saying something to that effect during the 2024 season. And here he is saying it in 2025.
When reviewing the film of Monday’s win, I found one instance of Mahomes passing on a downfield opportunity, and that came on his scramble touchdown. Kelce broke open over the middle, and Mahomes had plenty of time in the pocket to make the throw but chose to run instead.
Other than that, Denver had no problem sticking with Chiefs receivers running downfield.
The lack of downfield passing isn’t, nor has it ever been, a Mahomes problem. It’s a personnel issue. Outside of Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City doesn’t have receivers who can win downfield, and the pass protection hasn’t been good enough to hold onto the football long enough for schemed-up shot plays to develop. Until that changes, the Chiefs passing game will remain a chore to watch, I’m afraid. At least the run game will be exciting this year.
It’s been days, and I can’t stop thinking about this laser of a throw by Bears QB Caleb Williams. I’m not sure it was the most difficult throw he made in Chicago’s 59-point outing against the Panthers — the 22-yard touchdown to Cole Kmet was fit into an impossible window — but it was the most physically impressive pass I saw this week.
We need the tracking metrics to fully appreciate it. Per Next Gen Stats, the ball traveled 37.1 yards in 1.5 seconds, which works out to a throwing velocity of about 50 MPH. That’s on the high end of what most quarterbacks can do, and Williams hit that mark on a quick-twitch throw to his left.
There’s no defending this one, Herbo. There was plenty of time to scope out the safety coming over to help out, and Herbert still decided to loft one into double coverage, which ended any real chance the Chargers had of making a comeback. That may have been his only significant mistake on Sunday, but it was a costly one.
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