Lamar Jackson’s offensive coordinator is likely joining John Harbaugh in New York to coach Jaxson Dart.
Outgoing Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Todd Monken, who recently interviewed for the Cleveland Browns head coaching vacancy, is believed to be Harbaugh’s pick to call plays for the Giants’ second-year QB.
That will bring changes to the Giants‘ personnel, formations and pace on offense, but Dart will welcome the adjustments given Monken’s track record and their fit with Dart’s mobile skill set.
Monken, 59, ran the Ravens’ offense the past three seasons coming off back-to-back college football national championships at Georgia.
Jackson won the 2023 NFL MVP Award in Monken’s first season with Baltimore and should have won it a second time in 2024, when he finished runner-up to the Buffalo Bills’ Josh Allen.
Jackson is a transcendent talent, and Monken also had future Hall of Fame running back Derrick Henry in Baltimore‘s backfield in 2024 and 2025. But Baltimore’s production under Monken nevertheless was historic.
The Ravens’ 2024 offense, which led the NFL with 7,224 yards and finished third with 30.5 points per game, became the first in NFL history to put up at least 4,000 passing yards and 3,000 rushing yards in the same season.
The most translatable part of Monken’s offense for Dart likely will be that the coordinator often “uses tempo,” as one source noted, when calling his offense. Dart’s entire college offense at Ole Miss under former coach Lane Kiffin was built on tempo.
Tempo is when an offense frequently moves quickly to the next play and uses no-huddle and varies its rhythm to keep defenses off-base and prevent them from substituting. It’s an aggressive offense, but with the right quarterback, it puts defenses on their heels and tires them out.
The Giants incorporated some tempo for Dart during his rookie year, since the offense that Brian Daboll and Mike Kafka ran included a lot of Dart’s favorite concepts from Ole Miss. But Monken’s emphasis on it will lean further into Dart’s comfort zone.
The players on the field with Dart, meanwhile, could change.
The 2025 Ravens had two running backs on the field a lot and used a fullback, Patrick Ricard, while the Giants preferred the presence of a third wide receiver.
The Giants had three wide receivers on the field in what is called ’11 personnel’ on 60.5% of their offensive snaps in 2025 (14th in NFL). Monken’s Ravens used ’11 personnel’ a league-low 29.9% of the time.
Both teams frequently used ’12 personnel,’ fielding one running back, two tight ends and two receivers: The Ravens were third in the NFL (35.9%), and the Giants were fifth (32.5%), per NFL NextGen Stats.
But the Ravens had two running backs on the field on 26.9% of their offensive snaps compared to the Giants only doing it on 0.8% of the time in Dart’s offense.
Baltimore ran ’21 personnel,’ with two backs and one tight end, on 18.6% of its snaps (third in the NFL) and operated in ’22 personnel,’ with two backs and two tight ends, on 8.3%.
Tight ends Mark Andrews (61.4%), Isaiah Likely (48%) and Charlie Kolar (40.5%) all played a lot, and Ricard (27.4%) basically saw the field on one of every three snaps.
What Monken highlighted with these formations was the Ravens’ formidable running game. Baltimore’s offense ranked first in rushing in the entire NFL in both 2023 and 2024, and they finished second in 2025.
Dart’s running ability has to be featured to maximize his ability, so Monken would be moving directly from one quarterback with that same quality to another.
This does not mean Monken is committed to only one way of running an offense.
He was the Buccaneers’ offensive coordinator (2016-18) for three of Jameis Winston’s seasons in Tampa Bay. And in 2018, Winston’s Bucs led the NFL in passing yards with 320.3 per game.
Winston also is under contract for 2026 with the Giants already, so he could function as an excellent bridge for Dart in learning Monken’s system.
Monken would not arrive without some questions about how his tenure in Baltimore ended.
In each of the last two seasons, Monken strangely did not lean on the dominant Henry with the Ravens’ most important games on the line in eventual losses.
There was some obvious tension this season around Jackson’s disappointing 2025 season and injuries. And as the Ravens slipped and missed the playoffs, some offensive players anonymously griped about Monken’s playcalling.
Still, Monken’s recent work with Jackson, the most talented dual threat quarterback in the league, should create excitement.
Landing Harbaugh as head coach is a big deal for the organization. Landing Monken as offensive coordinator could be just as big a deal for Dart.
