The Baltimore Ravens have struggled on offense during the majority of the 2017 season. Due to their poor start, they currently rank 29th in passing yards per game (189.1). Many fans have called for offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg to be ousted in favor of a Gary Kubiak return.
The latter has been the talk of a possible return to the NFL, after sitting out this past season, due to sickness. Kubiak wouldn’t come back as a head coach, rather he’d come back as an offensive coordinator. This could be an opportunity for Baltimore to bring back their former offensive coordinator, who was with the team in 2014.
“Kubiak always was The Reluctant Head Coach, preferring to stay in the background and "coach" rather than deal with myriad duties of the head man,” Woody Paige wrote for The Colorado Springs Gazette. “He likely will return next season as an offensive coordinator somewhere in the league - possibly with the 49ers and Kyle Shanahan, who had served as Kubiak's young offensive coordinator.”
Baltimore had a great deal of success with Kubiak as the offensive coordinator in 2014. The Ravens had the eighth-best scoring offense (409) in the NFL, with the eighth-ranked rushing offense (2019 rushing yards) and the 13th-ranked passing offense (3819 passing yards).
Due to the success that he had in Baltimore, Kubiak quickly bounced back into the head coaching ranks with the Denver Broncos. He retired after the 2016 season, citing health reasons, but now will most likely be coming back to the NFL. With that being said, should he replace Mornhinweg?
Baltimore’s passing offense was among the bottom of the barrel in passing offense for most of the season, as mentioned previously. However, in the past four weeks, Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco has thrown for 1063 passing yards, seven touchdowns and just one interception. He also has a 98.2 passer rating and is attempting 7.04 yards per passing play.
Let’s say that the Ravens were to make a playoff run under the tutelage of Mornhinweg as the offensive coordinator. Why would head coach John Harbaugh want to get rid of one of his closest colleagues in favor of Kubiak?
It’s not to say that Kubiak wouldn’t be the better fit at offensive coordinator because the stats prove that he could be, but they have even given Mornhinweg a full tool shed to work with. So many injuries have occurred among the offensive line, at tight end and to Flacco. Baltimore completely neglected the playmaking positions in the 2017 NFL Draft. Next season could bring new weapons for Mornhinweg.
Though it would make sense to make an upgrade at the position, Baltimore likely won’t this offseason. It would only be fair to give Morhninweg a shot at getting his weapons and using them to their best capabilities, before saying that he isn’t a good fit for the Ravens. Until then, Baltimore fans should expect to see the 55-year old Oklahoman manning the controls of the Ravens offense during the 2018 season.