Former Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg refuted a report on a podcast that he wanted to move Lamar Jackson from quarterback to wide receiver as a rookie.
On his podcast “The GM Shuffle,” former New England Patriots executive-turned-analyst Michael Lombardi first made the claim.
“Here’s what happened. The first time [Jackson] comes in, Marty Mornhinweg — remember, we’re building the team around him — Marty says to the coaches, this is fact, ’When are we gonna move him to receiver?’” Lombardi said.
Before the 2018 draft, several pundits said Jackson would be better off playing receiver in the NFL to maximize his athletic talent, which they viewed as better than his throwing ability.
The Ravens released a statement on Mornhinweg’s behalf Tuesday:
“That didn’t happen. Never said that. My thoughts before the draft, and even more when we started working with Lamar, was that this young man was going to be a special quarterback. Very early we saw that along with all of his throwing and escape abilities, he reads the field as well as any young quarterback I ever worked with.”
Coach John Harbaugh added in a statement that “organizationally, we were on the same page about” Jackson. The Ravens selected him 32nd overall in the 2018 draft.
“Marty was excited from the beginning to coach Lamar and was instrumental in helping him progress through his rookie season,” Harbaugh said.
After Jackson unseated Joe Flacco in the starter’s role, Mornhinweg was not retained after the 2018 season. The Ravens promoted Greg Roman to offensive coordinator, and he has used his prior experience coaching Colin Kaepernick to rebuild the Ravens’ offense around Jackson.
In a sophomore campaign that’s been terrific so far, Jackson is widely viewed as a favorite for league MVP.
• Adam Zielonka can be reached at azielonka@washingtontimes.com.
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