The Opening Drive, 8/13: O'Doyle Rules? Three Ways Declan Doyle Can Help Himself.
The Ravens first-time offensive coordinator took to the podium prior to his first every game calling plays. Here's three ways he can stay out of his own way.
Training camp rolls on in Owings Mills, Maryland as the Baltimore Ravens have been at it for weeks now. To this point, they’ve only battled civilly among themselves, but that will change Saturday as they square off against the birds up I-95 North when the Philadelphia Eagles come to town. Saturday will mark the first time in his life that Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle calls plays. On Wednesday he took to the podium and provided his perspective in a variety of ways.
"The No. 1 thing on game day is that the play caller gets the play into the quarterback as fast he can with confidence in that play call, and make sure that the operation can operate," Doyle said. "No. 2 is the communication aspect with the coaching staff, with the players.
Doyle referenced legendary coaches like Bill Walsh, Sean Payton (who mentored the young coach), Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Ben Johnson throughout his availability.
While referencing these brilliant offensive minds, Doyle next spoke to the necessity of getting plays in quickly if he decides to call plays from the box, or prioritizing direct communication with his quarterback if he opts to spend game-day on the sideline. There’s a tremendous buzz about the way Doyle operates in practice, how he speaks and represents himself, how he seems to have reinvigorated Lamar Jackson, and what his offensive players have said about him throughout the summer. Wide receiver Zay Flowers, in particular, has spoken highly of Doyle in both local and national availability.
It’s August, everything is dandy, everyone has Super Bowl aspirations (except the Browns and Jets) and everyone is singing Kumbaya. In reality, Declan Doyle has never made second half adjustments against the Kansas City Chiefs or Pittsburgh Steelers to try to put a game away. Despite his age, he’s experienced in the NFL. As green as Doyle may be, at the end of the day, he’s walking into a fantasy scenario. A first-time offensive play-caller has a two time MVP quarterback in his prime handing the ball to a likely first-ballot Hall of Fame running back who has racked up nearly 4,000 scrimmage yards and 34 touchdowns in the last two seasons. No one has ever walked into a situation like that as a first time play caller. As the captain of this beautiful offensive ship, Doyle needs to simply avoid getting drunk behind the wheel and playing slalom with icebergs like the Titanic. I will present the O’Doyle rules, three things Declan Doyle can do to stay out of his own way
