• A new offensive coordinator and new weapons in Baltimore: Lamar Jackson signed a long-term deal with the Ravens and now enters 2023 with more offensive ammunition than ever before.
• Aaron Rodgers finds himself in a promising situation: Having been traded to the New York Jets this offseason, Rodgers could form an elite connection with wide receiver Garrett Wilson.
• The Bears help out Justin Fields in blockbuster deal: In trading down from the No. 1 overall pick, Chicago secured wide receiver D.J. Moore from the Panthers.
Estimated Reading Time: 5 mins
Situations change from year to year around the NFL, and that can have a drastic impact on a quarterback's supporting cast when considering scheme and coaching changes, protection and playmakers.
Here, we’re taking a look at five quarterbacks who have been given the most support this offseason.
Lamar Jackson, Baltimore Ravens
The Ravens committed to Jackson not just financially this offseason but also in giving him the best set of playmakers he’s ever had and a new offensive coordinator designed to unlock his ability as a passer. Earlier this offseason, I looked at new coordinator Todd Monken’s offenses in Cleveland, Tampa Bay and Georgia and found that he has adapted to personnel at each stop. That means the Ravens likely won’t fully abandon heavier sets, but it’s expected they will see more three-wide-receiver sets, having deployed that grouping on just 37.2% of snaps under former offensive coordinator Greg Roman.
The additions at wide receiver were threefold, adding Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor as free agents and Zay Flowers in the first round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Flowers can provide some of the deep-threat ability and shiftiness on underneath routes that the Ravens lost in Marquise Brown, while Beckham’s 84.7 PFF receiving grade in the playoffs with the Rams in 2021 was the third best among players to see 15-plus targets.
With the hope that Rashod Bateman can stay healthy in 2023, and one of the best tight ends in football in Mark Andrews, this is comfortably the best group of pass catchers Jackson has had in his NFL career.
Aaron Rodgers, New York Jets
In terms of targets in his final season with the Green Bay Packers, Aaron Rodgers‘ top three wide receivers were Allen Lazard and two rookies in Christian Watson and Romeo Doubs. Lazard is now on the Jets along with Rodgers, as is fellow wide receiver Randall Cobb. Fellow new addition Mecole Hardman missed the second half of the 2022 regular season but forced 16 missed tackles on 67 receptions the year before.
The biggest boost for Rodgers, though, was landing on a team with Garrett Wilson as the WR1. Wilson didn’t have great quarterback play last year and still produced an 85.9 PFF receiving grade, which ranked ninth in the NFL. Rodgers now has a WR1 again, after seeing Davante Adams traded to the Las Vegas Raiders last year, and a pretty deep group behind Wilson, too.
Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers
Kellen Moore is in as the new Chargers offensive coordinator, and expectations are high after he led the Cowboys' attack to rank inside the top six in points per game in three of the past four seasons. Justin Herbert is coming off his worst season since entering the league in 2020 but still earned a 77.9 PFF grade and threw 26 touchdown passes. If Moore can help Herbert get back on track, we only have to go back to 2021 for a season where he earned a 90.0 PFF grade, so the sky really can be the limit.
Also giving Herbert a boost is the addition of Quentin Johnston at wide receiver. Johnston forced 45 missed tackles on just 115 receptions over the past three seasons at TCU, and the Chargers only need him to be their WR3 behind Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, assuming they can both stay healthy.
Justin Fields, Chicago Bears
The Bears' trade-down from the first overall selection in the 2023 NFL Draft helped Justin Fields on three fronts. First, it eliminated any possibility of the Bears using that pick on a quarterback who could potentially threaten his position. But more importantly, it landed him a new top wide receiver when the Carolina Panthers included D.J. Moore in the trade package. Moore has been in the league for five seasons and has never posted a PFF receiving grade below 73.0. To put that in perspective, Darnell Mooney earned the Bears' highest receiving grade a year ago at 68.9, so even Moore’s floor is an upgrade.
The final part of the trade that went in Fields’ favor was that the Bears eventually used their first-round pick on Tennessee offensive tackle Darnell Wright. Wright is coming off his highest-graded season as a pass blocker, earning an 80.2 PFF pass-blocking grade in 2022, and should provide an immediate upgrade at right tackle for Chicago.
Russell Wilson, Denver Broncos
Wilson didn’t play well last year, let’s be clear, but the offense around him wasn’t good, either. He didn’t mesh with first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett, who was relieved of his duties after a 4-11 start to the season. Enter Sean Payton, whose offenses ranked in the top 10 in expected points added per play every season between 2006 and 2020. They also added help on the offensive line in Ben Powers, who ranked second among guards with an 86.7 PFF pass-blocking grade last year, and Mike McGlinchey, who has earned PFF grades above 70.0 in four of his five seasons in the league.
The Broncos don’t have terrible playmakers, with Jerry Jeudy coming off the highest-graded season of his three-year career, earning a 77.9 PFF receiving grade, and Courtland Sutton earning a 75.8 PFF receiving grade since entering the league. Denver also added Oklahoma’s Marvin Mims in the second round of the draft, with Mims one of just three college receivers to record 600 or more receiving yards on throws 20-plus yards downfield last year. The combination of that, and the addition of Payton, gives Wilson the best chance possible at bouncing back in 2023.
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