‘Lamar (Jackson) Is Going To Look Down on Him’ — NFL Pundit Warns Ravens About ‘Infant OC’ Declan Doyle
· Yahoo Sports
NFL pundit Skip Bayless believes the Baltimore Ravens’ biggest concern may not be Lamar Jackson’s talent, but whether the quarterback will fully buy into a dramatically younger coaching staff.
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Baltimore opens 2026 with Jesse Minter in his first season as an NFL head coach and Declan Doyle taking over the offense. Doyle is the league’s youngest offensive coordinator and will call plays for the first time after serving as Chicago’s coordinator under Ben Johnson last season.
Skip Bayless Questions Lamar Jackson-Declan Doyle Dynamic
During a segment on the “Gridiron” podcast with Aqib Talib on Friday, Bayless said Jackson needs a significant season for the sake of his résumé, but the analyst quickly turned his concern toward the coaching staff around the Ravens quarterback.
“If Jesse Minter were the new defensive coordinator in Baltimore, I’d be with you,” Bayless said. “But he’s the new head coach. So you have a baby head coach trying to figure out how to run the whole show as well as the defense.”
Bayless’s stronger warning, however, involved Doyle.
“And you have not just a baby offensive coordinator. He’s like an infant offensive coordinator,” he said. “Younger than Lamar, it feels. I mean, just in sort of experience… Lamar’s going to look down on him and not trust him, I don’t think.”
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Bayless argued that the shift is especially jarring after years with John Harbaugh and, more recently, Todd Monken leading Baltimore’s offense. He ultimately predicted the Ravens would finish behind the Cincinnati Bengals, while admitting his confidence in Joe Burrow may be influencing that prediction.
Ravens’ Own Comments Push Back on Bayless’s Concern
Doyle’s age makes Bayless’s framing easy to understand, but the details are less extreme than the “infant” label suggests. Doyle is 30, one year older than the 29-year-old Jackson, and this is his eighth season as a member of a coaching staff. He spent 2025 as Chicago’s offensive coordinator, although Johnson handled the play-calling duties.
The Bears finished sixth in total offense, third in rushing and 10th in passing last season. Baltimore hired Doyle in February and gave him full play-calling responsibility under Minter.
In PFN’s Offense Impact Rankings, the Bears graded out as the #9 unit in the league last year.
The broadernew era has also generated positive early feedback from Baltimore’s locker room.
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More importantly, Jackson’s own public comments have pointed in the opposite direction from Bayless’ prediction. He called Doyle “special” during training camp and said the coordinator has made his job easier. Jackson also described the new system as fun and praised the attention to detail Doyle brings to the offense.
That relationship matters after a down 2025 season by Jackson’s standards. He finished No. 13 in PFN’sQB Impact rankings with a 77.7 grade after throwing for 2,549 yards and 21 touchdowns in 13 games.
There is legitimate uncertainty whenever a franchise replaces a long-tenured head coach and hands its offense to a first-time NFL play-caller. Bayless is betting that inexperience will create a trust problem.
Baltimore’s offseason evidence suggests the quarterback and coordinator see it very differently.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network.