Baltimore had a 14-6 lead at halftime, and a 17-9 lead entering the 4th Quarter, but were not able to make it hold up.

A Week 2 loss doesn’t change the expected trajectory of the season, but it’s disappointing all the same.

The Fourth Quarter

Baltimore was outscored 15-0 in the fourth.

The Ravens led 14-6 at halftime and 17-9 with just under four minutes left in the third. From there: a punt, a punt, and an interception on the final snap. New Orleans scored a touchdown and a two-point conversion to tie it, then went 16 plays and 68 yards over 6:38 to win it.

The closing drive is the game. Sixteen plays, and Baltimore had four chances to end it. New Orleans converted two third downs and two fourth downs – Shough sneaking for a yard at the Baltimore 44 with 5:41 left, and then going for it on fourth-and-goal from inside the one rather than taking the chip shot that would have given them the lead. Tyler Shough scored on a keeper. The play was reviewed and the ruling on the field stood; the CBS broadcast crew said on air they believed he was short.

Third Downs

New Orleans converted 8 of 15.

The distances are what make that number bad. Baltimore stopped almost nothing in the 8-to-13 range. Shough converted a third-and-7 to Devaughn Vele in the first quarter, a third-and-13 by stepping up through interior pressure for 29 more to Vele, a third-and-8 to Chris Olave for 11 with Kyle Hamilton showing at the line and Roquan Smith actually rushing, a third-and-13 to Juwan Johnson for 25 in the third quarter, and a third-and-16 to Johnson for 10 that still left New Orleans short.

In our season preview we wrote that this scheme gives a quarterback a clean look, rushes four, concedes the underneath throw and dares an offense to be patient. New Orleans was patient for sixty minutes. Shough finished 27-of-34 for 252 yards. That is a 79 percent completion rate against a defense that was not, by design, trying to stop those throws.

Hamilton was the exception everywhere. He is in on tackles from one end of the play-by-play to the other, and on the 16-play drive that decided the game he is credited on seven of them — Etienne twice, Olave, Vele, Kamara, and both Shough runs inside the 5, including the third-and-goal stop that forced New Orleans into going for it on fourth down.

The Interior Rush

Baltimore had three sacks – Hendrickson, Tavius Robinson and Mike Green. All three came off the edge.

Nothing came from inside. Jonas Shaffer put it plainly afterward: the Ravens need Nnamdi Madubuike back, and there was not much from their interior rush today. That is two straight games without him. Travis Jones generated push early – he beat his man on a second-and-15 that held New Orleans to two yards — and the pocket was clean enough the rest of the afternoon that Shough completed 27 passes.

Hendrickson and Green are both on the board, which is what we asked for last week. Michael Fast predicted Hendrickson’s first sack as a Raven would come Sunday, and it did. His other call — Malaki Starks’ first home interception – did not, though Starks did make the tackle that kept Juwan Johnson out of the end zone on the final drive and forced New Orleans into fourth-and-goal.

Hendrickson did it with a cast on his hand; Ian Rapoport reported Sunday morning that he broke a finger into several pieces this week and was expected to play. Rod Woodson’s explanation for the Week 1 zero — that Indianapolis slid protection to him, brought tight ends over and bumped him off the line — held up as far as it went, and the finger was a second reason we did not know about when we published.

The pass rush question we posed last week was whether pressure was enough or Baltimore needed sacks. The answer was sacks. Baltimore generated pressure on Shough repeatedly and he stepped through it for conversions, and the drives that actually ended were the ones where the rush finished — Robinson on New Orleans’ first possession, and Hendrickson and Green on the same third-quarter series.

New Orleans punted three times. Baltimore’s three sacks came on two of those drives.

Bateman And Andrews

Both of them answered.

Rashod Bateman caught 7 of 9 targets for 88 yards and a 22-yard touchdown at the end of the first half. He had zero catches in Week 1. He converted on the first drive of the second quarter, caught the touchdown in a two-minute drill, and dug Baltimore out of a first-and-21 with an 18-yard deep out that required timing and protection at the same moment.

Mark Andrews caught 6 of 7 for 49 yards. The incompletion was a third-and-6 on Baltimore’s opening three-and-out. After that he converted third-and-5, third-and-4 and third-and-3, opened the third-quarter field goal drive with an 8-yard catch, and picked up 14 on third-and-3 on the final possession. He was the third-down offense.

In the season preview we said Andrews and Bateman both needed to get back toward their 2024 production. They did it in the same game, on the afternoon Zay Flowers was inactive.

Matt Jergensen wrote last week that with Flowers out, Bateman should be in line for a much bigger role and that the time for him to step up was now. He got nine targets and delivered. Jergensen also said Andrews needed more than the four catches for 49 yards he had in Indianapolis; Andrews got six for 49, which is more work at the same yardage, in higher-leverage spots.

The one question Jergensen asked that has an uncomfortable answer is whether Chris Moore was really a player who could and should get an expanded role. Baltimore started him. He caught the deep ball that wasn’t there on third-and-1, held on a play that erased a first down, and nearly lost a kick return. None of that is an indictment of Moore. It is what happens when a team asks its fifth receiver to be its second.

Devontez Walker, who has 7 career catches, caught one for 47 on his second target. Ja’Kobi Lane is on injured reserve with a fractured wrist and is out at least four games — our Week 2 piece treated him as week-to-week, and that was wrong. LaJohntay Wester caught a 15-yard screen. Chris Moore started opposite Bateman nine days after being elevated off the practice squad.

The Offensive Line

Baltimore gained 312 yards a week after gaining 506.

Ronnie Stanley left the game and Carson Vinson replaced him at left tackle. Jeff Zrebiec reported before kickoff that Stanley was dealing with a toe injury, and that Emery Jones Jr. was active over Andrew Vorhees in part because Jones can play tackle. When Stanley went out, it was Vinson. There has been no further word.

Chase Young got him for 11 on a second-and-10 at the New Orleans 28, a play on which Andrews was chipping and the CBS broadcast called a scheme error. Young and Nathan Shepherd split another for 12 on third-and-10 at the New Orleans 19, which turned a red zone trip into a 49-yard field goal. He went down again after Vinson came in.

Roger Rosengarten was flagged for being illegally downfield on a shovel pass to Andrews that had gained 11.

Derrick Henry

Sixteen carries, 68 yards, one touchdown. Five of those carries came in the second half.

New Orleans did not stop him. He averaged 4.3 a carry, moved the chains on third-and-2 and third-and-1 on the touchdown drive, and ripped off an 8-yard run to the 1 to set up the score. The touchdown itself was the best play of the day schematically – second-and-goal from the 1, Carson Vinson reported eligible, direct snap to Henry, in the same red zone where Week 1 produced a holding penalty that erased a touchdown and a failed fourth-and-goal from the three.

The issue was volume. After Loop’s 49-yarder made it 17-9 with 3:23 left in the third, Baltimore ran six offensive plays before its final possession. Two three-and-outs, both of which ended with Jackson on the ground. You cannot hand it to Henry when you are not on the field.

That matters more with him than with most backs. Henry’s afternoons are built on accumulation. Carry after carry, defenders getting tired of putting a shoulder into him, arm tackles starting to appear in the second half, and the runs getting longer as the game goes on. Sixteen carries does not get a defense to that point. Neither does five in a half.

Jonas Shaffer noted that Jahmyr Gibbs had a run of explosive carries against this same New Orleans defense last week behind a banged-up Detroit line. Detroit also ran it 33 times and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes. That is the difference, and it isn’t about the back.

The premise was everywhere this week, including here. Michael Fast wrote that the best thing Baltimore could do was look at what Gibbs and the Lions did to the New Orleans run defense, and predicted 150-plus yards and two touchdowns for Henry. We wrote that New Orleans would not be able to slow Henry and Jackson. Neither of us was wrong about the matchup. We were both assuming the Ravens would have the ball.

Third And One

Tied at 17, 8:14 left, third-and-1 at the Baltimore 37. The Ravens threw deep to Chris Moore. Incomplete, and they punted.

Punting on fourth-and-1 from your own 37 in a tie game is defensible. You are backed up, and you want your defense to come up with a stop and improve your field position. I can also understand those that would have preferred to see the Ravens aggressively go for it there. I’m not focused on the 4th down decision.

The third-down call is the one that annoys me.

One yard, with the game tied, in the fourth quarter. Make New Orleans stop Henry. Put a front that had been on the field for most of the afternoon in a position where it has to hold up against Henry with a yard to gain. If they do, fine — you punt from the same spot you were always going to punt from, and you have learned something about this offense. If they don’t, the drive continues and the clock keeps moving.

Instead the down came off the board on a low-percentage throw, and the punt team came on anyway.

There is a second coaching decision to log. Minter challenged a three-yard completion in the second half and lost, costing a timeout. Zrebiec flagged it while the Saints were driving. Baltimore spent its remaining two timeouts on the goal-line sequence and took over with 1:21 and none, which forced a spike at the New Orleans 37 and left them two plays from the 37 with 20 seconds instead of three.

Tyler Shough

What we published about him held up: the league’s worst pressure-to-sack ratio last season, 56 attempts in Week 1 that led the NFL by 14, 410 yards against Detroit. What we never mentioned was that he runs. Shough carried nine times for 23 yards today — more carries than Travis Etienne — scrambled 11 yards on third-and-14 in the second quarter to set up a field goal, and scored the winning touchdown on a keeper from inside the one. Both fourth-down conversions on the final drive were his legs.

He also took hits and kept throwing, which Bill Barnwell and others noted after the Detroit game. Baltimore got pressure on him all afternoon and he completed 79 percent of his throws.

Two of his receivers beat Baltimore’s best coverage players. Olave caught 8 of 10 for 86 and the touchdown, converting three times on the drive that tied it, including a catch behind the line of scrimmage on third-and-2 with Marlon Humphrey in coverage that he turned into a first down. We called Nate Wiggins against Olave the best individual matchup on the field. Olave won it. Vele added 5 for 64, Johnson 4 for 66 on four targets.

Alvin Kamara was not on a pitch count. He touched it ten times in the first half and finished with nine carries for 15 yards. We wrote that if he played, he was probably on a snap limit; instead New Orleans made him the lead back and got 1.7 yards a touch, while Etienne — the one who was actually productive in Detroit — carried eight times. New Orleans kicked field goals on three straight possessions in the middle of the game rather than finishing them, and the run game is a reasonable place to look for why. Etienne scored the two-point conversion that tied the game.

Special Teams

This was the strength a week ago and it was a problem today.

Carl Granderson blocked a 49-yard Tyler Loop attempt in the second quarter, on a drive that had reached the New Orleans 28 before Young’s sack. Loop later hit from 49. The kickoff after Bateman’s touchdown was returned to the Baltimore 44 with 15 seconds left in the half, and New Orleans turned it into a 47-yard field goal. Moore fumbled a kick return in the third quarter; replay ruled him down by contact.

Moore started at receiver, returned kicks, drew the drive-killing holding penalty and was the target on the third-and-1 deep ball. That is a lot to ask of a man who was on the practice squad nine days ago, and it is a depth problem rather than a Moore problem.

The Penalties

Seven for 34 yards. New Orleans had five for 35.

The count is not the story. Four of the seven arrived on plays that changed the game: Moore’s hold erasing a Jackson first down, Rosengarten illegally downfield wiping out 11 yards, a defensive holding call on Jaylinn Hawkins that gave New Orleans a second attempt at the tying two-point conversion after Trenton Simpson had brought Shough down on the first, and the roughing call on Hendrickson during the final drive.

Pete Gilbert had it in real time — penalties and third downs. He is right about both, and the penalty version needs the qualifier that the volume actually improved.

Thoughts Two Weeks In

Total yardage was 312 to 298. This was not a game where Baltimore got run off the field. It was a game where New Orleans held the ball for 32:45 and converted third downs at long distances – 8 of 15, at an average distance around eight yards.

New Orleans had eight possessions: punt, punt, field goal, field goal, field goal, punt, touchdown, touchdown. Baltimore’s three sacks account for two of the three punts – Robinson ending New Orleans’ first possession, Hendrickson and Green on the same third-quarter series.

Over the course of this season, the Ravens are going to need consistent production from Bateman and Andrews. Their performance today was encouraging; the next step is getting that with regularity.

It was also good to see Walker stretch the field with his 47 yard grab.

Not having Flowers and Lane available today changes the offense.

What really impacted the offense was the defense allowing several long possessions, and not giving Jackson more attempts. Further aided by the Ravens offense not converting that 4th Quarter 3rd and 1.

Hard for Henry to rack up carries, when the Ravens offense doesn’t have the ball.

Madubuike has now missed the first two games. The obvious hope is that he gives the Ravens an interior pass rush when he becomes active.

We noted last week that the first seven opponents all missed the playoffs last season, and that everyone expected a quick start. Baltimore is 1-1 with a home loss to one of them.

Look at the rest of the conference while that sits there.

Buffalo is 2-0 and has looked strong.

Cincinnati is 2-0 and now owns a head-to-head win over Houston, another expected AFC threat, in Houston.

Kansas City looked a bit better in Week 1 than many people anticipated.

The Ravens have post-season aspirations. You have to reach the post-season first, and dropping games you should win is how you end up not winning divisions or having your seeding impacted.

The Ravens were extremely difficult to beat at home for years, but weren’t able to defend M&T last year and have now started the ’26 campaign with another loss at the Bank.

The Ravens’ struggles with leads in the 4th Quarter over the last 5 years is well documented. For there to be a Coaching change, and to see that same storyline continue with Minter in his Ravens home-debut, is a bit deflating.

Our Call, Scored

We said Ravens 31, Saints 20. Baltimore wins and covers. Take the over on 46.5.

Wrong three times. Baltimore lost outright as a home favorite — the line had moved from -7.5 at publication to -8.5 by kickoff. The game finished at 41 combined points, under the total. Not a near miss on any leg.

The reasoning was that New Orleans would not be able to slow Henry and Jackson, and that if the Saints loaded the box it would create one-on-one chances outside. Baltimore did win that part — Bateman got his one-on-ones and won them. What we did not account for was Baltimore’s inability to get off the field on third down, or that Henry would finish with 68 yards.

Box score

Week 3: Ravens at Cowboys, in Rio de Janeiro

Sunday, September 27th, 4:25 p.m. ET on CBS, Maracanã Stadium, Rio de Janeiro. Ravens -3, total 52.5.
ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives Baltimore a 60.2% chance to win.

Dallas is the designated home team. Baltimore is the visitor. The Ravens are not giving up a home date, and this is a normal Sunday afternoon kickoff rather than the Friday or Saturday that international games sometimes get, 5:25 p.m. local time in Rio.

The Field

There is a real chance this game is not played in Brazil.

Mike Florio reported Saturday that the grass at the Maracanã is in poor condition, citing Mauricio Rodriguez of AtoZSports. The complaints are coming from the soccer players who play on it. Flamengo goalkeeper Agustín Rossi said both penalty areas are in bad shape and there are bumps everywhere, and noted that an NFL game was coming. Midfielder Giorgian De Arrascaeta said the field keeps getting worse and it is getting harder to control the ball. Fluminense’s Guga said on September 5 that he could not recall playing on a field as bad anywhere in Brazil.

Tony Lombardi at Russell Street Report laid out the stadium’s side. Maracanã’s management attributes the wear to heavy rainfall, high temperatures and a heavy run of matches. Stadium CEO Fred Nantes acknowledged the field is not at the quality the stadium wants while saying the venue has not been negligent. Crews are working overnight, and the administration contacted the people who run the São Paulo venue to learn what was done there after the NFL games in 2024 and 2025. Maracanã is studying a full replacement of the field after the NFL game.

The precedent is real. In 2018 the NFL moved a Chiefs-Rams game from Mexico City to the Los Angeles Coliseum over field conditions, six days before kickoff. If this one moves, it moves to Arlington, because Dallas is the home team. As of Saturday afternoon the NFL had not announced any change.

The precedent that matters more is what happened in São Paulo. Players slipped repeatedly during the 2024 game at Arena Corinthians, and afterward multiple players told theScore it was among the worst surfaces they had played on. The NFL spent a reported $1 million on that field to prepare it.

We are publishing this without knowing where the game will be played. Flamengo hosted Bragantino at the Maracanã on Sunday, and the league’s read on the field after that match is the thing to watch.

Dallas

Dallas beat Washington 37-20 at home on Sunday and is 1-1.

Dak Prescott went 26 of 31 for 279 yards and four touchdowns, and passed Tony Romo for the franchise record in touchdown passes. Romo’s mark was 248; Prescott tied it on his second scoring throw to Jake Ferguson and broke it with a fourth-quarter strike to CeeDee Lamb. Lamb finished with 8 catches for 153 and two scores, 19.1 a catch. Ferguson had 4 for 43 and two touchdowns. George Pickens caught 6 for 40. Javonte Williams ran 12 times for 30.

Jayden Daniels dislocated his left elbow on the final play of the first half and was carted off. Everything after that was Dallas playing Marcus Mariota. Washington actually outgained Dallas 389 to 332 and ran for 182 yards. Mariota wasn’t bad, but the game changed when Daniels went out.

Dallas lost 28-20 at the Giants in Week 1. Dak Prescott went 22-of-34 for 175 yards with two touchdowns – to CeeDee Lamb and Javonte Williams – and an interception just before halftime. Williams ran for a score. George Pickens had drops. Brandon Aubrey missed an extra point after a taunting penalty moved it back. Safety Malik Hooker left with a forearm injury and linebacker DeMarvion Overshown left in the fourth with a hamstring.

The Matchup

In Week 1 the Cowboys allowed 9 of 11 third-down conversions, missed seven tackles per Next Gen Stats, gave up 165 combined rushing yards and let the Giants hold the ball for nearly 37 minutes. Jaxson Dart finished 23-of-29 with three touchdowns and ran for 54 himself. In a Blogging The Boys roundtable, four Dallas linebackers – Winters, Overshown, Houston and Lawrence – were noted as grading between 34 and 42 at PFF.

Christian Parker was calling his first NFL game as defensive coordinator. Dallas allowed the most points in the NFL last season at 30.1 a game, and Quinnen Williams pointed at the third downs afterward, saying they had a lot of them and didn’t get off the field.

Two weeks in, the pattern holds. Washington went 6 of 8 on third down in the first half before Daniels got hurt. Add the 9 of 11 the Giants managed and Dallas has allowed 15 of 19 third-down conversions against starting quarterbacks – 79 percent.

The quarterback runs are the specific problem. Jaxson Dart ran for 54 on 11 carries in Week 1. Daniels had 69 on seven before the injury. That is 123 yards on 18 attempts over six quarters, 6.8 a carry, which is Joe Hoyt’s number and the most relevant statistic in this preview. Marcus Mosher’s read is that Dallas is playing light boxes against heavy personnel and getting run on, which makes it a stated choice rather than a personnel failure. Nick Harris described the third-quarter forced fumble as the Dallas defense’s first big play of the season, in Week 2.

Now the counterweight, and it is the pivot of this game rather than a footnote.

Dak Prescott is a better quarterback than any Baltimore has faced, and on Sunday he did to Washington what Shough did to the Ravens – efficient, unhurried, converting. Twenty-six of 31. Baltimore has gone two weeks without an interior pass rush.

The Giants ran for 165 on the Cowboys while holding the ball nearly 37 minutes. Baltimore had the ball 27:15 on Sunday and handed Henry sixteen carries. A defense that cannot tackle is only a matchup if you are on the field long enough to make it one.

Availability

Madubuike has missed two games with the neck. He was described as “really, really close” before Week 2 and did not dress.

Teddye Buchanan has also missed two with the knee.

Zay Flowers sat Sunday with the hamstring to try to avoid this becoming a lingering or more serious issue.  If this game moves to Dallas, it’s fun to picture his speed on the turf.

Ronnie Stanley left with what Zrebiec reported as a toe injury. No update yet.

Ja’Kobi Lane is on IR with a fractured wrist obviously, and will miss a few more weeks.

Hendrickson is playing with a cast on a broken finger.

For Dallas: Safety Malik Hooker and LB DeMarvion Overshown both left the Giants game early and were confirmed inactive against Washington, along with linebacker James Houston, cornerback Caelen Carson, running back Tyler Goodson, guard Ajani Cornelius and receiver Camden Brown. Overshown and Houston are two of the four linebackers whose Week 1 grades drew attention, and Overshown is the player you would want spying Jackson. Whether any of them are back for Rio is a question for Dallas’ Wednesday report.

The linebacker room is reshuffled rather than empty. Rookie Jaishawn Barham – Michigan, and Maryland before that – forced the fumble that Dee Winters recovered at the Washington 13 to set up a Ferguson touchdown. Winters is himself one of the four who graded poorly in Week 1.

Olave had a strong game today vs. the Ravens. Have to imagine Lamb, and Pickens are excited about their chances to do the same.

Things To Watch

Does Madubuike play, and does it change the interior rush? Three sacks against New Orleans, all from the edge, and a quarterback completing 79 percent.

Can Baltimore get off the field on third down? Eight of 15 allowed, at an average distance around eight yards.

Does Baltimore run it? Sixteen carries for Henry, five after halftime, against a defense that gave up 165 on the ground in Week 1. Dallas has been showing a lot of light boxes. You have to make them pay for that.

Is Stanley available? .If he’s available, how effective is he?

Does Jackson run? Daniels ran for 69 yards in the 1st half today.

Does Bateman build off his outing vs. NO? Seven catches for 88 and a touchdown, with a week for Dallas to plan for it. If Flowers is back, the room looks entirely different.

Where is the game being played?

Our Call

The Ravens have a better roster than New Orleans (even with those inactive today), but the Saints left Baltimore with the win.
Baltimore is supposed to have a better roster than the Cowboys, but Dallas has darkhorse Super Bowl aspirations.

The defense has given up long, patient drives in both games. Dak Prescott is a different problem than Daniel Jones or Tyler Shough.

Dallas allowed the most points in the NFL last season, its defensive coordinator is calling his third NFL game, it has given up 15 of 19 third downs to starting quarterbacks, and it is playing light boxes against heavy personnel.

The case against against Baltimore is that Prescott is not Shough. Four penalties at the worst moments, a special teams unit that gave away points, a line that could not keep Jackson upright in the fourth quarter, and no interior pass rush to bother the best quarterback on the schedule so far.

If the game is played in Rio: Ravens 24, Cowboys 21. Neither team has a home crowd (maybe more Dallas fans with their name recognition?), and a questionable surface tends to shorten games and punish precision more than power, which favors Henry and a defense that can win rushing four. The problem is everything around the game. This is a nine-hour trip to an unfamiliar facility, in the middle of a week of league events, on a field nobody has practiced on. Dallas makes the same trip, but the Cowboys have been building their week around this since April as the home team. Baltimore is a guest at someone else’s event.

If the game is moved to Arlington: Ravens 24, Cowboys 23. A relocation hands Dallas a genuine home game it was not supposed to have, on a fast indoor surface that suits Prescott, Lamb and Pickens, against a defense that has not gotten off the field on third down in two weeks. The counterweight is that for Baltimore, Arlington is a normal road game. Short flight, familiar building, ordinary routine, home that night. Whatever the Ravens lose to the crowd they get back in not having to do anything unusual.

Which is why the two numbers end up in the same place. The version of this game I would least want as a Baltimore fan is the one where they fly to Brazil on a short turnaround after a loss, play on a field the professionals who use it say is unsafe, and try to fix a third-down defense in a hotel ballroom.

Either way I have Baltimore at 2-1.

The post Saints Leave Baltimore With A Win; Ravens Face Dallas Next appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

It is after all only Week Two.

First the positive, Lamar Jackson looked healthy and in MVP form as he threw for 324 yards and added a Rushing touchdown. Any championship hopes rest on the fact that Jackson is available and playing at his usual high level. Derrick Henry once again showed that age is just a number as he ran for 144 yards with 3 touchdowns. And Zay Flowers, fresh off a $140 million dollar – 4 year extension showed why the franchise put their faith in him as he finished with 150 yards and a touchdown before leaving with a hamstring injury.

Declan Doyle delivered an offense that was centered around its best offensive players and was very creative in keeping the opponent on their heels. My favorite call was the fake reverse into a screen pass to Henry. It’s that type of game planning and execution that a Jackson led unit needs as he enters his ninth season. The offense finished with total of 506 yards gained.

The defense started shaky on the first drive as the Colts marched down the field on their opening possession. They settled in the rest of the way as they held Indy to 251 total yards, had nine quarterback hits and two takeaways.

Minter’s defense gave up 23 points and even he would admit that he wasn’t truly satisfied with himself or the defense and hopes for improvement as we move into the home opener this Sunday.

Looking Ahead

New Orleans comes into Baltimore this week after taking Detroit to overtime before losing 31-30 in a wild game that included a controversial overturned defensive touchdown. Quarterback Tyler Shough is also coming off a season in which he went from backup to starter, and the Saints clearly believe he’s ready to take another step. He was named a team captain this season, and expectations are considerably higher for him and New Orleans in Year two under Kellen Moore.

That said, this is a game that many would expect the Ravens to win and move to 2-0.

The Ravens have been given an opportunity that they haven’t always had in recent seasons: a chance to build momentum early.

The first seven teams on Baltimore’s schedule — Indianapolis, New Orleans, Dallas, Tennessee, Atlanta, Cleveland and Cincinnati — did not make the playoffs last season. The Ravens’ schedule provides a chance to build a foundation before things get considerably more difficult later in the season.

What I’m Watching Sunday

1.The Receiver situation

If Zay Flowers can’t play, who becomes the guy Lamar trusts when the Ravens need a big play?

Flowers was featured prominently last week and with a designation of Day to Day with a hamstring issue I don’t expect him to be on the field. Rashod Bateman should be in line for a much bigger role and the time for him to step up is now. He was targeted only once and didn’t catch a pass against the Colts. Vet Mark Andrews could also see more passes and he needs a bigger performance than the 4 catches for 49 yards he notched last week. Sure, Chris Moore surprised everyone with a big catch but is he really the player that could and should get an expanded role?

2. The Offensive Line

Baltimore had three new starters up front and still ran for 202 yards. That’s extremely encouraging. However, they had seven penalties and it’s obvious that some real questions are going to be asked about this unit as tougher defensive challenges await. If this team is to make return to the playoffs and beyond and lot will ride on the how this group gels together each week.

3. Does Lamar’s new offense continue to evolve?

We know what Lamar can do when things break down. His Houdini act was especially satisfying to watch on 3rd down when it looked like the Colts had him and he slipped out for a first down. It’s a clear sign that he’s healthy and ready for a great season.

The offense was centered around it’s stars in week one as it should be but they will need continue to evolve and find ways to rest Henry over a long season and find ways to integrate other options in the passing game.

4. Loop …There he is

Tyler Loop is the kicker for season. His 57 yard bomb at the end of the half seemed to put everyone at ease. I was a bit worried heading into this year after such a huge miss in Pittsburgh. The fans will be with him .. for now.

The post A Convincing Start, But the Ravens Aren’t Done Answering Questions appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Coach Minter and his men started the 2026 season on a strong note, absolutely dominating the Colts. The final score wasn’t inclusive of how much Baltimore beat Indy down, but the league certainly took notice.

As far as over-arching goals, it’s safe to say the Ravens wanted to establish dominance on the ground, get Lamar and the starters in a rhythm (since most didn’t play during the preseason), and come away without any major injuries.

Two of three isn’t bad, I guess.

Given a new offensive coordinator and four new starters on offense, getting going on the ground early was clearly a priority for the Ravens. Baltimore rushed for 204 yards and 4 touchdowns, with Derrick Henry (144, 3) and Lamar Jackson (40, 1) doing the bulk of the damage to Indy’s run defense.

After a 2025 season in which the Ravens actually (somehow) had a 1-2 record when their offense ran for over 200 yards in a game, I have to think new Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle wanted to make sure the offense didn’t just gain big yards, but did so at key moments of the game.

Not only did they dominate on the ground, but the Ravens offense had a great day passing, too. Baltimore racked up over 500 yards of offense, including over 200 yards of rushing offense for the first time since November 5th, 2013 (46 games ago, playoffs included).

As far as Lamar’s rhythm goes, you can check that box as well. So much for any questions about how he and Doyle would mesh. Yesterday was the 8th time in his career that Lamar threw for over 300 yards without throwing an interception. Zay Flowers gashed Indy’s pass defense at will, setting a career high in receiving yards (150) on just five receptions. While Flowers’ dynamic ability certainly helped Jackson, Lamar also utilized all three tight ends, displaying impressive patience and preparation by maximizing the opportunities the defense gave him.

The health of some offensive starters, though, was not as pleasant of a takeaway. Neither Zay Flowers (hamstring) nor Ja’Kobi Lane (wrist) were able to finish yesterday’s game. Flowers seems to have avoided a long-term issue, while Lane didn’t seem so fortunate. Lane was initially said to have broken his right wrist, though an MRI scheduled for today is believed to clarify the injury and amount of time he will miss. If not for a penalty, Lane would’ve scored a touchdown on his second career catch, so it’s clear his preseason momentum had carried into the regular season, albeit cut short.

The unsung heroes, to me, were left guard John Simpson, wide receiver Chris Moore, and punter Ryan Eckley. Each of those players made big plays yesterday, consistently, and made them in timely situations. Simpson, Moore, and Eckley looked like they’ve been in this current system for years. Quick shoutout to Eric DeCosta, as the combined 2026 cap figure of those three players is $6.36 million. Wow.

Looking forward to Baltimore’s home opener this week, the Ravens host the Saints this Sunday at 1 pm Eastern. New Orleans lost their opening week game in Detroit in overtime by one point. The Ravens are currently 8.5-point favorites, but given the Saints’ near victory, this may be one of those games where the winner isn’t in doubt, but it gets strangely close in the 4th quarter.

The best thing Baltimore can do is look at what Jahmyr Gibbs and the Lions running game did to the Saints run defense. Gibbs ran for 156 yards and 2 touchdowns yesterday, so conventional wisdom says Henry is in for another dominant performance, especially given the uncertainty Baltimore is sifting through with their wide receivers (in addition to Flowers’ and Lane’s status going forward, Devontez Walker was inactive in Week 1).

My predictions for Week 2

Ravens 31, Saints 17

Jackson: 2 total TD

Henry: 150+ yards and 2 TD rushing

Hendrickson: his first sack as a Raven

Starks: his first home interception

Aidan Hutchinson is the x-factor this week for the Lions. He has the athleticism to disrupt Baltimore’s read options and run schemes, and force Lamar into unscripted moments. Obviously, Jackson has proven more than capable in those moments, but will the offensive line and receivers on the field be able to remain on one accord?

That’s what I think deserves more attention: how Jackson will elevate the new players around him when those players are called upon to perform on short notice. Keep your eyes on the newer offensive players of the Ravens (that fill in for the injured ones) this week. Baltimore should win, but the way in which they win will tell us a lot about the true quality of depth they have—depth that every team needs if they want to win a Super Bowl.

Big picture: the Ravens look great, though the penalties need to stop, and Tyler Loop looked solid after a very rocky preseason. All in all, you couldn’t have asked for much more from a team, on the road, in their first game under a new head coach.

It seems like this is the start of something really fun in Baltimore.

The post What We Learned: Week 1 appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Today, Baltimore began the Jesse Minter era with 41 points in Indianapolis.

Let’s go through what Week 1 told us, what it didn’t, and what it means for a home opener against New Orleans.

Superman And Batman

Derrick Henry carried it 24 times for 144 yards and scored three times in the 41-23 win — from four yards, then 32, then three. That’s 125 career rushing touchdowns, past Marcus Allen and behind only Emmitt Smith and LaDainian Tomlinson. It was his 33rd game with multiple rushing scores, the most in the league since 2016, and it moved him past Marvin Harrison into ninth all-time in total touchdowns.

Jackson went 17-of-25 for 324 yards and a touchdown, ran four times for 43, scored from five yards out on the opening possession, and had a 19-yard scramble that answered the “does he still run like that” question for at least one afternoon. He also threw the 49-yard strike to Zay Flowers on the second snap of the season that set up the first score.

Of those 324 passing yards, 229 came in the first half. The first half that Flowers played. Baltimore scored 31 before the break, the fifth time in franchise history they’ve done that, and 10 after it. The last of that 10 came on a drive that chewed more than six minutes and ended in Tyler Loop’s 45-yarder with 4:09 left, which is what a team protecting an 18-point lead is supposed to do.

Henry of course wears down opposing defenses with his physicality, and historically is a finisher. With the lead, and running out of WRs; it was even easier to continue to feed Henry late.

The Receiver Depth

Flowers had five catches for 150 yards and a 54-yard catch-and-run touchdown, all of it before halftime. Next Gen Stats had him gaining 48 of those 54 yards after the catch, 33 more than expected, and ranked him fifth among all receivers in yards after the catch since the start of 2025. He signed for four years and $140 million a month ago.

Stampede Blue’s game-day preview predicted Sauce Gardner would lock him down early and take away Baltimore’s easiest answer. Flowers had 150 yards by halftime. Then, with about five and a half minutes left in the second quarter, he grabbed at his left hamstring after a 12-yard catch on which Gardner made the tackle. He didn’t play again.

The hamstring is an aggravation, not a new injury. Flowers missed two weeks with that hamstring in August, returned to practice last week, was a full participant on Friday and carried no injury designation into Sunday. He broke down anyway, in the first half of Week 1. Soft-tissue recurrences in a player who just went through this do not typically clear up in six days.

Ja’Kobi Lane hurt a wrist in the first half and finished his NFL debut with one catch for 11 yards. Devontez Walker was already inactive with a lingering groin, and Elijah Sarratt was a healthy scratch.

Which left this as Baltimore’s healthy active receiver room for the second half of a season opener: Rashod Bateman, LaJohntay Wester – who is primarily a punt returner – and Chris Moore, elevated off the practice squad on Saturday. Moore returned a kick 42 yards and pulled in a 53-yard catch at a point in the game when somebody had to.

The veterans who were available didn’t fill the hole. Sarah Ellison’s postgame read called it a disappointing afternoon for both Mark Andrews and Bateman, in a game where their two teammates went down in front of them and 41 points went up. In our season preview we talked about the need for Andrews and Bateman to rebound to their 2024 production vs. their 2025 seasons. Would have liked to have seen more from Bateman today, especially once Flowers went out.

We should know more this week on Flowers and Lane.

What Minter’s Defense Actually Did

Indianapolis opened the game with a nine-play, 65-yard touchdown drive. Roquan Smith told Jamison Hensley afterward that the defense took a deep breath on the sideline and told each other that wasn’t them. Then Smith picked Daniel Jones on the Colts’ second possession, Marlon Humphrey – who played through an illness that had him questionable – stripped Jonathan Taylor to end the next one, and Baltimore converted both into points and was up 28-6 in a hurry.

Strip out the takeaways and the picture is less flattering. That opening drive was built almost entirely on short passes: 25 yards to Josh Downs on third-and-three, 12 more to Downs on third-and-eight, seven to Keenan Allen, 13 to Alec Pierce. In our season preview we noted that this defensive scheme gives you a clean look, rushes four, concedes the underneath throw and dares you to be patient. Indianapolis was patient for one drive, then Jones made two mistakes and it stopped mattering.

The final numbers for the run defense weren’t great. Taylor carried 19 times for 98 yards and scored twice. That’s 5.2 yards per carry.

Stampede Blue predicted that production this morning, pointing out that Taylor went for 94 yards and three touchdowns against Minter’s Chargers last October and that the scheme hasn’t fundamentally changed. He then went out and did it again.

Our preview said Baltimore’s plan was to stop Taylor with the front, specifically Madubuike, Travis Jones and Campbell holding up on early downs. Madubuike wasn’t there. Zion Young, drafted in part because he posted an 86.6 run-defense grade in college and could cover Hendrickson’s weakness setting an edge, was playing his first NFL game.

The Colts scored 23 with a quarterback nine months off an Achilles. Minter’s Chargers gave up 38 to this offense last year.

Tavius Robinson got home for a sack, Travis Jones showed up in the run game early, and Young made his NFL debut.

Ellison’s postgame read was that the defense got consistent pressure and closed the game strong. Russell Street Report, watching the same fourth quarter, wrote that the four-man rush was not closing this game out. Baltimore won this game in the first half, with two takeaways and a 28-6 lead. Indianapolis was still moving it late, and Jones found Tyler Warren for a score to make it 38-23.

Despite that late Warren score, the Ravens did a strong job of largely taking him out of the game.

Doyle’s Debut As OC

The Week 1 preview spent a long section on Doyle against Lou Anarumo. When he was with the Bengals, Anarumo ranked fourth in Quarters usage behind a blitz and third in two-high rate when blitzing, which is the call that punishes a young play-caller whose hot routes rest on a pre-snap read that turns out to be a lie. The prescription was play-action from under center with Henry as the threat.

Baltimore gained better than 500 yards. Doyle kept generating different looks and reshaped the plan on the fly once Flowers and Lane went out. Chase Daniel watched Jackson go 10-of-13 for 214 and a score and called Doyle and Jackson a perfect match. Leaning on Henry in the fourth to move the sticks and bleed six minutes off the clock is the unglamorous half of the job, and he did that too.

Nice debut for the OC.

The O-Line

PFF had this line 24th in the league going in. Indianapolis’ entire defensive plan, per Stampede Blue’s preview, was to win the pressure battle with four rushers – DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart against a shaky interior and a center making his first career NFL start – without needing Anarumo to dial up anything exotic. Jovaughn Gwyn got that start, Jackson was not sacked into oblivion, and Henry ran for 144.

The details are worse. Ten penalties for 86 yards. A holding call wiped out a touchdown inside the five, and Baltimore then failed on fourth-and-goal from the three when Jackson threw incomplete. Andrews had a false start on the goal line on the opening drive. SI’s Ravens site called the line penalty-happy and shaky in spots in protection.

You can absorb ten flags when you’re moving the ball on a team that can’t answer. For contrast: New Orleans played a clean game in Detroit, six penalties for 53 yards, and lost by a point.

Danny Pinter is out for the season. Emery Jones Jr. was a healthy scratch, with Andrew Vorhees and Carson Vinson dressed as the interior depth instead.

Thoughts One Week In

We expected the road Week 1 win.  We were a bit apprehensive going in that this game could be tighter than expected. That apprehension wasn’t lessened after the Colts initial drive. It was fun seeing the Ravens immediately answer and grab control of the game.

The Colts are a middling team, even if they end up competing in the AFC South. Not a horrible team, but a team that doesn’t scare you if you are a true contender.

The Ravens are a superior group, and it was good to see them avoid a stumble out of the gate.

Lots of talk Nationally about how easy the Ravens early schedule is. Everyone is expecting the Ravens to get out to a quick start.

The biggest notes from today are that Jackson was moving well, Father Time still hasn’t come for Henry, and we will find out what the injury statuses of Flowers and Lane are.

Nnamdi Madubuike did not play – he was inactive with the neck, along with Teddye Buchanan’s knee. Flowers played and was excellent until the hamstring. Tyler Loop went 2-for-2 with a 57-yarder to end the first half and a 45-yarder to close it out, ten months after the 44-yard miss in Pittsburgh that ended last season.

What does the defense look like with Madubuike and Buchanan back?  What is their production level and snap count availability when they return? Presumably / hopefully their play improves as the season progresses and they get their feet back under them.

The center job belongs to Gwyn to start the year. The expectation remains that Ethan Pocic will take over as he rebuilds his lower body strength from the Achilles injury. Gwyn drew Buckner and Grover Stewart in his NFL debut at the position and Baltimore gained better than 500 yards.

Week 2: Saints at Ravens

Sunday, September 20th, 1:00 p.m. ET, CBS, M&T Bank Stadium. Ravens -7.5, total 46.5. ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor gives Baltimore a 76.2% chance to win.

This is the first Ravens home opener without John Harbaugh on the sideline since 2007.

Kellen Moore’s Offense, Year 2

New Orleans lost 31-30 in overtime at Detroit, as they were unable to convert a 2 point conversion attempt for the win.

The Saints were down 21-0 midway through the third quarter and looked finished. Tyler Shough threw two interceptions – one to Derrick Barnes, one to Chuck Clark – and then, per the Detroit News’ live coverage, was sacked by Barnes and strip-sacked by a blitzing Roger McCreary on the very next play. Detroit scored off both turnovers.

Then they scored 24 unanswered. Shough hit Chris Olave for 47 to flip the field and Kendre Miller punched in an eight-yard touchdown. Devaughn Vele caught a one-yard score set up by a pass interference call. A 28-yard field goal made it a one-score game. Then Olave made a contested 43-yard grab and Shough found Juwan Johnson for nine in the back of the end zone to tie it at 24 with just over a minute left. Detroit scored a touchdown in overtime, New Orleans answered with one of its own, and came up a point short on the conversion.

New Orleans outgained Detroit 469 to 369 and had 29 first downs to 26. They converted 8 of 17 on third down and went 2-for-2 on fourth. They scored in four of five red zone trips. They lost because they turned it over three times to Detroit’s one, and because Detroit ran it 33 times for 165 and held the ball for nearly 37 minutes.

Detroit played Sunday without Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, both on IR for at least four weeks. Canal Street Chronicles said before the game that exploiting that group was New Orleans’ path to a win, and the Saints did exactly that.

Shough threw for 410 yards and three touchdowns. He also threw two interceptions and was sacked five times, and Detroit’s front had turned him into a statue for the first two and a half quarters.

Bill Barnwell split it live at the opening play of the third quarter and the two halves barely look like the same player: 10-of-22 for 85 yards with two picks before, 19-of-25 for 234 with two touchdowns after, and he kept going from there to 410.

The Schultz Report noted that on the tying drive Shough stood in knowing Aidan Hutchinson was arriving, took the hit, and put the ball on Olave downfield anyway. Juwan Johnson scored on the next play. Whatever the pressure-to-sack number says, that is not a quarterback who folds when he’s hit.

The rest of it confirms what we already published about him. We said Shough had the league’s worst pressure-to-sack ratio last year and that it was a real ceiling on a quarterback who otherwise showed enough. When Detroit got to him, the ball came out late or not at all, and it cost New Orleans 14 points inside four minutes. When he was clean, he found Olave 10 times for 182 yards and brought them back from three scores down on the road against a playoff team.

New Orleans Is Short-Handed Too

The defensive line was down three bodies, not one. Cameron Jordan was inactive with a hamstring – the 37-year-old led the Saints with 10.5 sacks last season and holds the franchise record at 132 – and so were John Ridgeway and Khristian Boyd. Bryan Bresee is already gone for the year. Our Saints preview said New Orleans had no depth in the trenches and leaned on Chase Young as the pass-rush story. Sunday they played Davon Godchaux, Vernon Broughton, Nathan Shepherd and Colby Wooden inside and got one sack out of the whole front.

Kamara practiced and still didn’t dress. We wrote in early September that Travis Etienne was carrying it alone with Alvin Kamara out at least a month on the MCL. Kamara did practice the Wednesday before Week 1, his first work since August 18th, which had people talking about a quick return – but he was on the inactive list Sunday. Maybe he’s active at M&T Bank Stadium, but if so, he’s probably on a pitch count.

The run game didn’t get going vs. Detroit. New Orleans ran it 25 times for 91 yards, 3.6 a carry. Etienne was the only one moving it – 9 for 46, a 5.1 average, plus seven catches while Kendre Miller went 8 for 28.

Jordyn Tyson is still on IR with the hamstring, so the No. 8 overall pick remains unavailable. New Orleans’ initial Week 1 depth chart listed three wide receivers – Olave, Vele and rookie Bryce Lance – alongside three tight ends.

Brandon Staley’s defense finished ninth in total defense in 2025. It is Year 2 in the system and New Orleans drafted Christen Miller specifically to shore up the interior against the run.

It just didn’t get home. One sack, by Carl Granderson. Chase Young – coming off 10 sacks in 12 games –  had no tackles, one quarterback hit and one pass breakup. Detroit got five going the other way.

Detroit finished with 33 carries for 165 yards at 5.0 a pop and held the ball for 36:51. Gibbs alone went 29 for 156 and two scores.

What Baltimore Has To Take Away

The underneath throw, again. Indianapolis moved the ball on Minter’s defense in Week 1 doing exactly what Shough does best – short, quick, rhythm passing that never asks the quarterback to hold it. Moore’s offense is built on the same principle, and New Orleans just picked up 19 first downs through the air in Detroit on 86 total plays. If Baltimore plays two-high, rushes four and lets the Saints complete six-yard throws all afternoon, they could put together long drives and keep this game competitive.

You want to see the Ravens be able to get to Shough. Malaki Starks had career sack number 1 today.  Tavius Robinson had a sack today, and several other pressures.

Would like to see Trey Hendrickson and Mike Green get on the board vs. New Orleans.

Ravens Availability

Madubuike is the headline. Minter said Friday he was “really, really close” to his debut, and both he and Madubuike framed the absence as a conditioning ramp-up rather than a neck concern. SI reported there’s a real chance he plays against New Orleans. If he does, expect a snap count rather than a full workload from a man who took zero 11-on-11 reps in camp.

Teddye Buchanan was ruled out with the knee and is also pointed at a Week 2 return.

Zay Flowers and Ja’Kobi Lane are the concerns going the other direction, and Minter gave no update on either. What he did say, per Jeff Zrebiec, is that Baltimore may have to do some things to get that receiver room ready for Week 2.

Given the importance of Flowers to this team, you’d think they’d probably plan to give him the week off. They can’t risk it becoming something more significant.

I’d expect Rookie Elijah Sarratt to be active in Week 2.  Will have to see where Devontez Walker is with his groin and ankle issues.

Rookie TE Matthew Hibner had his first career catch today. Maybe he gets more action.

Moore is going to be active and his 53 yard grab today will earn him additional WR snaps.

Humphrey left briefly in the fourth quarter with what looked like a right leg injury, but did return. T.J. Tampa Jr. did not return after hurting his knee in the first quarter.

Chandler Rivers and Emery Jones Jr. were healthy scratches. Keyon Martin was the backup nickel and made a tackle.

Matchups To Watch

Does Madubuike play, and if he does, how many snaps?

Is pressure enough, or does Baltimore need sacks? Detroit pressured Shough all day, got five sacks and two picks, and he still threw for 410 and nearly won it. Baltimore’s four-man rush didn’t finish the Colts in the fourth quarter.

Who covers Chris Olave? Ten catches for 182 yards against Detroit, including a 47-yarder and a contested 43. Nate Wiggins against a receiver on a $132 million deal is the best individual matchup on the field, assuming Baltimore has its corners.

Can Baltimore stop the run? Taylor went for 98 and two scores.. Etienne is also a good back, but he has a lesser line in-front of him.

Does Doyle scheme around a depleted receiver room, or lean on Henry until it stops working? Sunday’s second half was improvisation. The Saints let Detroit run 33 times for 165.

Our Call

The Saints are better than their record will look in October. Down 21-0 at Ford Field, they tied it with a minute left and lost by a point in overtime. Our preseason read was 8-9 and the over on 7.5, and if anything Sunday firmed that up.

Saints were at Detroit today, and will again be facing a team in their home opener.

Not going to feel great if Flowers and Lane aren’t available; but would still expect a Ravens win at home.

Let’s see if the Ravens clean up the penalties that plagued them in Week 1.

Let’s see if Bateman can get going.

Let’s see if the Ravens can generate a consistent pass rush, and show improvement with the rush defense.

Give New Orleans respect for not folding today in Detroit.  Note their yardage vs. the Lions, and that their three turnovers is what really doomed them today.

If the Ravens can’t turn the Saints over, or get to Shough; does this end up being a bit of a shootout?

I’m going to say no.

With or without Flowers, I don’t think the Saints will be able to really slow Henry and Jackson.
And if they do overload the box, that will create 1×1 opportunities for Jackson to take advantage of with whatever receivers he has available.

I’m still a bit wary about the Ravens overall skill position talent and depth; but today was my reminder that as long Jackson and Henry are available – this offense will remain productive.

Ravens 31, Saints 20. Baltimore wins and covers. Take the over on 46.5. 

The post Ravens Week 2: New Orleans Comes To Baltimore appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

They hired Jesse Minter as the head coach and gutted the coaching staff. The team’s offensive and defensive philosophies have changed, along with an emphasis on improving the interior offensive line. Baltimore continued to add to its edge rushing with the addition of Zion Young in the second round of the draft. Then, the team added four pass catchers in receivers Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Surratt in the fourth round, along with tight ends Matthew Hibner (fourth round) and Josh Cuevas (fourth round).

Here are five things that we learned about the 2026 Ravens before their first regular season game.

Jesse Minter is here to be aggressive

Minter is going to be the play-caller for the defense. He’s going to have his defensive backs play more aggressively and attack in man coverage, based on trends from last season. The Athletic’s Daniel Popper cited stats from Tru Media Sports to explain how he could employ more Cover 0 as well:

https://x.com/danielrpopper/status/2008651121553011039

Minter additionally showed his creativity during the preseason when he brought pressure from the B and C gaps on both sides by the defensive tackles and edge rushers. Though both of his middle linebackers showed blitz, he dropped one into coverage, eventually bringing him through the A gap and bringing a corner off the the edge.

https://x.com/ChrisCooper_NFL/status/2089125536983322983

His ability to create an advantage for his blitzers is going to be of the utmost importance come Sunday.

Delan Doyle can build the most explosive offense in Ravens history

Lamar Jackson already has two Most Valuable Player awards. Derrick Henry, a future Hall of Famer, is his running back. Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers have returned at receiver position, along with their newcomer compatriots. Baltimore’s tight end group is revamped and brings back Mark Andrews.

All are going to be important to Baltimore’s offensive success, but the single most important piece may be Declan Doyle as the unit’s coordinator. He will get creative with motions and shifts – he will change the personnel groupings too. Doyle, who served as the Chicago Bears offensive coordinator but not the play caller in 2025, oversaw an offense with head coach Ben Johnson that ranked just 23rd in 11 personnel usage. The Bears used a ton of multi-tight end sets, according to Jacob Infante. Baltimore has four tight ends on the roster – from Andrews, to Hibner, Cuevas and former Bear Durham Smythe.

https://x.com/jacobinfante24/status/2020611791454130514

That is just the tight end position. Baltimore has an opportunity to use more orbit, jet, return and short motions with the team’s receivers. Running backs can get involved in the pass-catching game as well, being sent in tear motion away from Jackson.

Baltimore’s interior offensive line has improved, but already has a major injury

The Ravens made some of the biggest changes to its offensive line in recent history this offseason. Right guard Daniel Faalele walked in free agency to the New York Giants to reunite with John Harbaugh and was subsequently traded to the Jacksonville Jaguars – to much of the fan base’s delight. Center Tyler Linderbaum inked a 3-year, $81 million deal to play with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Baltimore drafted right guard Vega Ioane with the 14th pick in this year’s draft and added John Simpson to flank him on the left side. The team brought in a flurry of centers in former Indianapolis Colt Danny Pinter, former Atlanta Falcon Jovaughn Gwyn and former Cleveland Brown Ethan Pocic. Pocic has the most experience, but Pinter was slotted to start initially, as the former is in the process of returning from an Achilles tear last season.

Unfortunately for Baltimore, Pinter went down with a torn patellar tendon in his right knee – a season-ending injury. With Pocic still recovering, Gwyn has stepped into the starting role for Baltimore ahead of the team’s opener against Indianapolis. Gwyn has experience with offensive line coach Dwayne Ledford and his blocking schemes in the running game, as both spent time with the Falcons.

“[Jovaughn Gwyn] came in with obviously a lot of experience with [run game coordinator/offensive line coach Dwayne] Ledford and some things schematically that carry over to kind of how we’re playing now,” Minter said in Monday’s media availability. “So, I think there is a lot of familiarity there and some of the terminology in the run game and things like that.

“Then again, he came here knowing that there was an opportunity and has been in a competition all the way back from the second he signed. [He] has just taken advantage of getting a lot of reps. He’s been training for this moment for the last few years under these O-line coaches that we have, so there is some familiarity there and a comfort there amongst the coaches. Again, I just think [I’m] happy for him and proud of him for the job that he’s done taking advantage of the opportunity.”

Could this be an advantage for Gwyn going forward? Potentially, but only time will tell.

Nnamdi Madubuike could play in Week 1

Madubuike missed the majority of last season with a potential career-threatening neck injury. Baltimore removed him from the physically unable to perform list during training camp and could potentially play Week 1.

“It’s just a process I would say,” Minter said on Monday. “[Nnamdi Madubuike]’s been involved more and more just about every day. So, he’ll be involved in practice this week, he’ll be in team. He’ll be doing things, and we’ll kind of see how it shakes out as we get closer to see if it’s even possible for Week 1.”

“I wouldn’t rule any of those guys out for Week 1,” Minter said.

The interior defensive lineman has been hard to stop since his 2022 season. He had 5.5 sacks, followed up his career-high with 13 sacks in 2023 and had 6.5 sacks in 2024. Madubuike already had two sacks in two games last season. If he’s remotely the same player as he once was before the injury, his addition can add to Baltimore’s creativity in the pass rush.

Jake Moody has been pushing Tyler Loop at kicker – this is a good situation

The Ravens signed veteran free agent Jake Moody to its practice squad on Aug. 31 to compete with second-year kicker Tyler Loop. Moody has played with the San Francisco 49ers, Chicago Bears and the Washington Commanders with a 78% field goal percentage in his four-year career. Moody has gone 97.3% on extra points. His longest field goal is 57 yards.

Loop is only in the second year of his career and had an 88.2% field goal percentage in his first season. His longest kick was for 52 yards and he had an extra point percentage of 95.7%. Loop is perfect on field goals 39 yards or fewer (21-for-21) and has only missed one of nine field goals of 40-49 yards (8-for-9).

Where Loop has struggled is his field goal percentage from 50 or more (1-for-4). Moody, by comparison, is 8-for-14 from 50+. His lone missed field goal from the 40-49-yard range was a 44-yard miss against the Pittsburgh Steelers that would’ve put the Ravens in the playoffs.

Minter discussed how Loop responded to having competition at kicker. He has confidence in the former fourth round pick.

“To Tyler [Loop]’s credit, he’s responded really well to bringing somebody in at his position. [It’s] just like anybody [would] have,” Minter said. “If you bring a guy in at their position, normally it brings out the best when you’ve got the right type of guy. I don’t think he’s missed a kick since we brought Jake [Moody] in. Jake’s done really well as well. It’s [about] protecting the team, protecting the long-term outlook of the team. I have a lot of confidence in Tyler.

“I have a lot of confidence in him going into this first game to kick really well. After that, not to play into the hypothetical, but every position, really other than a few super established guys, is a week-to-week thing. It’s about going out there this week and producing and doing your job and doing what you’re supposed to do. [I] have a lot of confidence that he’ll do that, but again it’s about having things available just in case it doesn’t go the way you want it to go.”

If Loop continues to respond to pressure well, it could be a great omen for the Ravens.

The post Five Things We Learned About The 2026 Baltimore Ravens Before The Season Opener appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

What replaces it is a 43-year-old first-time head coach who calls his own defense, a 30-year-old coordinator who will call his first NFL offense from the booth, and a two-time MVP entering Year 9 off the least productive full season of his prime.

Clay’s model grades this the second-best roster in football. The market set the win total at 11.5, tied with the Rams for the highest on the board. The staff has never coached a game together. That combination is why this is a hard team to project in some ways, and why this preview contains a lot of open questions for a team with real expectations.

Minter & Co.

Jesse Minter inherits more pressure than any first-year coach in the league, because the mandate isn’t “make the playoffs.” Baltimore does that. The mandate is to win once they get there.

Minter finished third among all defensive play callers in CBS’s poll of twelve writers behind only Mike Macdonald and Steve Spagnuolo, ahead of Vic Fangio and Brian Flores. He’ll call it himself, which matters for a reason beyond scheme: the buck stops with him now. One of the more tiring recurring features of the Harbaugh era was how often he absolved himself of his coordinators’ decisions. That option no longer exists. Anthony Weaver handles the front seven, Mike Mickens the secondary.

Declan Doyle drew zero votes in that same poll. He is 30, was Ben Johnson’s coordinator in Chicago last season, coached tight ends in Denver, and came up in New Orleans from 2019 to 2022. His influences are Sean Payton and Johnson, which on paper means pairing Payton’s downhill duo runs with Johnson’s outside zone a fit for Derrick Henry as clean as anything you could draw. He’ll call plays from the booth, with Weaver and Minter splitting sideline duties.

We left this staff off our top-ten coaching staffs, and we want to restate why, because that’s the sort of omission a Baltimore site gets accused of underthinking. Half a staff isn’t a staff. Minter has never been a head coach. Doyle has never called an NFL offense. They’ve never worked a game together. And being great at X’s and O’s – which Minter unambiguously is – is not the same skill as keeping a room rowing in the same direction after a bad October. A coordinator’s job is scheme. A head coach’s job is everyone pulling the same way when things go sideways. This group could be top-five by December. It hasn’t earned the ranking in August.

What Minter’s Defense Actually Looks Like

This is the part of the preview that got written everywhere, including by us. “Fast, violent, aggressive” is what every new staff says. Here we look at what the tape and the tracking data actually say.

The year before Minter arrived in Los Angeles, the Chargers ranked 30th in passing yards allowed at 249.8 per game, 24th in points allowed at 23.4, and 27th in yards per play at 5.5. Derwin James had the worst season of his career. Over Minter’s two years running it, that unit finished fifth in passing yards allowed at 193.4, third in points at 19.9, and seventh in yards per play at 5.2 — back-to-back top-ten defenses by EPA, with James returning to consecutive Pro Bowls.

He runs a 3-4 built on versatility, and the governing idea is to muddy the picture for the offense while keeping it simple for his own players. The tracking data describes something close to the opposite of what “aggressive” usually implies. Per Next Gen Stats, the 2025 Chargers played zone on 80.7 percent of snaps (fifth-highest), used split-safety looks on 49.6 percent (fourth-most, a hair ahead of Macdonald’s Seahawks), rushed four on 72.6 percent, and blitzed on just 21.4 percent — third-fewest in football. The personnel is the tell: nickel only 55.2 percent of the time, eighth-lowest in the league, because they were in dime at the third-highest rate. While most of the NFL pivoted toward heavier personnel, Minter went the other way and dared offenses to run into it.

So the identity is this: Minter isn’t trying to trick you with exotic pressure. He gives you a clean look, rushes four, plays zone with two safeties deep, and bets his defensive backs win. As Russell Street Report put it, that only works if the defensive backs are elite.

The hinge is the hybrid safety. Minter used James near the box on roughly 85 percent of snaps, and when the Chargers blitzed, James was often the one coming — 12.9 percent of his own snaps, and fifth on the team in pressures. Minter’s explanation, from when he arrived in Los Angeles, is the sentence to memorize: the closer he is to the action, the better he is. The flexibility was the point — maybe it’s three corners and he’s the safety, maybe two safeties and he’s the nickel, maybe he’s the dime.

Now consider that Minter, a former Ravens defensive backs coach for four seasons, studied Kyle Hamilton extensively before taking the Chargers job and is now inheriting him. Hamilton graded 86.3 at PFF in 2025, third among all safeties, and has a credible claim to being a more versatile version of what James was asked to do. Baltimore has spent three years arguing about how to use him; the answer just walked in with two years of film on exactly that question.

Two more notes. Minter does keep a change-up: over the Chargers’ final six weeks he called 13 Cover 0 blitzes, and quarterbacks went 3-for-10 for 23 yards with an interception, two sacks and seven pressures – low usage, high leverage, a tendency breaker rather than an identity. And the front he ran was a four-down look with two large interior bodies and stout edges, a near-exact description of what Baltimore is handing him.

A scheme that rushes four, plays two-high zone, and dares you to complete underneath throws requires corners who can cover without help. Clay grades Baltimore’s corner room a 5. The safeties are the best-graded unit at any position on any roster in football; the corners are the position where this defense is most likely to break. Minter’s system will amplify whichever of those two facts turns out to matter more.

There is one happy accident in the fit, though: a defense that plays dime at the third-highest rate in the league doesn’t need four good linebackers. Baltimore’s linebacker room also grades a 5. Minter’s preferred personnel quietly hides that.

Why Did The Defense Fall Off? Is It Fixed?

Baltimore’s defense went from sixth in DVOA in 2024 to 16th in 2025. Zach Orr absorbed most of the criticism and the Ravens moved on, which we supported — not only because we think the new staff is better, but because it lets the fanbase turn the page.

But the diagnosis matters, because it determines whether Minter is fixing a scheme or inheriting an already-solved personnel problem. The 2025 defense played without Madubuike for fifteen games, had no legitimate edge rusher, and got a compromised Wiggins and Humphrey in the secondary. Madubuike is back, Hendrickson is here, Wiggins is healthy. If that was the disease, most of the cure arrived in March, before Minter called a play. That’s the optimistic read and the one we lean toward — with the caveat that bad personnel and bad scheme aren’t mutually exclusive, and we won’t know the split until October.

Mandatory Lamar Talk

Obviously nothing matters more.

The 2025 line: 21 touchdowns, 7 interceptions, 2,549 yards, 8.4 yards per attempt, a 103.8 rating, 15th in EPA per dropback, 19th in success rate, 14th in completion percentage over expectation. Perfectly good. Nowhere near what he’d been.

Jackson opened completing better than 70 percent at 9.1 yards per attempt with a 14-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Then he hurt his hamstring. After he returned he was visibly slower, scrambled less, held the ball longer and stopped pushing it downfield. Steven Ruiz’s read at The Ringer was that the decision-making itself looked like a function of the health. He went 6-7 in his 13 starts, averaged 196.1 passing yards a game, and averaged 26.8 rushing yards a game – roughly half his 2024 figure.

That’s an argument for a rebound – which is why the same outlet ranked Jackson the third-best quarterback in football. PFF lands in the same place from the other direction, and suggests the recovery was underway before the season ended: Jackson graded 91.4 over his final four games, a year removed from a 94.0 grade and a 41-to-4 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

So the film read and the grades agree. The disagreement is with the third group. What Sando’s voters and the players’ Top 100. The opposing coach in Sando’s poll who said he wasn’t sure how much Jackson still wants to run and take hits is making a claim about a 29-year-old’s willingness to absorb punishment, which no amount of healing fixes and which wouldn’t show up as a bad grade. Sando’s stated reason for the demotion was the halved rushing production, not the missed games. The players’ Top 100 dropped him 67 spots, to 69th, which is peer evaluation rather than a model and stings a bit. On the other-hand, I don’t think the players vote has much accuracy year to year. The anonymous coach in Sando’s poll sounds like like of the doubters that have persisted over Jackson’s career to-date. A lot of consistent chirping from some.

If the dip was just the hamstring, Jackson is a top-three quarterback again the moment he’s healthy and this is a genuine Super Bowl roster. If it was the start of a deliberate recalibration – fewer designed runs, fewer scrambles, more time in a pocket fronted by an interior line that’s still a projection – then he’s good but no longer the player who breaks games open, and Doyle’s work becomes a necessity rather than an enhancement. Both view points look defendable in August. We will see which plays out.

The plainest question is the one we asked three weeks ago and still can’t answer: does he play 16 or 17 games, or 12 or 13? He’s been limited to 13 or fewer in three of five seasons. Clay projects 671 rushing yards on 122 carries. Doyle’s first job is making him a run threat without making him a target.

Jackson has won MVP in the first season under each of his last two new coordinators – unanimously under Greg Roman in 2019, only the second unanimous winner in league history, and again under Todd Monken in 2023. Twenty-two teams open 2026 with a new offensive coordinator. No quarterback in football has a better track record with one.

Doyle’s Offense?

Jackson has taken five percent of his career snaps there. His 226 under-center snaps since 2018 are the second-fewest of any quarterback with 50 starts, behind only Kyler Murray. Over those same eight seasons he has posted the highest QBR in the NFL from under center 81.2, with 20 touchdowns and one interception. It is simultaneously the least-used and most productive part of his game, and Doyle has him there more than any previous camp.

PFF expects Doyle to lean on three-receiver sets with plenty of motion, which is what you’d predict from a Payton and Ben Johnson product. Clay’s model, meanwhile, has Baltimore first in rushing attempts and dead last in pass attempts. Those can coexist. You can run heavily out of 11 personnel, and Johnson did exactly that in Detroit but they point in different directions, and which one Doyle actually is determines whether the receiver room is a problem or a non-issue. If Baltimore is in 11 personnel on 65 percent of snaps, the receiver depth questions matter a lot.

Neither transition has been clean. The offense false-started eight times in one August practice varying cadences, and Jackson spiked his helmet after a two-minute drill ran out of clock. But he attended voluntary spring work to get ahead of the installation, has called Doyle a wizard, and says he’s absolutely ready.

The Roster: What’s Real? What’s Still A Projection?

Clay grades this the second-best roster in football with the No. 5 offense, No. 4 defense, 430 points scored and 340 allowed, first in rushing attempts and rushing yards, dead last in pass attempts.

RB

Derrick Henry is projected for 317 carries, 1,482 yards and 13 touchdowns at 32, and the people expecting a cliff should note his 5.2 yards per carry last year was still above his 4.9 career average and tied James Cook for the best mark among backs with 250-plus carries behind worse blocking and a diminished quarterback. The seven fumbles across two seasons, a third of his career total, reads fluky to us rather than alarming.

The real question is workload philosophy. Justice Hill was limited to ten games and his catches fell from 42 to 21; Adam Randall went to IR during cuts, leaving Henry, Hill and Rasheen Ali. Should holding Henry under 300 carries even be a goal? There’s a version where you protect him for January and a version where the physicality is the plan. Doyle’s answer says a lot about how he sees the offense.

And a loss getting too little attention: Patrick Ricard, a three-time All-Pro, followed Harbaugh to the Giants. Fullbacks are devalued league-wide and Baltimore has long profited from the contrarian position — it’s helped the run game, the quarterback, and the physicality this team is built on.

Receiver and Tight End

Both grade a 5. Flowers got $35 million a year. Everyone likes Flowers. Everyone would like him considerably more as a No. 2.

Flowers was the only Baltimore wide receiver last season to record more than 22 receptions or 330 receiving yards.

Rashod Bateman gave the Ravens nothing in 2025 after ankle injuries, and that can’t repeat in ’26. In 2024 he played all 17 games and averaged 16.8 yards on 45 catches with nine scores. He needs to be available and move the chains. And there’s a complication beyond football: Bateman was arrested in Georgia in June and faces charges of family violence battery, reckless conduct and first-degree criminal damage to property stemming from an alleged incident involving the mother of his child. His attorney has said the situation was taken out of context and that the facts will come out through the court process, and the case is pending. The Ravens have notified the league and say they’re cooperating. Separately from the courts, the NFL’s baseline discipline for a first offense in this category is six games, though circumstances vary. Nobody should be forecasting an outcome. Everybody should understand that Baltimore’s WR2 has a real chance of missing time for reasons that have nothing to do with his hamstrings.

Mark Andrews is 31 and coming off a year where his yards per catch fell from a 12.3 career average to 8.8. We’re glad to have him, though we’d have kept Isaiah Likely if forced to choose, and losing Charlie Kolar stung. Fifty catches and 600 yards wouldn’t surprise us. Neither would a bounce toward his career ypc norms, since a good chunk of last year’s decline tracks with the quarterback throwing him the ball.

Which brings us to the group that has to fill the gap.

Ja’Kobi Lane has been the story of camp. The third-rounder at No. 80 out of USC is 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds, wins 50-50 balls, and provides the size-skill combination this offense has spent Jackson’s entire career looking for on the outside. Crucially, he isn’t doing it against backups – a team source told CBS’s Matt Zenitz that within the first week of camp Lane was already a starter in 11 personnel and the club’s No. 3 receiver. The caveat came from the same source, and it’s the right one: it’s camp, and we’ll see what he does when the season starts. August produces a breakout star every year. The pre-draft knock was his ability to play through contact, let’s see if that’s an issue when the lights turn on.

Elijah Sarratt, the fourth-rounder at No. 115 out of Indiana, is the one we liked most on tape and the one furthest from contributing. He averaged at least 2.00 yards per route run in all four of his college seasons, which is a genuinely difficult thing to do, and he graded 86.1 at PFF last year – the best mark in Baltimore’s draft class. He also spent camp, by the team’s own description, starting from ground zero. That’s normal for a Day 3 receiver, and why you can only expect so much from him this year.

Devontez Walker is the wild card, in that he’s now in Year 3 and has been targeted ten times in his NFL career. He caught four touchdowns on those ten targets, which is a fun rate and a meaningless sample. The big-play ability has flashed in each of his first two seasons. How many snaps does he get this year? Can he become a reliable target?

The tight ends are deeper than the grade suggests, and this is where Doyle’s Ben Johnson lineage may show up. Durham Smythe was signed to be the traditional in-line blocker opposite Andrews, which matters more than his 44.7 PFF grade or his 13 total receptions across the last two seasons – though he did average 27.5 catches a year from 2020 through 2023, so a modest bump wouldn’t shock. Matthew Hibner is the interesting one: Baltimore traded up in the fourth round for him and believes he’s ready for an immediate role as a pass catcher. Josh Cuevas, the fifth-rounder, graded 69.6 and is the developmental piece. Johnson built his Detroit offenses around tight end usage; Doyle spent last season with him and coached the position in Denver.

Exactly three players on this roster have ever caught more than ten passes from Lamar Jackson. Flowers, Bateman, Andrews. And one of those three is 31 and coming off his worst year, while another has a pending court case.

Getting Out Ahead Of The Argument

Jackson is going to wear the Superman cape. That’s what he does – he elevates the people around him, and he’ll make three or four throws a month that no other quarterback in football makes to receivers no other team would start. Some of these guys are going to look better than they are because of him. That’s not a criticism; it’s the single best argument for optimism on this roster.

The pessimistic argument looks like this. Bateman doesn’t rebound, or isn’t available. Andrews stays a 600-yard tight end. Lane is a rookie who has rookie weeks. And Jackson, protecting a 29-year-old body, doesn’t get back to running the way he did in 2024. None of that requires anything to go catastrophically wrong. Every one of those is a reasonable outcome on its own, and together they describe an offense that grinds. A team that wins 20-17 behind Henry and a good defense, converts third-and-4 instead of hitting the 40-yard shot, and looks nothing like the unit that put up 28 to 30 a game in 2023 and 2024.

That offense can still be plenty good enough to win eleven games, but may often feel not good enough. And here’s the thing worth noticing now: even the bull case agrees. Clay’s model – which again grades this the second-best roster in football – projects Baltimore for 430 points. That’s 25.3 a game. Four to five points a game below the 2023 and 2024 versions, from the projection system that likes this team most.

So if the offense looks pedestrian in October, the finger is going to point at Jackson. It always does. The MVP is the most expensive and most visible player on the field, and “he’s not the same” is the easiest column in sports to write. Our question, when it happens, will be a simple one: given the weapons around him, should we have expected more?

Flowers is a very good No. 2 being paid as a No. 1. Behind him is a receiver with a pending court case, a 31-year-old tight end coming off his worst season, a rookie who has been great in shorts, and a third-year player with ten career targets. Set against that, an offense that scores 25 a game and wins the division is not a quarterback failing.  Also, if we’re going to say that Jackson has to again be Superman, than it’s fair to say that this offense fully needs Henry to again be Batman.

Offensive Line

This is where the projection is thinnest, and it got shakier in the last two weeks.

The center job is still open. Danny Pinter suffered a season-ending knee injury in joint practices with Minnesota, and Minter said this week he hasn’t decided between Ethan Pocic and Jovaughn Gwyn. Gwyn started the final two preseason games; Pocic played 31 snaps to Gwyn’s 15. Pocic turned 31, is coming off a Week 14 Achilles tear, has never played a full 17-game season, and didn’t practice Monday. He’s also graded above 60.0 at PFF in each of the last five seasons, so the floor is real. The ceiling isn’t Tyler Linderbaum, who ranked fifth among all centers last year and is now a Raider.

John Simpson is back at left guard, where league-average would be a win if he can cut the penalties — he graded 56.9 last season but ranked 11th among all guards at 77.3 in 2024. Year 11 of Ronnie Stanley is still something to feel fine about, though his drop-off from 2024 to 2025 came specifically in pass protection, which loops back to whether Doyle can get the ball out faster. Baltimore also hired Dwayne Ledford as offensive line coach and run game coordinator, which given how much of this group is new may matter as much as any individual signing.

Ronnie Stanley is the piece everything else leans on. In 2024 he was excellent: an 80.9 PFF pass-blocking grade, the sixth time he’d cleared 80 in his career, and just two sacks allowed across 535 pass-blocking snaps, which ranked 11th among full-time starting tackles. That season is also why the Ravens’ left-side run game was the best in football – Baltimore led the NFL in yards on outside and off-tackle runs to the left and averaged nearly seven a carry there. Stanley isn’t just protecting Jackson’s blind side; he’s the reason a chunk of Henry’s production exists.

In 2025 that slipped. He graded 70.9 overall, 35th among 89 qualified tackles, with a 72.8 pass-blocking grade and 68.0 in the run game, allowing 28 pressures including four sacks and four hits, with seven penalties. Not bad. Just ordinary, from a player who has been considerably better than ordinary. The encouraging part is buried in the same numbers: he played 857 snaps. For a tackle whose career was nearly derailed by ankle injuries and who missed enormous stretches from 2020 through 2022, availability is the harder problem, and he solved it. He is 32, entering Year 11, on a three-year, $60 million deal with $44 million guaranteed and a manageable $9.9 million cap hit this season.

So: does the pass protection come back? Part of the answer isn’t his. Stanley’s game is built on giving ground while maintaining his mirror, which works beautifully with a quarterback who gets the ball out and less well with one holding it and hunting a play. Jackson held the ball longer after the hamstring injury, and Stanley’s numbers moved in exactly the direction you’d expect. If Doyle’s offense speeds up the release – under center, on schedule, off play-action – Stanley’s grade probably recovers without him doing anything differently. It’s difficult, because Jackson extending plays is also part of what makes him great.

The right side is the interesting part. Olaivavega “Vega” Ioane at No. 14 was the most popular mock-draft pairing of the spring for good reason, and the bar he has to clear is embarrassingly low as both of Baltimore’s 2025 starting guards graded below 60.0 at PFF. He’s 6-foot-4 and 326 pounds, calls himself a mauler, and DeCosta described him as straight from central casting. The scouting consensus had him as the best interior lineman in the class and, for some evaluators, the best offensive lineman in it full stop. He allowed zero sacks in 2025 playing mostly left guard at Penn State, was penalized three times in 2024, and the traits that travel are the ones this offense specifically needs: a stout anchor that stalls bull rushes on the spot, powerful jump sets, and enough short-area quickness to climb to the second level. That last part is the fit with Doyle’s duo-and-outside-zone marriage. Lamar Jackson was sacked 36 times last season; the pick was a statement about that.

Which brings us to Roger Rosengarten, who might be the quietest important player on the roster. A 2024 second-round pick out of Washington who started every game of the Huskies’ national title run, he has spent his first two NFL seasons lining up next to a failed guard experiment in Daniel Faalele, a converted tackle who never took to the position. Rosengarten has never had a real right guard. Now he has a first-rounder there, and the early returns on the pairing have been effusive. He’s called Ioane a stud and said it feels like they’ve played together three or four years, crediting the rookie’s movement skills and balance with making combination blocks and pass protection easier. With Linderbaum gone and so much of the room turned over, Rosengarten and Stanley have also become the leadership of this unit, which is a lot to ask of a third-year player. If he takes a Year 3 step in the run game and the right side becomes a strength rather than a patch, a group we’ve called “not upper-echelon” gets a good deal more interesting.

The Front Seven

Trey Hendrickson grades an 8, had back-to-back 17.5-sack seasons in 2023 and 2024, and the PFF numbers on him are striking: a pass-rush win rate of 20 percent or better in each of the last three seasons, which no Ravens edge defender has managed since PFF began collecting the data in 2006, and a pass-rush grade above 90.0 in each of those years, which no Raven has done since Dumervil in 2013. He is the pass rusher this franchise has lacked for a decade.

He is also 31, missed ten games last season, had core muscle surgery in December, and Clay projects only 9.9 sacks. The March criticism was that he doesn’t set an edge the way Maxx Crosby does. That’s fair, but second-rounder Zion Young posted an 86.6 PFF run-defense grade in college and could take real early-down snaps precisely to cover that weakness.

Edge still grades a 5, which should worry people more than it does. Behind Hendrickson it’s Mike Green, our breakout pick, coming off 3.5 rookie sacks with a 4.7 projection; double digits from him is the swing outcome for this defense. Inside, Madubuike and Travis Jones grade 8 and Calais Campbell a 7, entering Year 19 and turning 40 this week after an awful personal summer. Keeping him available for January is the whole point of the signing.

Tavius Robinson is the third rusher. The 2023 fourth-rounder out of Ole Miss broke his foot in the Week 6 loss to the Rams, went on injured reserve, missed seven games, and returned in Week 15 against Cincinnati – where he immediately produced a sack that pushed the Bengals out of field-goal range and the pressure that forced Burrow into a game-sealing pick-six. He finished with 4.5 sacks in ten games across 447 snaps, the second-most sacks on the roster.

Travis Jones is the one certainty here, and that’s new. For three years he was a run-stuffing nose who flashed. In 2025, with Madubuike gone, he became the best defensive lineman on the roster and one of the best in football at the position. He graded 79.2 at PFF, second on the entire defense behind only Hamilton, and led every Ravens defender in pressures (47), sacks (five) and run-defense grade (81.1). He set career highs in tackles (47), tackles for loss (nine) and quarterback hits (nine) while playing 16 games. PFF called him a secret superstar. Baltimore signed him to a three-year, $40.5 million extension in December, and he’s 26. He is also coming back from a pectoral injury that put him on PUP in July, which is worth monitoring but isn’t the concern of this group.

Madubuike is. And nobody is sure what the Ravens are getting here. That leads to a wide range of possible outcomes.

From the start of 2023 until he went on injured reserve in September 2025, Madubuike’s 21.5 sacks were the most of any defensive tackle in the NFL. He had 13 in 2023, which led all interior linemen and earned him a four-year, $98 million extension. He followed it with 6.5 sacks and 56 pressures in 2024 – third among all defensive tackles and a second straight Pro Bowl. He has a team-high 69 quarterback hits since entering the league in 2020. He had played 55 consecutive games. Paired with Hendrickson, that’s an interior-plus-edge combination Baltimore hasn’t had in a decade, and it’s most of the reason Clay grades this the top interior line in football.

The uncertainty is genuine and it is not the usual injury boilerplate. Madubuike hurt his neck in Week 2 of 2025, against Cleveland on September 14th. The injury was described as potentially career-threatening, and there were real retirement rumors attached to it. He played 102 snaps last season. He did not have surgery until mid-April more than seven months after the injury which is an unusual timeline and one nobody has fully explained. He was cleared to return to football activity by independent spine and cervical specialists, which is a meaningful hurdle cleared rather than a formality. He opened camp on PUP for conditioning. And per Minter, he did not take a single 11-on-11 rep during training camp.

So the range runs from “an All-Pro interior rusher walks back into a front that already has Hendrickson, Jones and Campbell, and this defense is top-five” to “a 28-year-old works his way back on a snap count, is a rotational contributor into October, and is never quite the same explosive player.” Both are plausible right now. The Ravens’ one real signal is that they kept him off injured reserve at cuts, which would have cost him four games — Minter said he doesn’t see Madubuike missing anything like that. That’s a vote of confidence with money behind it.

What makes this the season’s quietest swing factor is the scheme fit. Minter doesn’t blitz; he rushes four on nearly three-quarters of snaps and asks his front to win one-on-one so the coverage can stay intact behind it. Unlike a traditional 3-4 where the ends funnel the quarterback outward, Minter wants active hands and feet inside, getting free and into the backfield — which is precisely what a healthy Madubuike does better than almost anyone. A four-man rush that generates pressure without help is the load-bearing assumption of the entire defense. Madubuike at his 2023 level makes that assumption safe. Madubuike at 60 percent makes it a question, and pushes more of the burden onto a corner room that grades a 5.

The rest of the interior is deeper than people realize, which is the hedge. Campbell grades a 7 entering Year 19, turning 40 this week after an awful personal summer; keeping him available for January is the whole point of the signing. And John Jenkins, 37, quietly had a fine 2025 as he didn’t miss a game and logged 523 defensive snaps, more than any Baltimore lineman except Jones. Broderick Washington adds beef. Baltimore can survive a slow Madubuike ramp. It just can’t reach its ceiling without him.

Roquan Smith was voted the second-best off-ball linebacker in football by NFL executives, coaches and scouts. The position group grades a 5. Both can be true if the depth behind him is thin, and it is. It’s Year 4 for Trenton Simpson, who has an opening and hasn’t yet taken it. Teddye Buchanan was kept off injured reserve as he works back from a December ACL tear — worth watching, because after taking over as a starter in Week 2 as a rookie he graded above 60.0 in five of his final six games and ranked 31st among linebackers in run-defense grade. As noted above, Minter’s dime-heavy tendencies reduce how much this matters. It doesn’t eliminate it.

Secondary

Hamilton, Malaki Starks, Jaylinn Hawkins. The best-graded unit at any position on any roster in the league, and the exact profile – long, versatile, zone-friendly, football-smart – that Minter has built defenses around his entire career. Hawkins arrived in free agency off a 74.9 PFF grade.

Nate Wiggins is in Year 3 after playing most of last season’s second half through a groin injury, and has reportedly had a strong camp with added strength. He doesn’t have to lock down half the field; he does have to take the opponent’s best receiver each week. Marlon Humphrey, in Year 10, got targeted relentlessly in 2025. He’s a two-time All-Pro who no longer has to lead the group, but a rebound would raise the ceiling of this group. Chidobe Awuzie starts outside, T.J. Tampa is depth a lot of people are excited about, and Keyon Martin and rookie Chandler Rivers are competing for the slot.

The Specialists

Jordan Stout made a Pro Bowl and followed Harbaugh to New York. Sixth-round rookie Ryan Eckley replaces him.

And then Loop. Context first: before 2025, kicking balls were kept under lock and key by officials and were stiff. A rule change now lets teams break in 60 balls before the season, and league-wide distance and accuracy jumped accordingly. Loop arrived as a rookie in that new environment, replacing the greatest kicker who ever lived.

He went 30-for-34, 8-for-9 from 40 to 49, and 1-for-3 from 50-plus with two missed extra points, and often looked uncomfortable. The one that got away was the 44-yarder in Pittsburgh on the last play of the season. He then went 5-for-8 across the preseason with two misses in the finale, and the Ravens signed Jake Moody to the practice squad Monday – the first time all offseason they’ve carried a second kicker. Minter reiterated Loop is his kicker in Indianapolis and that he just wants every scenario covered.

Part of us extends the benefit of the doubt; replacing Justin Tucker was impossible and Year 2 should be better. The other part notes that a league converting from distances nobody used to attempt will ask more of him, not less. The fanbase being incredibly skeptical, doesn’t make his job any easier.

The Division

We have Baltimore winning the AFC North at 11-6. That deserves more scrutiny than it usually gets, because the defending champion is still there and the division was decided on the final play last year.

Pittsburgh won it at 10-7 and returns Clay’s No. 3 defense, headlined by the best edge group in football. Their problem is an offense Clay ranks 26th, run by a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers who posted the league’s  lowest average depth of target while finishing 23rd in EPA per dropback. If Rodgers is merely league-average, that’s a division threat, and our 8-9 projection for them is the AFC North call we’d most expect to be wrong.

Cincinnati we have at 10-7 with the second-easiest schedule, Clay’s No. 3 offense and a defense rebuilt around Dexter Lawrence. They don’t need a good defense, just an average one – which they haven’t had since 2022.

Cleveland has drafted well the last two years and might be beginning to put something together, but they’re starting the season with Deshaun Watson at QB. Every indication 2026 will be another long-year for the Browns.

Eleven wins should take this division.

The Schedule

Fifth-easiest in the league by Sharp’s model, behind only Detroit, Cincinnati, New Orleans and the Jets. The front half is genuinely soft: at Indianapolis, New Orleans, Dallas in Rio de Janeiro, Tennessee, at Atlanta, at Cleveland, then Cincinnati in Week 7 and at Buffalo in Week 8.

Two notes. An international game in Week 3 is a strange wrinkle for a staff installing two new systems before it has established any routine. And a soft opening means a slow start would be genuinely alarming. If Baltimore is 3-3 through six against this slate, the pressure mounts.

Our Number

We published 11-6, AFC North champions, the No. 2 seed in the AFC — and an under on 11.5.

The over is priced at +115 and the under at -140, an implied 46.5 percent chance of twelve wins or more. Baltimore has the highest total in the AFC and the second-highest in football. SI’s projection lands on the under as well.

We’re also not alone at eleven. Nate Tice and Robert Mays both landed there, with Tice making the point we’d endorse: twelve wins is a lot of wins in any season, new offenses take four or five weeks to settle, and eleven is technically the under and still a very good year for a team built to peak in January.

Buffalo is our AFC favorite, with Baltimore close behind.

Week 1: Ravens at Colts

Sunday, September 13, 1:00 PM, CBS. Baltimore is a 3.5-point favorite with a total of 48.5, and given a 61.4% chance of winning by ESPN’s Match-Up Predictor. Clay’s model lands almost identically at 61%, projecting 24.5–21.4.

Two debuts at once: Minter’s first game as a head coach, Doyle’s first calling an NFL offense — from the booth, on the road, against Lou Anarumo.

Doyle vs. Anarumo

Anarumo earned the nickname “mad scientist” in Cincinnati for schemes that changed week to week, and the reputation is built on two specific things: disguise in the secondary, and manipulating an offense’s protection plan to create favorable matchups for his rushers. There’s an irony there — one of the rushers he did that for was Trey Hendrickson, who is now Baltimore’s.

The numbers are less extreme than the reputation. Anarumo blitzed on 28.6 percent of opponent dropbacks from 2019 through 2024, 18th in the NFL. He is not Flores or Bowles or Wink Martindale. What he does instead is vary what the pressure looks like — simulated pressures where four rush but you can’t tell which four, linemen dropping into coverage, and a signature “Tango” concept he began leaning on in 2023.

The wrinkle that should concern Baltimore most is what sits behind the pressure. Anarumo’s Bengals finished fourth in the league in Quarters usage behind a blitz and third in two-high coverage rate when blitzing at 36.1 percent — meaning he sends five and still keeps a two-deep structure behind it. That is the exact call designed to punish a quarterback who assumes pressure means single coverage and takes the shot. It’s also the call that punishes a young play caller whose hot routes are built on a pre-snap read that turns out to be a lie.

Anarumo’s Colts finished 2025 with 41 sacks, five more than the year before. And this is his second year in the building, which matters: the shape-shifting works better once the personnel knows the system.

How Doyle should attack it. Play-action from under center with Henry as the threat forces a two-high defense to commit a safety. Doyle’s best counter to simulated pressure is the thing Baltimore is built to do anyway: run it.

Indianapolis

The Colts are trying to answer whether they’re the team that looked like a contender for two months or the one that lost its final seven games. Daniel Jones was excellent early top ten in passing yards, yards per attempt, completion percentage and touchdowns before tearing his Achilles in December. He was a full participant in camp. Whether the injury takes anything off his movement is the question they can’t answer until Sunday, and it’s a live one, because Jones has always been an underrated runner who throws well outside the pocket. Anthony Richardson is behind him.

The infrastructure is good. Jonathan Taylor grades a 9 and got paid at two years, $44 million; Quenton Nelson and Bernhard Raimann anchor a line some outlets have inside their top five. That’s the matchup Baltimore’s interior has to win, and it’s the reason Shane Steichen’s play-action game works.

The receiver room got rebuilt in a hurry after Michael Pittman Jr. was traded to Pittsburgh. Keenan Allen signed a one-year deal last month, was arrested early Sunday morning on misdemeanor OVWI charges, and Chris Ballard said flatly on Tuesday that he will play — internal discipline won’t cost him snaps, and the NFL will likely wait for the legal process, though its alcohol policy allows for a suspension of up to three games. Allen at 34 is still a precise route runner who wins underneath and over the middle. That’s exactly the throw Indianapolis wants for a quarterback in his first game back, and exactly the area a two-high zone defense concedes by design.

The Colts are banged up around him. Alec Pierce, Josh Downs and tight end Tyler Warren are all questionable, and Indianapolis already lost Coleman Owen, D.J. Montgomery and Will Mallory to injured reserve.

On defense, Sauce Gardner and Charvarius Ward are both questionable and that room is thin. Up front, Laiatu Latu doubled his sack total to 8.5 last year and is teamed with DeForest Buckner and Grover Stewart who hold the interior.

Ravens Defense Will Focus On Taylor

Steichen’s offense is built outward from the run. Taylor is the engine, the play-action game is the payoff, and the reason Indianapolis was productive for two months last year is that Jones was excellent throwing off it Play-action from under center depends on a quarterback who can carry out a fake, reset his feet and throw on the move. If Jones is even slightly compromised there, the whole structure loses its teeth and Indianapolis becomes a dropback offense with a rebuilt receiver room and a quarterback in his first game back.

Baltimore’s plan will be to stop Taylor with the front. Clay’s top-graded interior line in the NFL against Nelson and Raimann is the matchup that decides whether Indianapolis gets to play the game it wants. If Madubuike, Travis Jones and Campbell hold up on early downs, the Colts are throwing on second-and-8 into a two-high zone, and Hendrickson gets to rush against a line that has to slide toward help.

Minter’s defense will concede the underneath throw by design. Maybe Keenan Allen and Jones have some success with that?  If the Ravens aren’t afraid of being beat over the top, there will be a lot Hamilton near the line.

Ravens Availability

Madubuike stayed off injured reserve. We will see if he’s ready to go. Either way, snap count figures to be limited.
Buchanan was also kept off IR. Same thing there.  Ready to go? Limited snap count if so.

Randall went to IR, leaving Henry, Hill and Ali as the backs.

What happens at Center? Will Pocic be available?

Matchups To Watch

Whoever wins the Center job against DeForest Buckner.  Need the Center to help with the scheming, and also to avoid consistently getting pushed back into Jackson. Don’t want a game where the Ravens are consistently facing 3rd and long.

Kyle Hamilton, wherever Minter puts him. First real look at the James blueprint applied to a better player. What percentage of snaps is he up on the line? How often is he blitizing?

Keenan Allen over the middle.  Who is covering him in the slot?

Our call: Ravens get the road W to start the year, but maybe less comfortably than some think.  Would like to avoid this game coming down to kicking.

The post Previewing The 2026 Ravens Season And Week 1 At Indianapolis appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The biggest change, of course, was the ouster of longtime head coach, John Harbaugh. Once Harbaugh got settled with the New York Giants, he proceeded to raid his former team by bringing in several Raven free agents; guard Daniel Faalele, fullback Patrick Ricard, tight end Isaiah Likely, safety Ar’Darius Washington and punter Jordan Stout.

Out with the old, in with the new.

To state the obvious, the task at hand for new head coach Jesse Minter is to lead the Ravens to the 3rd Super Bowl title in franchise history. However, his job will be a bit more nuanced than it appears.

As training camp ramps up, there will be plenty of discussion about position battles, what the new offense and defense will look like, how player X, Y or Z performs in this drill or that drill and how the roster will shape up come early September.

While discussion of those matters is certainly warranted, there’s a larger issue at hand for the Baltimore Ravens than the X’s and O’s and the Jimmy’s and Joe’s.

The Baltimore Ravens need to be mentally tough again.

For 4 quarters a game, for 17 games (or more), the Baltimore Ravens need to learn how to finish.

John Harbaugh had a successful tenure in Baltimore but ultimately lost his job because of his team’s tendency to come up small in the biggest moments. Blown leads, bizarre play calling and bone headed mistakes at critical times had become the norm in Baltimore. These struggles would happen in the regular season and then rear their ugly head at crucial moments in January.

Perhaps it could be said that Harbaugh’s firing wasn’t solely due to not reaching the Super Bowl again but rather in how his teams failed to do so. They didn’t simply play competitive football and fall short, they found spectacular ways to shoot themselves in the foot, time and time again, leaving the entire fanbase collectively shaking their heads.

It is in this vein, that Coach Minter must find a way forward. To get a talented group to play their best football when the lights are the brightest and to no longer come up small in the biggest moments.

It’s a touch ironic that the Ravens’ neighbors across the parking lot at Camden Yards underwent a somewhat similar turnover in their off season; bringing in a new staff, headed by Craig Albernaz, with the hopes of getting a group of young, talented ballplayers to get out of their own way and break through in the postseason.

Unfortunately for Baltimore’s Baseball Birds, their new era has not yielded great results thus far.

For the beleaguered fan base of Baltimore sports, we can only hope that Jesse Minter and his staff can break through. Unfortunately, none of our curiosity will be satisfied anytime soon. Perhaps it’s unfair to heap this much pressure on a first time head coach but the lingering doubts about the Ravens will only be quelled by postseason success.

On that ill fated January night in Pittsburgh, when Tyler Loop’s field goal attempt sailed wide, it marked the end of one era and the beginning of a new one.

Hopefully.

The post A New Era appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

On the verge of another season, some things are new.  John Harbaugh had served as the Ravens Head Coach since 2008.  He is now gone, and replaced by first-time Head Coach Jesse Minter.

That transition of leadership – accompanied by Minter’s incoming staff – has some things feeling fresh as a new year begins.

Some things haven’t changed.  The Ravens are entering the season as one of the prohibitive favorites to win the Lombardi Trophy next February.

There are expectations for this team to perform, and pressure for the organization to get over the proverbial hump and do significant post-season damage with Lamar Jackson under Center.

Here we look at the roster, and give some thoughts on what we like and currently question.

Like – Starting with the most obvious, we like #8.  Somehow we’ve reached Year 9 of Jackson’s career, and liking or believing in Jackson is still a discussion point for some.  You can wish that Jackson and the Ravens had accomplished more in the post-season during his career to-date. You can rightfully point out that 2025 was the third time in five seasons that Jackson was limited to 13 games or less. But it has to be acknowledged that the 2x MVP is inner-circle elite when talking about the games best QB’s. When available, Jackson elevates those around him, and gives the Ravens an opportunity to win any game he plays.

Question – Is this a year where Jackson plays 16 or 17 games, or is he limited to 12 or 13?  Jackson has had high praise for new Ravens OC Declan Doyle so far in camp.  Under this new system, and with hopefully better health than he experienced in ’25; do we see Jackson’s numbers rebound closer to his astounding 2024 production?  If the lower-body aliments are behind him, will Jackson run more in 2026?

Like –  Let’s get another obvious one out of the way – Derrick Henry is still a monster.  I know RB’s have a short shelf-life, and at 32 years old; I know some are expecting this is the year he falls off.  I’ve seen people point to his Yard Per Carry average dropping from 5.9 in ’24, to 5.2 as an indication of a precipitous drop coming for Henry in ’26, but that seems silly to me. That 5.2 ypc was still above his 4.9 ypc career average, and it tied James Cook for the most ypc of any RB in the league with 250+ carries for the year. Jackson wasn’t as good in ’25 as he was in ’24, and the blocking in-front of Henry wasn’t as good either. I’d be highly surprised if Henry wasn’t again excellent. I know some are concerned that Henry has 7 fumbles ( 1/3 of his career total ) over the past two seasons, but I can’t get there.  Feels more fluky to me vs. something to worry about.

Question – Justice Hill was limited to 10 games last year. That reduction in availability led to his catches dropping from 42 in ’24, to 21 last year.  Are Hill and Rasheen Ali only on the field on 3rd down? Are they productive enough in their time where the Ravens could potentially give Henry less than 300 carries? Should holding Henry to under 300 carries even be a goal for the Ravens? Or is the team best served vs. using Henry’s physicality over extended carries? Better to continue to feed Henry and have him eat at the will of opposing defenses?  Does 5th rounder Adam Randall push Ali?

Question – Are the Ravens going to miss Patrick Ricard more than some think? The 3x All-Pro, 6x Pro Bowler followed Harbaugh to the Giants. I understand a salary cap exists in the NFL and you can’t keep everyone. I understand FB’s are generally not in-vogue around the NFL and have been devalued. I think the Ravens have long-benefited by taking a contrarian view compared to most of the NFL, and continuing to feature a traditional blocking FB. Think it’s helped not only the running game, but the QB’s as well. And of course further accentuated the physicality the Ravens like to play with. Lucas Scott is in camp trying to earn a spot. FB is his 5th position in 5 years. I’m rooting for Scott to make the roster, and hopefully be good enough to contribute.

Like – I liked the selection of Vega Ioane. The 14th overall selection of the 2026 Draft checks all the boxes in-terms of bringing immediate strength, power, and young legs to the Ravens O-Line. I’m hopeful that Roger Rosengarten is ready to take a bit of leap in his 3rd year. Ethan Pocic was a pretty good late addition at Center, at-least in-terms of upside. He was a College All-American, and a 2nd round pick of Seattle in 2017. He had earned a contract extension with Cleveland in 2023. If he stays available, he should help.  I also like that in Danny Pinter they have a decent option behind Pocic. John Simpson was brought back to the Ravens, and will take over at LG.  Simpson stays on the field, is strong, and plays with an edge. Those are all positives. If he can be league average at Guard, that’s probably a win for the Ravens.  Year 11 is arriving for Ronnie Stanley, and you can generally still feel good about him at LT.  Emery Jones and Andrew Vorhees with Pinter is some solid line depth.  This group might not be an upper-echelon O-Line, but I generally like what Ravens GM Eric DeCosta has been able to accomplish here. I expect Ioane to be good immediately. If Rosengarten is stronger, and better in the run-game this year; that would go a long way to this being a productive unit.

Question – I liked the addition of Pocic. But he did turn 31 earlier this week, and is coming off of a Achilles suffered in Week 14 last year. He’s also never played in all 17 games of a season, though he has been pretty durable the last few years in Cleveland before the injury last year. While I generally feel pretty good about him, there has to be some question of if he will stay available. It also needs to be said that even in a best case scenario from Pocic, he doesn’t figure to be as good as the departed Tyler Linderbaum. Simpson brings some positives to the table at LG, but there also issues. He typically has graded as slightly below average at Guard, and has previously accumulated a lot of penalties. Can he curb the amount of flags he typically sees?   Stanley’s 2024 Pro Bowl season was really good. The biggest difference between Stanley’s ’24 and his ’25 season, is that Stanley’s production in pass-protection dropped. Can Doyle get the ball out of Jackson’s hands a bit quicker more often? That would figure to help Stanley and his fellow lineman in-general. Of course Jackson being able to extend plays, and create opportunities for the offense is part of his greatness so it’s a push-and-pull situation.

Like –  In the Draft the Ravens added WR Ja’Kobi Lane in the 3rd round, and WR Elijah Sarratt in the 4th round. They also added TE Matthew Hibner also in the 4th round, and fellow TE Josh Cuevas in the 5th. Lane is having a big Training Camp, and that reduces some of the anxiety which would otherwise exist. I liked Sarratt at Indiana. We’ve seen the big play potential of Decontez Walker in his first two years in the league. Durham Smythe should get a lot of time as a more traditional blocking TE opposite of Mark Andrews.  Obviously Zay Flowers is a quality weapon, and I thought he was deserving of the contract extension he just signed. Glad he will continue to be in the fold. Andrews is coming off a rough year (for him), but I’m still glad to have him. Don’t expect him to get the 113 targets he had in ’22, but won’t surprise me if his 8.8 yard per catch average in ’25 goes back up near his 12.3 yard per catch career average in ’26. The ankle injuries Rashod Bateman had last year resulted in a completely lost season for him. There is still ability there.

Question – There is still ability there with Bateman, but there are major questions too. The ankle injuries Bateman had last year were real, but there can’t be another season where he gives the Ravens nothing. That lost year also came after he signed a contract extension last Summer. In ’24, Bateman played in all 17 games, and had 72 targets. He averaged 16.8 years per catch on his 45 grabs, and had 9 TD’s. Can he match that production? I’d don’t need him to match the ’24 ypc average. I’d be happy if he stays available weekly, and can consistently help move the chains. Become a threat on 3rd down. Make some contested grabs. I like the Walker, Lane, Sarratt trio. I think there is potential there for them to help. I’d like to slow the breaks on the camp hype from Lane a bit.  It’s good that he’s opening eyes, and that it looks like he can give you something immediately. Going into the Draft, the ’25 Honorable Mention Big Ten WR saw a lot of scouting reports which questioned his ability to play through contact. My question overall with the WR’s is that outside of Flowers, who can you rely on? Who is going to show-up consistently? Given what exists around them, I’m glad to have Andrews back. Had it been a choice of one or the other, I would have liked to have been able to retain Isaiah Likely over him though. Won’t surprise me if Andrews has 50 catches and 600 yards; but I wish I wasn’t going into the year with lingering questions about why his production dropped so much last year. There were lots of weeks he was basically invisible last year. Does that happen again in ’26, or can he again be a presence? I was disappointed that the Ravens weren’t able to keep Charlie Kolar.  Smythe is coming off back-to-back seasons where he had a total of 13 receptions. He did have a four year stretch (’20-’23) where he averaged 27.5 receptions per year. Maybe he gets a bit more involved with the Ravens than he has the last two seasons with Miami and the Bears. As long as he can block as advertised, I’ll be happy there. Everyone likes Flowers.  I think everyone would like him that much better if he was your 2nd WR.

Like – One of my favorite likes so far – Welcome back Nnamdi Madubuike!  It was feared his career was over, and instead the All-Pro is back available. That’s huge. Travis Jones earned the contract extension he signed last December. Calais Campbell is back with the Ravens, and entering Year 19 in the NFL. The future Hall of Famer endured horrible personal tragedy this Summer with his family, and we feel horrible for him with that. But keeping this with the Ravens, I was excited about his addition. Maybe that excitement sounds a bit much considering Campbell turns 40 September 6th, but the 6’8 300 lb has long been known not just as a great talent, but also a fantastic individual that adds to any roster. Another adult in the room. Another coach as a player. That’s a quality add, that can help situationally. Keep him healthy and available for games in January. After the Maxx Crosby saga, the Ravens pivoted to Trey Hendrickson. All of the talk in March was that Hendrickson doesn’t set the Edge like Crosby. Okay, that counts, that’s fair.  He can rush the QB. He had back-to-back 17.5 sack seasons in ’23 and ’24.  Tavius Robinson has flashed the last two years as a pass rusher. Zion Young was the Ravens 2nd round pick out of Missouri. John Jenkins and Broderick Washington give the DL additional beef and depth. Mike Green had 3.5 sacks as a rookie. In Year 2, it feels like he could really emerge with the attention Hendrickson figures to command. I’ve seen a lot of complaints about Roquan Smith from Ravens fans the last two years. NFL Executives and Coaches recently ranked him as the 2nd best Off-Ball LB entering ’26.

Question – Hendrickson missed 10 games during ’25, and had a core muscle surgery in December. Obviously the Ravens need him consistently available. Madubuike being back at all is a win. The question right now is what level is he at? He was awesome in ’23. ’24 was a bit of a step back. In ’25 he was limited to 2 games. Can he stay available? How good is he right now? How many snaps a game is realistic?  It’s Year 4 for Trenton Simpson. There is an opportunity for him to step-up, will he take it? Teddye Buchanan had a very nice Rookie season last year, and then suffered an ACL tear in December. The Ravens seem to be very enthusiastic about Buchanan getting back sooner than later, but we will still need to see it.

Like – The Ravens starting Secondary is Kyle Hamilton, Malaki Starks, Nate Wiggins, Chidobe Awuzie, and Marlon Humphrey.  Hamilton is the best there is. Starks and Wiggins both have pedigree and upside.That’s a strong group, which will only be better if there is a more consistent pass rush in-front of them as expected. Jaylinn Hawkins, and TJ Tampa are good depth. Keyon Martin, and Chandler Rivers will fight for time at the Slot Corner.

Question – Humphrey struggled often during ’25, targeted often by opposing QB’s and he was picked on. Part of that was nagging injuries, and part of that was him just being that much older. This is year 10 for Humphrey. Generally, I feel like he’s been under appreciated. He’s a 2x All-Pro (the last being ’24), and a 4x Pro Bowler. He doesn’t have to lead this group at this point of his career, but he can really elevate this group overall if he rebounds from last year. Year 2 for Starks, I want to see him fully emerge this year.  Similarly it’s Year 3 for Wiggins. In ’25, his snap count went way up, and he had moments where he looked good. He also had times that like Humphrey he was picked on. Came out after the season that he spent most of the 2nd half of ’25 dealing with a nagging groin-injury. By all accounts, he’s having a quality Training Camp. He’s supposedly added some needed strength. He doesn’t have to be Deion Sanders or Darrelle Revis locking down half the field; but you need him taking the challenge of matching-up against the best opposing WR each week.

Question – Prior to ’25, game-day kicking footballs were kept under lock and key by game officials and handed to special teams units right before kickoff. Those balls were stiff. Before the ’25 season, a rule change allowed for teams to get 60 balls before the season to break in. This created a ’25 season where kickers had the average distance of field goal makes rise considerably. This will continue in ’26.  Basically there is a before and after in evaluating kicking from ’25 on.  Tyler Loop joined the Ravens last year as a Rookie, having to replace the greatest ever Kicker in the pre 2025 environment. That was hard enough. During his rookie campaign, he generally looked uncomfortable. He was 30 of 34 on FG attempts, and made 8 of 9 attempts from 40-49 yards, but was just 1 of 3 from 50+.  The miss from 40-49 was the 44 yard attempt vs. Pittsburgh in Week 18. Beyond the misses, after years of watching Tucker hit attempts down the middle, it was a bit eye-brow raising to see Loop look less accurate. He also missed 2 extra-points. Part of me wants to give Loop the benefit of the doubt. Believe he was in a tough position replacing someone that was historically great. Figure he will be better going into Year 2.  The other part of me thinks he’s one bad miss early in the year from completely losing the fanbase.  That’s not a great situation. Also, when the entire league is now attempting and hitting from greater distances; more needs to be asked of him this season.  We will see how he responds. At Punter, Jordan Stout had a Pro Bowl season and left to join Harbaugh in New York. The Ravens replaced him with their 6th round selection Ryan Eckley.  How good Loop and Eckley are will directly influence multiple games.

Like – In 2024 the Defense finished 6th in Defensive DVOA, and in ’25 they finished 16th. Even coming off of that ’24 ranking, there weren’t a lot of local backers for former Ravens DC Zach Orr. As the team production dropped in ’25, Orr absorbed most of the criticism. Fair or not, I like that the Ravens moved on. Not just because I think the new staff will be better, but because it allows the fanbase to turn the page as well. Minter is going to be the primary defensive play-caller. So, not only are you getting his strengths as a Coach – the buck falls on him.  Harbaugh had / has his strengths, but it was tiring over the years to hear how many times he absolved himself from the decision making process of his Coordinators. Minter has a great reputation as a defensive coach. The Ravens saw that first hand when he was here during his first stint as an Assistant. What he did at Michigan, and with the Chargers as their DC speaks for itself.  Bringing on Anthony Weaver (former Raven player and Coach) as the DC, with a focus on the Front 7 seems like a win. As does bringing on Mike Mickens for the Secondary.  Everything you read says the Ravens Defense is going to be ‘fast, violent, aggressive.’  Their going to be hunting turnovers. Their going to be more advanced schematically. And they have the players to be versatile.  On Offense, Doyle was the Coordinator last year for Chicago and had success. Love seeing the reports about how players are raving about his attention to detail.

Question – I’m excited about the Coaching changes.  But the flip-side does have to be mentioned. You went from long-term stability to a first time NFL Head Coach. Being great at X’s and O’s (which Minter is regarded as) doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be great at leading men.  A Coordinator’s job is more about scheme.  A Head Coach’s job is more about keeping everyone rowing in the same direction. When it’s Training Camp, and everyone is excited about a new season, it’s relatively easy to stand in-front of the Press.  When you’ve had a tough loss, that job will become harder.  When/if the team faces real adversity, how do you respond? My sense is that 43 year old Minter will handle things well. I expect he will be able to connect with the locker-room. But there will be questions that are unanswerable until you see them unfold. I’m not going to be rooting for the Ravens to lose 4 of 5 games, or for Minter to make a poor decision with the clock. But if something like that happens, and the public becomes a bit antsy; is Minter able to keep the team focused?

The post Ravens: Likes And Questions As The Season Nears appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

The devil or the raven is in the details, a new matte black helmet, and black talon stripes are nice touches but overall, the shirts and pants don’t look that different from the changes they made almost twenty-seven seasons ago. I have a feeling that with all eyes on Eric DeCosta to have a superb draft class he will lean more on the team’s history for the kind players that they will add this week, although I wouldn’t mind a few more risks.

Best Player Available vs. Biggest Needs

For years, Baltimore has trusted their board and often let the draft come to them. It’s a philosophy that has served them well over the years, but the question isn’t if it works, it’s is that that works now for this draft.

DeCosta has stated that he feels that the talent level falls off midway through Round One, so that could make Baltimore’s pick a sweet spot to land a blue-chip prospect at number 14.

Most experts and mocks are predicting the team will prioritize interior lineman or pass catchers for Lamar Jackson. While Connor Lew (Auburn) is the top-rated Center, many believe that the team will go instead with Vega Ioane the huge blocker from Penn State, or Spencer Fano (Utah), a versatile blocker who could fill multiple roles up front.

There have also been some sites that have linked offensive weapons like Makai Lemon (USC) who could be paired with Zay Flowers or Tight End Kenyon Sadiq (Oregon)who has 4.39 speed and would help solidify a depleted Tight End room with the losses of Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar.

Of course, there is always the possibility of trading back to gather more draft capital but with Baltimore holding eleven picks in the draft I don’t think that seems likely.

I think the Ravens stay on brand here and select Vega Ioane who seems to be the most frequent projection, has a bit of a mean streak and has the most plug and play potential available. Sometimes the best player out there fits a glaring need, as well.

Building Around Lamar – What’s missing?

The structure around the two-time MVP has been the focus and will continue to be so in Baltimore if they are to return the playoffs and make a run.

The team still has holes on the Offensive line especially with the departure of Tyler Linderbaum. A possible replacement could be Logan Jones, a Rimington trophy winner who attended the same school also is a possibility to play right away.

With Rashod Batman’s inconsistency issues returning and the need for more depth aside from Devontez Walker Baltimore could look to add to the receiving corps. The second and third rounds could offer some help there with Germie Bernard (Alabama) being a popular selection with 4.48 speed as well as Tai Felton (Maryland) who also could be a dangerous alternative. The Ravens also could find their Tight End here too. Eli Stowers (Vanderbilt) has had a formal combine with the team and is a favorite of Mel Kiper, while Mason Taylor (LSU) may also be a possibility.

Plenty of Needs

With 11 picks, DeCosta is expected to be aggressive and with multiple fifth round picks at his disposal he should be. He could look to package picks to trade up if one of the Ravens main targets is in danger of being snapped up.

I mentioned earlier about the strategy of best player against need. I feel like the Ravens will lean more into needs due to so many players leaving due to free agency. Having cost-controlled talent that can help you will be important in 2026.

I expect during the first several rounds for Baltimore that they reinvest in both lines. It was a sign of weakness last season when it came to protecting Lamar and being able to get penetration on the defensive side. Jesse Minter’s defense relies on getting pressure with the interior and being able to drop the rest into coverage and doesn’t blitz much.

Here’s how I see it:

First Round (14) -Vega Ioane (OG) (Penn State) – He did not allow a single sack in 2025 and is a mauler type that reasserts a physical presence along the line.

Second Round (45) – Caleb Banks (DT) (Florida) – 6’6” Game wrecker with a quick first step and a ton of potential.

Third Round (80) – Connor Lew (IOL) (Auburn) – The Ravens have a history of drafting Centers and he’s the best option available there.

Fourth Round (115) – Chris McClellan (DL) (Missouri) – Added depth piece to a rebuilding Defensive Line.

That’s much of the early draft capital being devoted to the lines. In the latter rounds, there is a need for coverage at Running Back, Corner, and a starting Punter. Jeff Yurk was an All-American Punter at Elon and is a rising prospect that the Ravens may draft in the seventh round to eliminate a bidding war with other teams such as Minnesota. Yurk had a private workout with Baltimore and the interest in him in reported to be significant.

The post Third And Short: Draft Week Edition appeared first on Baltimore Sports and Life.

Before getting into where the Ravens might be looking on draft day, which positions are deepest, and guessing who they will ultimately select, here are a few indicators from drafts past.

Baltimore’s last five 1st-round picks were safety Malaki Starks, cornerback Nate Wiggins, wide receiver Zay Flowers, safety Kyle Hamilton, and wide receiver Rashod Bateman.

Baltimore’s last five second picks (not necessarily 2nd rounders) have been edge defender Mike Green, offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten, linebacker Trenton Simpson, center Tyler Linderbaum, and edge defender Odafe Oweh.

In the last five drafts, Baltimore’s first pick was a defensive back or wide receiver, and 80 percent of their second picks have been an edge defender or offensive lineman.

It’s no surprise to see that, because when you look at the way the NFL is going in terms of game flow, it’s becoming more and more about passing and, of course, defending the pass.

Like I said it’s no surprise, but just because a pattern is out there doesn’t mean teams have discipline to stay consistent like the Ravens do. It’s also worth noting that just because a player is drafted early does not in any way mean he will be a productive player in the NFL.

In other words, knowing what to do and having the plan and ability to execute on what to do are two different things.

I can’t help but think of the Ravens making multiple picks at offensive line and one at every defensive position. Baltimore’s average sacks allowed over the past five seasons comes in at 41. For reference, league leaders generally allow sacks in the low-20s, and the worst teams allow sacks in the low 50s. There’s so much to that number, but it still screams draft offensive linemen, early and often!

In that same time span, the Ravens have allowed an average of 349 points per season. They also had three different defensive coordinators (Martindale 2021, Macdonald 2022-23, Orr 2024-25). In fact, Baltimore has never made the playoffs when they’ve allowed more than 361 points in a season. Last year (398 points allowed) was no exception.

Who can step in, then, and help the Ravens right away? I think Trey Hendrickson is going to be the Ravens’ version of Pete Alonso. Somehow, this all-star specialist came available—at a position of need, no less—and Baltimore got him. Still, the Ravens should draft another edge rusher given recent injury and turnover at the position.

Looking ahead to where the Ravens might go in this year’s draft, I wanted to present to you all my Top 5 list at the Top 5 most important positions for the Ravens. As we know, Baltimore rarely drafts based on need, but when Lamar Jackson is in his prime and the offensive line is in desperate need of rejuvenation, they might just be forced to bypass their customary wide receiver selection in favor of a stud offensive lineman.

Here are top prospects at each of the most critical positions:

Offensive Guard

• Vega Ioane, Penn State, 6’4”, 320 lbs., 32 3/4″ arm, 10 1/2” hand
• Emmanuel Pregnon, Oregon,  6’4”, 314 lbs., 33 5/8” arm, 11” hand, 1.82 second 10-yard split
• Gennings Dunker, Iowa, 6’5”, 319 lbs., 33 1/2″ arm, 10” hand, 1.83 second 10-yard split
• Chase Bisontis, Texas A&M, 6’5”, 315 lbs., 31 3/4″ arm, 9 3/4” hand, 1.76 second 10-yard split
• Keylan Rutledge, Georgia Tech, 6’4”, 316 lbs., 33 1/4″ arm, 10” hand, 1.81 second 10-yard split

Wide Receiver

• Makai Lemon, Southern Cal, 5’11”, 192 lbs., 30 1/2” arm, 8 3/4″ hand, 4.46 second 40-yard dash
• Jordyn Tyson, Arizona State, 6’2”, 203 lbs., 30 1/4″ arm, 9 1/8” hand
• Chris Brazzell II, Tennessee, 6’4”, 198 lbs., 32 3/8” arm, 9” hand, 4.37 second 40-yard dash
• KC Concepcion, Texas A&M, 6’0”, 196 lbs., 30 1/4″ arm, 9 1/4″ hand
• Omar Cooper, Indiana, 6’0”, 199 lbs., 30 1/4″ arm, 9 5/8” hand, 4.42 second 40-yard dash

Cornerback

• Mansoor Delane, LSU, 6’0”, 187 lbs., 30” arm, 8 7/8” hand, 4.35 second 40-yard dash
• Jermod McCoy, Tennessee, 6’1”, 188 lbs., 31 1/4″ arm, 9” hand, 4.37 second 40-yard dash
• Keith Abney II, Arizona State, 5’10”, 187 lbs., 30” arm, 9 3/4″ hand, 4.46 second 40-yard dash
• Keionte Scott, Miami (FL), 5’11”, 193 lbs., 31 3/8” arm, 9 5/8” hand, 4.33 second 40-yard dash
• Avieon Terrell*, Clemson, 5’11”, 186 lbs., 31” arm, 8 5/8” hand

*He was my No. 2 corner before his recent hamstring injury

Linebacker

• Sonny Styles, Ohio State, 6’5”, 244 lbs., 32 7/8” arm, 10” hand, 4.46 second 40-yard dash
• Jacob Rodriguez, Texas Tech, 6’1”, 231 lbs., 30 7/8” arm, 9 1/4″ hand, 4.57 second 40-yard dash
• Anthony Hill Jr, Texas, 6’2”, 238 lbs., 32 3/8” arm, 9 5/8” hand, 4.51 second 40-yard dash
• Josiah Trotter, Missouri, 6’2”, 237 lbs., 32 1/4″ arm, 10 1/4″ hand
• Deontae Lawson, Alabama, 6’3”, 226 lbs., 31 7/8” arm, 9 1/4″ hand

Defensive Line

• Rueben Bain, Miami (FL), 6’2”, 263 lbs., 30 7/8” arm, 9 1/8” hand
• Kayden McDonald, Ohio State, 6’2”, 326 lbs., 32 1/4″ arm, 9 3/4″ hand
• Peter Woods, Clemson, 6’2 1/2″, 298 lbs., 31 1/4″ arm, 9 1/8” hand
• LT Overton, Alabama, 6’3”, 274 lbs., 33 1/4″ arm, 10 5/8” hand
• Caleb Banks, Florida, 6’6”, 327 lbs., 35” arm, 10 7/8” hand

The good news is that the Ravens, though coming off of a losing season, are in good overall shape personnel-wise. That said, they need to “hit” on their first three picks if they want to maximize the totality of talent on their roster. Meaning, they don’t need a lot of depth, but they do have a few pressing needs at the top of their depth chart.

Given all of that, and without factoring any more free agent moves, here’s my best guess of what the Ravens should do come April 23-25, courtesy of Stick to the Model:

Round 1, Pick 18 (projected trade with Minnesota—14 overall for 18 and 49 overall) Jermod McCoy, Cornerback, Tennessee

Round 2, Pick 45 Gennings Dunker, Guard, Iowa

Round 2, Pick 49 (via Minnesota) Elijah Sarratt, Wide Receiver, Indiana

Round 3, Pick 80 Logan Jones, Center, Iowa

Round 4, Pick 115 Oscar Delp, Tight End, Georgia

Round 5, Pick 154 Bryce Boettcher, Inside Linebacker, Oregon

Round 5, Pick 162 Skyler Gill-Howard, Defensive Tackle, Texas Tech

Round 5, Pick 173 Louis Moore, Safety, Indiana

Round 5, Pick 174 Keagen Trost, Tackle, Missouri

Round 6, Pick 186 (projected trade with New York Giants—250, 253 overall, and a 2027 6th-round pick for 186 overall) Trey Moore, Outside Linebacker, Texas

Round 7, Pick 211 Luke Altmyer, Quarterback, Illinois

Bottom line: if Lamar Jackson stays healthy, Derrick Henry gets the ball inside the 10-yard line, Kyle Hamilton does his thing, and Mike Green takes the next step, Baltimore should be in great shape.

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