Five Things We Learned About The 2026 Baltimore Ravens Before The Season Opener

This offseason was a whirlwind for the Baltimore Ravens.

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.