Offense 

This Baltimore Ravens offense is for the most the same it was heading into last season, just a year older and a few notable additions that could have an impact here. 

In the QB we all know just how special Lamar Jackson is and while some may be frustrated or down on him due to his lack of success in the playoffs I just simply don’t view him in that light. Jackson is a multi MVP for a reason and while he may play differently that some others at the position he’s absolutely incredible and while you can argue the playoff success I would turn that back around and point to the fact they’ve only had one season where they didn’t win 10 games with Jackson at the helm, that year being 2021 where Jackson only played in 12 games and had the Ravens at 7-5 when he was on the field. I get he has his flaws and has struggled in the playoffs at times but at the end of the of the day Jackson is top five QB in the league and keeps you in contention no matter who else is on the field. The addition of Cooper Rush from Dallas was a solid addition in my opinion and while you would obviously have to limit your playbook with him at QB if Jackson were to get injured but that goes for nearly every backup QB in the league. While Rush may not be a top end backup he’s someone I trust to keep a team competent while they get their starter back and a lot of teams don’t even feel great about their starter let alone have a solid option off the bench. 

Along the OL this starting group is largely the same and for good reason. This group certainly had their struggles early on last season but by the end of the year they really rounded into shape and so long as you can keep Ronnie Stanley on the field you have a really solid starting five of Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Vorhees, Tyler Linderbaum, Daniel Faalele, and Roger Rosenagrten. While there is some concerns with Stanley and his inconsistency of health they did a solid job of bringing in a vet T in Joseph Noteboom who can be serviceable for a game here and there along with also bringing in Emory Jones Jr (LSU) who can certainly compete at RT but I believe may be more of a G at the NFL level. Whether it’s G or T for Jones Jr I trust the Ravens to get the best out of him moving forward.

As for the RB, WR, and TE rooms they largely kept these groups the same which is hard to disagree with when you watched them last season. It’s a really talented RB room with Justice Hill, Keaton Mitchell, and of course Derrick Henry who continues to shrug off father time and show just how special of a player he has been and continues to be within his career. You know for the most part what your getting out of Henry and Hill but if they can get Mitchell healthy and on the field he could add a real pop of explosiveness out of the backfield that they lacked in relief of Henry last season. As for the WR room they added Deandre Hopkins who adds a little more versatility for this team going into next year. While Hopkins is largely a big slot at this point in his career he can still slide to the outside and that allows you to be more flexible with Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman and because of that you can now be a little less predictable as far as alignments go. Hopkins should also be a nice steady pair of hands for Jackson in crucial have to have it spots which they’ve lacked for years now aside from Mark Andrews and he also gives them a big body red zone threat that they haven’t had either. You also have some nice depth pieces in Devontez Walker, Tylan Wallace, and the 6th round rookie LaJohntay Webster (Colorado) that may not be starters this year but give you options in relief of some injuries or rest time for guys that doesn’t totally kill parts of your passing game. 

Defense 

As far as this Ravens defense goes I think the conversation really has to start with the secondary and how interesting this room has gotten this offseason. Last season they struggled early on in the year especially on the outside with Brandon Stephens (Jets) having a down year and Nate Wiggins struggling a bit as a rookie. As the season went on they started to “progress to the mean” so to speak and you saw some of the young guys really step up. This year you’re replacing Brandon Stephens with your new signing of Jaire Alexander and while there’s obvious health concerns with Alexander he’s very clearly a better CB than Stephens. Not only did you add Alexander to this CB room you also added Robert Longerbeam (Rutgers) and even Longerbeam is a 6th round pick and I don’t expect him to start or really play significant snaps this season I had to mention him because this guy will almost certainly develop for this team and be a really solid CB for them down the road. Not to mention they also added Bilhal Kone (Western Michigan) in the draft that has real talent as well and absolutely has a shot at developing into a starter here and they have solid depth from in TJ Tampa, Jalyn Armour-Davis, and a veteran Chidobe Awuzie. Now onto the S position where they had one of the steals of the draft in my opinion in Malaki Starks (Georgia). Starks fits into this team perfectly being their over the top S that flies around on the back end while Kyle Hamilton wrecks game plans around the LOS. I understand Starks didn’t test the greatest and may not be the most physically impressive player but the fluidity to his game and the effortlessness that he shows on the field when doing some really special things is just flat out unreal. I’m not saying he’s going to be Ed Reed by any means but I think he’ll be the new version of that for the Ravens. Starks from all accounts is a great teammate, a leader in the locker room and field, and he’s clearly one of the smartest players every time he steps on the field. Starks is a home run pick and while it’s terrible to lose Ar’Darius Washington (Achilles) for what looks to be most of if not the entire year this guy being on your team certainly eases the pain in that S room and secondary as a whole.

Now onto what has made the Ravens such an iconic team for the past couple decades, the front seven. Once again this team retained most of the players from last season and for good reason but in this group of positions they made some solid additions as well. Adding Mike Green (Marshall), Aeneas Peebles (Virginia Tech), and Teddye Buchanan (Cal) all through the draft is exactly what you expect from a very smart Ravens front office. They took shots on Green (multiple sexual assault allegations) and Peebles (odd frame fro IDL) falling in the draft granted for very different reasons but either way getting talent on your roster for cheaper than they should be is always a plus and shows why this team continues to develop talent so well and even when they took Buchanan a touch higher in the draft than expected he’s a high character and effort player that will at the very least be a special teams/rotational player for you. While Green’s situation is murky and disgusting if true to say the least he’s a guy that could have gone in the top 10-20 picks based off the film and if you can get his head on straight you will have more talent that what the pick represents. Aside from the additions you have a high level starting group across this entire front seven (Broderick Washington, Travis Jones, Nnamdi Madubuike, Kyle Van Noy, Trenton Simpson, Roquan Smith, Odafe Oweh) that will continue to wreck havoc for offenses across the league with their pliability and aggressiveness up front. Not to mention you also have some real depth pieces here as well with Adisa Isaac, Tavius Robinson, David Ojabo, and a vet in John Jenkins. 

Overview 

• This Ravens organization has built one of the best rosters in the league with high level starters across all sides of the ball, depth at spots that have questionable health/talent, and a unique amount of continuity in the building as well. You have an MVP level QB with one of the best supporting casts he’s had in his entire career along with great coaching and because of all of those factors I have the Ravens once again winning the AFC North and gearing in the playoffs for a run at the Super Bowl once again. It’s a long difficult road and to say for certain this Ravens team or any team for that matter will be in it let alone win it is not somewhere I’m willing to go but they’re certainly one of my favorites and I feel comfortable saying this team barring health will be right back in that race for the AFC title.