Quarterback

Going into 2025, the Ravens had high expectations, after finishing the 2024 season ranked 1st in schedule adjusted efficiency. However, they finished the season 8-9 and out of the playoffs entirely, as everything that could go wrong did go wrong. Their defense was ravaged by injuries, totaling the 3rd most adjusted games lost to injury in the league. Their offense did not have the same total amount of injuries, but they had the most important one, as quarterback Lamar Jackson wasn’t healthy for most of the season, even if he only actually missed 4 games. 

Despite all that, the Ravens still would have made the playoffs if they hadn’t missed a makeable field goal at the end of their week 18 winner-take-all clash for the division against the Steelers. In total, the Ravens went 1-4 in one-score games and if just one or two of those had flipped, they still would have made the post-season, despite all of their injuries. In terms of schedule adjusted efficiency, the Ravens finished the season ranked 11th, including a 11th ranked offense and a 15th ranked defense.

Jackson’s injuries primarily affected his rushing ability, as he averaged just 5.1 carries per game and 3.98 yards per carry in nine games after suffering his first injury, down from 9.8 carries per game and 6.06 yards per carry in 107 total starts in his career. His passing numbers were still in line with his career averages, completing 63.6% of his passes (64.8% for his career), for 8.44 YPA (7.83 for his career), and 21 touchdowns to 7 interceptions (187 to 56 for his career), but his rushing ability is what makes him special and that was severely hampered last season as he tried to play through multiple lower body injuries.

This now makes it four seasons out of seven full seasons as a starter in which he has suffered some sort of significant injury. His rushing ability is what makes him special, but it also puts him in harm’s way more often than most quarterbacks and, as he gets older, injuries will only become more frequent and will likely lead to him not playing at an elite level for as long as most elite quarterbacks. However, in his three healthy seasons, he has either been the MVP or the MVP runner up and he’s still only going into his age 29 season, so his upside is as high as any quarterback in the league if he can avoid significant injuries.

The Ravens weirdly opted to bring in Cooper Rush as their backup quarterback last off-season, even though he is stylistically the opposite as Jackson, rather than bringing back long-time backup Tyler Huntley, who was closer to Jackson stylistically and more familiar with the scheme, but the Ravens opted to change course mid-season after Rush struggled in Jackson’s absence. Huntley only ended up throwing 67 passes all season, but he played as well as he ever had, completing 77.6% of his passes for an average of 6.36 YPA, 2 touchdowns, and no interceptions, while also adding 6.29 YPC on 24 carries. 

Huntley was kept this off-season to give them a trusted insurance policy in case Jackson misses more time. In six seasons in the league, Huntley has started 16 games and completed 66.2% of his passes for an average of 5.93 YPA, 13 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions, while rushing for 4.82 YPC and 5 touchdowns on 165 carries. He’s obviously a downgrade from Jackson and the Ravens would be in a lot of trouble if Jackson missed significant time again, but Huntley is at least a better option than Rush. The Ravens would likely be back to being Super Bowl contenders if Jackson is at his best, but that is a big if.

Grade: A

Offensive Line

One big problem for the Ravens’ offense is the center position, where Tyler Linderbaum, who was one of the best centers in the league last season, left as a free agent and, in his absence, they have arguably the worst center situation in the league. Free agent addition Danny Pinter is the only player on their roster with any real experience at center. A veteran utility linemen, Pinter has only made ten starts in six seasons in the league, seven of which came at center, and he has been a liability wherever he has played. Now going into his age 30 season, I would expect him to be a massive liability if he becomes a full-time starter for the first time in his career.

Other options include Corey Bullock, a 2024 undrafted free agent who has played 13 career snaps and 2023 7th round pick Jovaughn Gwyn, who has only played 11 career snaps, as well as potentially Andrew Vorhees, who has never played center and who was benched at guard after being a liability across 20 career starts, and Emery Jones, a hybrid guard/tackle who played 48 snaps as a 3rd round rookie last season and who has also never played center. Center figures to be a big position of weakness for the Ravens’ offense this season.

Guard was a position of weakness for the Ravens last season, with Vorhees and free agent departure Daniel Faalele both being liabilities as the starters. The right guard position was definitely upgraded, with the Ravens using their first round pick on Vega Ioane, who was the best pure guard prospect in the draft and could easily be an above average starter immediately. The left guard position is a little bit more of a concern, with the Ravens set to start free agent addition John Simpson, who they signed to a 3-year, 30 million dollar deal this off-season.

This is a reunion for Ravens and Simpson, who started 17 games at left guard in Baltimore in 2023, but he struggled that season, as he has throughout most of his career (72 starts in six seasons in the league). The exception was 2024, when he was a solid starter in 17 starts with the Jets, so it is possible the Ravens could get at least decent play out of him, but most likely he will be a liability, albeit not necessarily a downgrade from Vorhees. It’s also possible the Ravens bench Simpson for Emery Jones, who fits best at guard and has the talent to potentially start long-term, but Simpson’s contract, which includes 17.5 million guaranteed, suggests he will at least get the first chance to start.

The tackle position is a position of relative strength for the Ravens. Ronnie Stanley has been a high level left tackle in his career and was a well above average starter as recently as 2024, but he has had a lot of injuries in his career, missing time in all ten seasons in the league, with 45 games missed total, and he is now heading into his age 32 season. Between his age and injury history, he has definitely seen better days and could easily continue declining and continue being injury prone in 2026.

With Stanley aging and being injury prone and uncertainty on the interior of the offensive line, it is  very possible right tackle Roger Rosengarten will be the Ravens’ best offensive lineman this season. A 2nd round pick in 2024, Rosengarten was a solid starter as a rookie and then was better in year two, especially excelling in pass protection, ranking 2nd among offensive tackles in pass block win rate and allowing just 3 sacks all season. He’s a bright spot on an offensive line that could easily be underwhelming overall, with likely weaknesses at center and guard.

Grade: B-

Receiving Corps

The Ravens’ receiving corps was also a bit of a weakness last season. Zay Flowers put up big numbers as the #1 receiver, totaling a 86/1210/5 slash line with 2.53 yards per route run on 118 targets, a career best year for the 2023 1st round pick who also had 77/858/5 slash line with 1.64 yards per route run on 106 targets in 2023 and a 74/1059/4 slash line with 2.25 yards per route run on 116 targets in 2024. However, no other Ravens pass catcher had more than 422 receiving yards last season. Part of that is because the Ravens ranked dead last in the league in pass attempts last season with 422, while also missing their starting quarterback for four games, but the receivers themselves were part of the problem too.

The Ravens also had some pass catchers depart in free agent this off-season, losing wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who played sparingly and who only had a 22/330/2 slash line, but who averaged 1.63 yards per route run, Isaiah Likely, who was once a solid #2 tight end, but struggled last season after missing time with a foot injury early in the year, totaling a 27/307/1 slash line and 1.29 yards per route run, and Charlie Kolar, a great blocking tight end who flashed potential as a receiver with 1.39 yards per route run, but who ultimately only had a 10/142/2 slash line. The Ravens didn’t add any notable veterans to replace them, instead using 3rd and 4th round picks on wide receivers Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt and 4th and 5th round picks on tight ends Matt Hibner and Josh Cuevas. All will have the opportunity to earn significant year one roles.

Zay Flowers should remain the clear #1 receiver, still only going into his age 26 season, but either of the rookies could end the season as the #2 receiver, with their competition being Rashod Bateman, who has only averaged 1.32 yards per route run in his career, and Devontez Walker, a 2024 4th round pick who has flashed potential thus far in his career (1.94 yards per route run), but only across 220 total snaps. Hibner and Cuevas, meanwhile, will compete for the #2 tight end role with mediocre veteran free agent addition Durham Smythe, who has averaged 0.91 yards per route run in eight seasons in the league and isn’t much better as a blocker.

Mark Andrews will remain the #1 tight end, but he is a bit of a concern too and, going into his age 31 season, it wouldn’t be a surprise if Cuevas and Hibner were in part brought in to potentially replace him long-term. Andrews used to be a great receiving tight end, averaging a 71/904/8 slash line per 17 games and 2.11 yards per route run prior to last season, but he fell to a 48/422/5 slash line on 70 targets in 17 games last season, with just 1.23 yards per route run. Now going into his age 31 season, it is likely that Andrews has seen his best days, even if it’s possible he is a little better in 2026 than he was in 2025. This receiving corps has a lot of rookies who could play significant roles, but it is possible they are better overall than they were a year ago if a couple of the rookies are ahead of schedule.

Grade: B-

Running Backs

Running back Derrick Henry still had a great season in 2025, though he wasn’t quite as good as he was in 2024, going from 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns on 325 carries (5.91 YPC) to 1,595 yards and 16 touchdowns on 307 carries (5.20 YPC). In total in his career, he has 13,018 yards and 122 touchdowns on 2,662 carries (4.89 YPC), while averaging 3.64 yards per carry after contact, a 19.0% missed tackle rate, and a 50.9% carry success rate. Henry is going into his age 32 season, which is well past when most even elite running backs start to decline, but Henry has managed to buck the normal trend for his position. He could decline in 2026, which would hurt this offense, but he would have to decline significantly to be less than an above average runner.

Henry’s weakness has always been the passing game, as he has averaged just 1.15 yards per route run and a 21/200/1 slash line per 17 games in his career, but Henry needs to come off the field at some point anyway and taking him out in obvious passing situations has never been a big deal for his teams. Justice Hill has been the primary passing down back over the past three seasons, averaging 1.28 yards per route run and a 38/314/2 slash line per 17 games in that role, and he should remain in that role in 2026. In fact, the Ravens should get more out of him, after injuries limited him to 10 games last season. 

Hill is not much of a runner, with 3.2 carries per game in his career, including just 18 total carries last season, but that would only be an issue if Derrick Henry got hurt and missed multiple games, something that has only happened to him once in his career. The Ravens did plan for the future at the running back position a little bit this off-season, using a 5th round pick on Adam Randall, who would need an injury ahead of him on the depth chart to see any sort of role as a rookie, but who could be in the mix for a role long-term. Derrick Henry’s age is a concern, as is the Ravens’ lack of proven running back depth behind him, but Henry’s upside is still high enough to significantly elevate this position group by himself.

Grade: A-

Edge Defenders

While the Ravens’ offense still has concerns even if Lamar Jackson can stay healthy, with Tyler Linderbaum gone and both Derrick Henry and Mark Andrews on the wrong side of 30, the Ravens’ defense is the biggest reason why they should have a big jump in win total this season. I already mentioned that they should be healthier, after having the third most adjusted games lost to injury last season on that side of the ball. On top of that, they replaced long-time head coach John Harbaugh with a new defensive minded head coach in Jesse Minter, who has gotten the most out of his players whenever he has called plays, something he will continue to do as head coach, and the Ravens also added Trey Hendrickson, the best available free agent edge defender, who upgrades a position that was a significant weakness last season. 

Only one Ravens edge defender had even a 10% pressure rate or better last season and that was Dre’Mont Jones, who only played 9 games for the team, being acquired in a mid-season trade. Jones is gone, but Hendrickson replaces him and he has been one of the best pass rushers in the league over the past few seasons, totaling 74.5 sacks, 79 hits, and a 15.7% pressure rate in 87 games since 2020. He leaves something to be desired as a run defender, he only played in 7 games due to injury last season, and he is now going into his age 32 season and could start to decline, but he doesn’t have a significant injury history outside of last season (four games missed in the previous five seasons) and, even if he declines as a pass rusher, he should still be a significant upgrade for this team in that department. 

The Ravens also used a second round pick on edge defender Zion Young and they have last year’s second round pick Mike Green, who could take a step forward in year two, after struggling both against the run and as a pass rusher (3 sacks, 10 hits, and a 8.5% pressure rate) as a rookie. Tavius Robinson should also see snaps, although hopefully not too many, as he has struggled across 424 snaps per season since being selected in the 4th round in 2023, particularly struggling as a pass rusher, with just a career 6.5% pressure rate. The addition of Trey Hendrickson and Zion Young plus potential improvement from Mike Green should minimize the amount Robinson has to play in an overall improved position group from a year ago.

Grade: B

Interior Defenders

The biggest injury the Ravens had on defense last season was interior defender Nnamdi Madubuike, who missed all but two games with a serious neck injury. Madubuike is only an average run defender, but he was one of the best interior pass rushers in the league prior to the injury, totaling 21.5 sacks, 29 hits, and a 11.4% pressure rate in 36 games since the start of the 2023 season, and he is still only in his age 29 season, so getting him back should really help this defense, even if he might not be 100% in his first year back.

In addition to getting Madubuike back from injury, the Ravens also get back Calais Campbell, a free agent addition who played for the team from 2020-2022. Campbell is the oldest defender in the league, going into his age 40 season, but he still played pretty well last season in a rotational role, playing at a slightly above average level both against the run and as a pass rusher across 524 total snaps, totaling 6.5 sacks, 9 hits, and a 9.7% pressure rate as a pass rusher. 

Campbell obviously isn’t what he was in his prime, when he was one of the best players in the league at his position, but the fact that he is still contributing in a meaningful way at his age is incredible. It’s always possible that he declines significantly this year, given his age, but he has kept himself in great shape and has rarely gotten hurt, missing just 15 total games in his career, with none missed since 2022. He was at the very least a worthwhile re-addition for the Ravens and likely will contribute in a meaningful role as a rotational player this season.

Madubuike and Campbell add to a position group that was led last season by Travis Jones, who stepped up in Madubuike’s absence to play at a career best level across a career high 743 snaps. At his best against the run, Jones also totaled 5 sacks, 4 hits, and a 9.8% pressure rate last season. He also played at an above average level overall across snap counts of 452 and 599 in 2023 and 2024 respectively and he has totaled 7.5 sacks, 11 hits, and a 8.6% pressure rate in 50 games over the past three seasons, in addition to playing at a high level against the run. Still in his prime in his age 27 season, he should continue being an above average pass rusher and run defender, though probably across a smaller snap count, with Madubuike back and Campbell being added.

The Ravens also get Broderick Washington back from an injury that limited him to 102 snaps in 3 games last season, but he has been a consistently below average rotational player in his career and, in a better position group than a year ago, he shouldn’t play more than deep reserve snaps, barring injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. The Ravens also still have John Jenkins, who ranked 2nd among Ravens interior defenders with 523 snaps played last season. Even going into his age 37 season, he is still a decent run defender at 6-3 327 and will probably continue having a limited role in that capacity, but he has never been a good pass rusher (5.2% pressure rate for his career, 3.9% pressure rate last season) and should not see as many snaps as he did last season, especially given his age. In a deeper and more talented position group than a year ago, he won’t have to.

Grade: A-

Linebackers

One of the Ravens’ best defensive players last season was Roquan Smith, who again played at an above average level, both in coverage and against the run, which he has done for several seasons in a row. He was also relatively healthy, only missing two games, which continues a trend for him, with only eight games missed in eight seasons in the league. He should still be in his prime in his age 29 season in 2026, so he should continue playing at a similar level.

The rest of this linebacking corps was a weakness last season though and should remain one this season. Teddye Buchanan, a rookie 4th round pick, started the first 14 of the first 15 games of the season, playing 652 snaps total, and he played about how you’d expect a 4th round rookie linebacker would in a significant role, faring slightly below average. He then tore his ACL and missed the rest of the season, leaving Trenton Simpson as the starter. Simpson had previously been the starter in 2024 before Buchanan beat him out as a rookie and, as you’d expect out of a player who was replaced by a 4th round rookie, Simpson struggled in both 2024 and 2025, across snap counts of 654 and 406 respectively. 

Simpson was a 3rd round rookie in 2023 and is still only going into his age 25 season, so he could have some untapped upside, but he is probably best as a reserve. Buchanan, meanwhile, would be a candidate to take a step forward in year two under normal circumstances, but recovering from a significant injury complicates his projection. He will probably return to the starting role whenever he is able to return, but that might not be in week 1 and he could continue struggling upon his return. Roquan Smith elevates this position group somewhat, but the rest of the bunch is a concern. 

Grade: B

Secondary

The Ravens’ best defensive player last season was safety Kyle Hamilton and that figures to continue being the case in 2026, even with an improved supporting cast. Hamilton has played at an All-Pro level in each of the past three seasons and is still only going into his age 25 season, so his best days could still be in front of him. The 2022 1st round pick has the potential to win Defensive Player of the Year in 2026, or sometime in the near future. Hamilton will continue to start opposite Malaki Starks, the Ravens’ 2025 1st round pick who was solid in 17 starts as a rookie. He could easily take another step forward in 2026 and become an above average starter. 

Nate Wiggins and Marlon Humphrey remain as the starting outside cornerbacks in sub packages. Wiggins, the Ravens’ 1st round pick in 2024, has been solid in two seasons in the league, across snap counts of 679 and 1,029 respectively. He was a little better as a rookie in a smaller role than he was in 2025, but he could easily bounce back in 2026 or have his best season yet, still only in his age 23 season, with a high upside. Humphrey, meanwhile, is also a former first round pick, back in 2017. He’s mostly been an above average starter in his career (113 starts in 131 games in nine seasons in the league), but he was closer to an average starter in 2025 and now is heading into his age 30 season, so his best days could be behind him. 

The 5th defensive back job in sub packages is up for grabs, with the Ravens losing safety Alohi Gilman this off-season, after he was decent in that role last season. The Ravens signed free agent Jaylinn Hawkins and he started 15 games for the Patriots last season, meaning they could continue primarily using three safeties together in sub packages, but Hawkins was marginal at best last season, which is on par with how he’s played in his career (47 starts in 90 games in 6 seasons in the league), so he is at least somewhat of a downgrade from Gilman. 

The other option is veteran cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, who played 558 snaps last season and was decent. He has been an average to above average cornerback in his career (86 starts in 108 games in nine seasons in the league), but he is going into his age 31 season, so he isn’t what he used to be. He also has a pretty significant injury history, missing 34 games in the past six seasons combined. At the very least, he figures to have somewhat of a role in this defense regardless of whether or not he is the primary 5th defensive back and, in a limited role, he is not a bad option. 

The Ravens also added Chandler Rivers in the 5th round of the draft to give them a potential long-term option, though he is unlikely to have a role as a rookie unless multiple injuries happen ahead of him on the depth chart. The downgrade from Alohi GIlman to Jaylinn Hawkins hurts this secondary a little bit, but this unit was the strength of the Ravens’ defense last season and should be almost as good this year as it was a year ago.

Grade: A-

Kickers

Tyler Loop famously missed the week 18 kick that would have sent the Ravens to the post-season last season, but the 2025 6th round pick was all-around not that bad as a rookie, finishing with 1.25 points below average. Possessing a high upside, Loop could take a step forward in his second season in the league and become at least a league average kicker, though that is not a guarantee.

Grade: B

Conclusion

The Ravens may or may not get a healthier season from Lamar Jackson in 2026 than they did in 2025 and they also lost talented center Tyler Linderbaum, while Derrick Henry and Mark Andrews are on the wrong side of 30, so their offense is questionable, but their defense should be a lot better with Nnamdi Madubuike healthy and Trey Hendrickson being added, as well as talented defense mind Jesse Minter taking over as head coach. After ranking 11th in schedule adjusted efficiency overall last season, I would expect them to at least be a top-10 team this season, even if everything doesn’t go according to plan, which should translate to a lot of wins, against a relatively weak schedule. If Lamar Jackson can play at or close to his peak form, the Ravens should be in the mix to be the top team in the AFC.

Prediction: 13-4, 1st in AFC North