ExtremeRavens Posted Wednesday at 11:30 AM Posted Wednesday at 11:30 AM Ready or not, football is back. The Ravens will hold their first practice of training camp Wednesday, with the full team returning to the field for the first time since a divisional round loss to the Buffalo Bills in January. Baltimore will have more than six weeks of preparation and three preseason games before kicking off the regular season Sept. 7 on “Sunday Night Football” for a rematch in Orchard Park, New York, against the team that ended its standout 2024 season. Expectations are high once again for the Ravens, who have been among the league’s most successful teams under coach John Harbaugh and quarterback Lamar Jackson but have yet to reach the Super Bowl with the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player under center. If preseason rankings are any indication, though, this could be the year the Ravens finally break through. Here’s a look at how experts around the league rank the team’s roster heading into the new season: ESPN: No. 1 NFL analysts Mike Clay, Aaron Schatz and Seth Walder ranked every lineup in the league considering factors such as talent, age and production. In a bit of a surprise, considering the Philadelphia Eagles return most of last year’s Super Bowl championship team, the Ravens claimed the top spot. Less surprising was Jackson being identified as the team’s biggest strength coming off back-to-back All-Pro seasons. Guard, however, is once again considered a weakness “for a roster that is otherwise pretty stacked,” Clay writes, with Andrew Vorhees, Ben Cleveland or a rookie vying to replace Patrick Mekari at left guard and Daniel Faalele returning on the right side “after underwhelming as a run blocker.” Also on the offensive line, left tackle Ronnie Stanley is considered the X factor for 2025. “This is all about his health,” Walder writes after Stanley signed a three-year, $60 million extension this offseason. “Stanley didn’t miss a game last season, which helped earn him a well-deserved contract, but that doesn’t mean the injury risks all went away. When Stanley and Jackson are on the field, the Ravens’ offense is awfully hard to beat.” Of course, the Ravens enter the season with uncertainty at kicker for the first time in more than a decade after Justin Tucker was released and later suspended 10 games by the NFL after more than a dozen female massage therapists accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior at several Baltimore-area spas and wellness centers. Sixth-round draft pick Tyler Loop, considered a “nonstarter to watch,” and undrafted rookie John Hoyland are competing for the job. The Sporting News: No. 1 Alec Sanner calls the Ravens “regular-season monsters” but, like many others, questions their playoff bonafides. Still, he says Baltimore “looks like the most complete team in football,” giving the Ravens the edge over the Eagles for the top spot. “The Ravens don’t need any more excuses; it’s time,” Sanner writes. The Athletic: No. 2 The Ravens come in second behind the Eagles in Josh Kendall’s rankings after an impressive second half of the 2024 season in which Baltimore ranked third in scoring (30 points per game) and second in scoring defense (18 points per game allowed). “Now, it’s just a matter of snapping a streak of three straight one-score losses in playoff matchups,” Kendall writes. “The only thing keeping the Ravens from the top of this list is that they lost 15 free agents in the offseason.” READER POLL: Who has the best team in the NFL? The Mina Kimes Show: No. 2 Given the choice between the Eagles and Ravens for the title of the league’s best on the ESPN analyst’s podcast, former NFL defensive lineman and two-time Super Bowl champion Chris Long gave one of his former teams the nod – but not by much. “They have more proven playoff success, when all things are close,” Long said of the Eagles. “And they are [close]. Listen, Lamar is fantastic. I know [Jalen] Hurts has the Super Bowl [trophy] but I’m not going to do the thing where as a homer I say, ‘Hurts is better than Lamar.’ “Lamar was arguably MVP last year, and [the Ravens made] some additions in the secondary. I’m excited about [Malaki Starks] from Georgia. [Odafe] Oweh quietly had double digits [sacks] last year. I think they’re going to be tough to run the ball on.” In a league that Kimes said “is so top heavy” right now, Long said the difference might be how well the Ravens’ star running back holds up entering his age-31 season. “The Derrick Henry, ‘Hey, this guy is going to get the ball a million times a year, year over year over year and never slow down’ thing … I’m not betting on it slowing down, but I do feel like the Eagles, they deserve having the No. 1 spot over the Ravens.” Bleacher Report: No. 4 Kristopher Knox said that the “addition of cornerback Jaire Alexander didn’t really change my opinion of the Ravens, though I already had Baltimore as a top-five contender and the team to beat in the AFC North.” He liked what general manager Eric DeCosta and the Ravens did this offseason and expects the defense to hold up better under second-year coordinator Zach Orr. Still, there isn’t as much confidence in the Ravens until they can show it on the field in the postseason. “I’d still like to see Lamar Jackson prove he can beat Buffalo, Cincinnati or Kansas City in a playoff game,” Knox writes, “but if Jackson stays healthy, I expect him to have that chance in January.” Pro Football Talk: No. 4 Consider Mike Florio also of the opinion that the Ravens need to prove themselves first before being considered better than the Eagles, Chiefs or Bills. Kansas City and Philadelphia have won or made the Super Bowl multiple times in the past six seasons, while Buffalo has eliminated the Ravens and Jackson twice during that span. “The window is still wide open, but the Bills and Chiefs are still blocking full daylight,” Florio writes. Have a news tip? Contact sports editor C.J. Doon at cdoon@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/CJDoon. View the full article Quote
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.