SEASON PREDICTION 

The Ravens are coming off a disappointing year where they couldn't even make the playoffs. Going into the 2025 season, the Ravens were expected to make a deep playoff run, but the season crumbled when Lamar Jackson got hurt early on, and the entire defense was placed on IR as well. After week 4 against the Chiefs, almost 50% of their cap space was on IR or injured. As the team got healthy, they picked up steam but eventually got eliminated from playoff contention on a game-winning field goal the last game of the NFL regular season. The biggest change they made this offseason was firing John Harbaugh and moving on to hire Jesse Minter, who I believe will be a huge difference and elevate this team to Super Bowl contenders.   

After 18 years with Harbaugh, Baltimore finally decided to move on, and they picked up one of the hottest coaches on the market with Jesse Minter from the Chargers. We have seen with Mike McDonald how much a young innovative defensive mind can bolster a team's capability. Minter will be entering with plenty of talent to work with by having Trey Hendrickson as his pass rush threat and young stars of Nate Wiggins and Kyle Hamilton to round out the stout defensive unit. They have key contributors all across the roster including Nnamadi Madubike, Calais Campbell, Roquan Smith, etc. If Minter is the defensive guru that we think he, is I would not be shocked if this unit is a top five defense in the league.  

As for the Ravens offense, there are a lot of question marks heading into the year. For starters they're rolling out a completely revamped offensive line with most notably losing their best lineman in Tyler Linderbaum to free agency. On the positive side, they also got rid of Faalele who seemed to be working as a double agent against the Ravens. A completely new offensive line doesn't usually gel quickly, so the first half of the season may be rough for Baltimore. Outside of the O-line they also lost their steady backup running back Keaton Mitchell and now they're going to put an even bigger load on Henry which isn't ideal for a man entering his 11th season in the league. For the wideouts they gave Flowers a huge 4 year 140 million extension which although some may say he’s overpaid, they had no choice but to dish out the money or else they would be stuck with Rashaed Bateman as their WR1 and if that was the case there would be no hope for a Super Bowl. Baltimore is also relying on an aging Mark Andrews to carry the tight end room as they lost Isaiah likely to New York. Moreover, they lost their offensive coordinator Todd Monkin, who took the head coaching job for the Browns. Declan Doyle will slide in as the replacement (OC for Bears 2025) but his playcalling ability will be another uncertainty considering he wasn't the designated play caller in Chicago. 

Despite all these questions there is one certainty that remains, and that is that Lamar Jackson can make magic happen when he has the ball in his hands. Last year Jackson was in and out of the lineup due to injuries, but this year he's entering fully healthy, and I expect a great bounce back. Jackson has shown that he is able to utilize his average receiving core and elevate them to stars. They've added a standout rookie wide receiver from USC in Ja'Kobi Lane who I'll be excited to see mesh with Lamar. In addition, there's hope that Doyle could be a great offensive coordinator as he comes from the Ben Johnson coaching tree and if he is anywhere near the offensive mind of Johnson, all my concerns for the offense could vanish instantly. Nevertheless, my uncertainty for the offense leads me to believe that the Ravens finish 12-5.