It’s Super Bowl or bust. There can be no other outcome.
In the past two seasons, the Ravens have had one of the best rosters in the league but came up short both times, losing 17-10 to the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game in Baltimore two years ago and getting upset by the host Buffalo Bills, 27-25, in the divisional round in January.
But this year’s version is the best since Baltimore’s return to the NFL in 1996. The franchise has won two Super Bowl titles, which is remarkable considering there are 12 teams that haven’t won any.
Yet those championship teams were composed of strong defenses that featured Hall of Fame players such as Ray Lewis, Rod Woodson, Ed Reed and a potential selection named Terrell Suggs. In retrospect, those offenses were basically required not to implode.
The 2025 Ravens are different, but not perfect. They still need to upgrade their special teams with a kicker and a punt returner, and it remains to be seen whether the secondary can improve after making significant offseason additions.
But this offense, oh my. It’s almost flawless.
The Ravens have a two-time Most Valuable Player in quarterback Lamar Jackson, who passed for 4,172 yards and 41 touchdowns last season and also rushed for another 915 yards and four more scores. They have one of the best big, multi-purpose backs in league history in Derrick Henry, who rushed for 1,921 yards last season, second in the NFL behind the Philadelphia Eagles’ Saquon Barkley.
Even the receivers are good despite the team’s previous failures to find one in the draft. The Ravens have “super vet” DeAndre Hopkins, Rashod Bateman and Zay Flowers as well as tight ends Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar.
Whom does Jackson throw to?
Anybody he wants. The only problem for offensive coordinator Todd Monken is finding enough touches for so many playmakers.
The offensive line isn’t great, but there aren’t many that are in the NFL. This group struggles with pass blocking, but that’s where Jackson provides the added dimension with his scrambling. This offense is loaded, pure and simple, equipped with a tempo-changing running back in Keaton Mitchell as well as a third-down specialist in Justice Hill.
The scenario on the other side of the ball is different, but the possibilities are endless.
The secondary should be improved from a year ago when the group was ranked 31st out of 32 teams. The Ravens made significant improvement in the second half of the season but also faced some bad quarterbacks such as the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Russell Wilson (twice), the New York Giants’ Tommy DeVito and the Cleveland Browns’ Bailey Zappe.
To increase the talent level, the Ravens drafted Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the first round and signed free agent cornerback Jaire Alexander in June. Alexander was a Pro Bowl selection in 2020 and 2022 with the Green Bay Packers, but injuries have forced him to miss 20 games during the past two seasons.
If Alexander returns to form, defensive coordinator Zach Orr has a lot of combinations he can play on the backend with safety Kyle Hamilton near the line of scrimmage, rising cornerback Nate Wiggins on the outside opposite Chidobe Awuzie or Alexander and veteran Marlon Humphrey manning the slot.
With Chuck Pagano helping coach the secondary, this group should be better complementing a run defense that was ranked No. 1 in the league a year ago. Nose tackle Michael Pierce retired, but the team has an ample supply of bulk up front with linemen John Jenkins, Nnamdi Madubuike, Broderick Washington, Travis Jones and rookie Aeneas Peebles.
What’s missing?
They don’t have a proven kicker. Justin Tucker, perhaps the best in league history, was released in early May and later suspended for the first 10 games of the season for violating the league’s personal conduct policy after more than a dozen female massage therapists accused Tucker of inappropriate sexual behavior at several Baltimore-area spas and wellness centers. Sixth-round pick Tyler Loop and undrafted rookie John Hoyland are competing for the job now.
Tucker and Matt Stover made major contributions in both of the Ravens’ championship seasons. Tucker converted 30 of 33 field goal attempts in 2012, and Stover was 35 of 39 in 2000 when Baltimore went five games without scoring an offensive touchdown.
Another missing ingredient is the return game. In 2000, the Ravens had Jermaine Lewis, who averaged 16.1 yards per punt returns. Lewis also had an 84-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the second half of the Ravens’ 34-7 win against the Giants in the Super Bowl. In 2012, Jacoby Jones led the NFL with 1,167 kickoff return yards and scored two touchdowns.
There are other intangibles.
In 2000, quarterback Trent Dilfer was conservative but was a great game manager. In 2012, quarterback Joe Flacco had one of the greatest postseasons ever, tying Joe Montana’s record with 11 touchdown passes without an interception.
The Ravens need to get hot. In 2000, then-coach Brian Billick went with running back Jamal Lewis down the stretch as Lewis finished with 1,364 yards to complement the record-setting defense. Flacco was exceptional in 2012.
Jackson needs to get hot in the postseason, where he is 3-5 during his eight years in Baltimore. In those eight games, he’s passed for 1,753 yards and 10 touchdowns but has thrown seven interceptions and lost three fumbles.
There is also the Ray Lewis factor.
Not only was he the best player in the NFL in 2000, but his personality energized the Ravens, especially the younger players in 2012. Without Lewis, the Ravens don’t win either of their two titles.
The Hall of Fame linebacker’s absence has been hard to fill. After the 2012 season, Ravens coach John Harbaugh got rid of the alpha males such as Lewis, Reed, safety Bernard Pollard and receiver Anquan Boldin, which forced the team into mediocrity for the next five seasons.
Those years coincided with the early seasons in Baltimore when the Ravens didn’t have enough cash flow to compete on both sides of the ball until Steve Bisciotti became a minority owner in 2000.
But now they are back on pace again. Only one team has more overall talent than the Ravens, and that’s Philadelphia. The defending champion Eagles can dominate with both interior lines, but they play in the NFC, so the AFC is a wide-open race.
The expectations in Baltimore are justified, even though that might serve as both motivation and a distraction. But there are no more excuses for the Ravens to miss the Super Bowl, because this team is loaded. It’s easily the most balanced in franchise history.
It’s time for them to play in a third Super Bowl.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
]]>She’d grown up on Barclay Street at 26th, gone to the nearby Margaret Brent School, and raised her family in the suburbs. Her family’s roots in the Greenmount Avenue, Barclay and Boone streets area were where her heart was. She had aunts, uncles and cousins living all over the 21218 ZIP code. And she had those memories.
While looking for a home, she spotted the restored and renovated houses coming on the market in the 400 block of East 22nd Street.
About five years ago, she moved to this block, which is now officially listed as part of the Barclay-Greenmount Historic District, a sort of urban village anchored by the Gothic Revival architecture and tall spire of St. Ann’s Catholic Church. Though St. Ann’s was officially closed by the Archdiocese of Baltimore, it retains its school, Mother Seton Academy.
“My house is amazing. I have three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths,” said Boyd, an M&T Bank auditor. “People who visit my house are amazed to see how it looks on the inside.”
Her longtime neighbor, Grace Willis, who keeps a beautiful home and garden at Barclay and 22nd, says the block’s transformation is real and convincing.
“It’s beginning to look as it did when I moved here — and I was in middle school then,” she said of her family’s settling on 22nd Street in the 1950s.
The block has 48 houses, many of them with fancy Victorian wooden embellishments (they look like tiny porches) off the third floor. They are outfitted with beautiful white marble — actually Baltimore County limestone — steps. The original builders added a nice feature: white marble curbing around what would be a tiny front lawn, except these lawns are all paved.
Michael Mazepink, a community housing strategist, began championing the block more than two decades ago, when its vacancy rate was over 40%. A Baltimore Sun article published several years later said, “Turnaround elusive for gritty Greenmount.”
“This block was basically being saved by a group of elderly widows who lived here,” said Mazepink, who founded the People’s Homesteading Group in 1983. “As houses went vacant, the ladies took wooden barrels and filled the tubs with flowers. They, of course, had flowers outside their own homes, so the block appeared OK and pretty. But it was not.”
Years of rain and snow tortured the roofs of the vacant houses. “The houses pancaked — the roofs collapsed downward and took the floors with them,” Mazepink said. “In some cases, all that was salvageable was a front wall. After the earthquake of 2011 and the rains that fall, one house bowed forward and was condemned by the city. It had to be taken apart brick by brick and then rebuilt.”
Mazepink became a one-person developer-housing dynamo, applying for grants and mastering the fine print of government housing assistance programs. “Michael is tenacious and detail-oriented,” said Charles Duff, who headed Jubilee Housing for many years. Duff’s group was his development lender.
“It’s an amazing block,” said Duff. “Architecturally it’s interesting and almost unique.”
Jake Wittenberg, whose Edgemont Builders recently finished nine home restorations on 22nd Street, said, “It’s a pleasure to work with passionate, mission-driven people.”
“The work is the result of years of fundraising and collaborations,” said Ellen Janes of the Central Baltimore Partnership. “It’s grassroots community revitalization at its best.”
“It offers homebuyers with modest incomes an opportunity to live in some of Baltimore’s most beautiful homes,” Janes said.
Janes also feels the strength of the 400 block of 22nd Street will mean that adjacent blocks — east of Greenmount Avenue and above Green Mount Cemetery — will be on a similar upswing.
“I saw the vacant houses as an opportunity,” Mazepink said. “Now we are getting appraisals for a three-story, renovated house with historic exterior features at $400,000. And it’s now a block with all income levels, from Section 8 housing to middle-class purchasers and everything in between.”
The refurbishment of 22nd Street is not isolated in this part of Baltimore near Green Mount Cemetery, St. Ann’s Church and other landmarks. Years of housing reinvestment are transforming Barclay, Old Goucher, Greenmount West and Johnston Square.
Asked about his 24 years focused on this block, Mazepink said, “I could have used some of those years back, but that doesn’t happen.”
Have a news tip? Contact Jacques Kelly at jacques.kelly@baltsun.com and 410-332-6570.
]]>They have five tight ends on the roster and three of them — Mark Andrews, Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar — are really good. It was intriguing on Day 2 of training camp Thursday to watch how the Ravens would rotate them, but the team has different formations.
The catch of the day belonged to Likely, who made a one-handed grab on a pass across the middle from Lamar Jackson, easily turned the corner and took off for what would have been a 65-yard touchdown.
But throughout Thursday’s practice, all three quarterbacks used the tight ends on different formations, both inside and outside of the red zone, as well as in the 7-on-7 period.
One of my favorite plays was a toss to running back Derrick Henry with Kolar leading the way. That’s a sign of versatility while also using Henry’s great vision.
Rookie watch
Training camp is only two days old, but rookie safety Malaki Starks, the first-round pick out of Georgia, has been impressive. Not only does he play well on the back end of the secondary, but he breaks on the ball extremely well.
He knocked down one pass intended for Kolar and then intercepted what looked like an arm punt from Jackson late in the team period. There is talk that Starks is the best safety to come out of college since the Ravens took Kyle Hamilton in the first round out of Notre Dame in the 2022 draft.
First impressions
It wasn’t an exceptional day for newly acquired cornerback Jaire Alexander, who was beat for a long touchdown down the right sideline by Devontez Walker.
First of all, let’s give Walker credit. The second-year receiver out of North Carolina has played well though offseason workouts and so far in training camp.
As for Alexander, he has looked good so far in practice. He backpedals well, can sit down with receivers and recovers quickly. The 28-year-old veteran against the 24-year-old Walker is one of the better matchups in training camp.
Injury updates
While on the subject of receivers, veteran DeAndre Hopkins didn’t practice because of a knee injury he suffered on a hard landing in Wednesday’s opening practice. The injury is not believed to be serious.
Also, slot receiver Zay Flowers was at full-tilt in practice for the second straight day after suffering what appeared to be either a knee or ankle injury on Wednesday that forced him to miss about 10 minutes of practice. Flowers was at his artful best catching several short passes and easily juking defenders.
He is by far one of the best open-field runners after the catch in the NFL.
Secondary shaping up
Receiver Rashod Bateman ran an out-and-up against cornerback Nate Wiggins that resulted in a 55-yard touchdown pass from Jackson. The two-time NFL Most Valuable Player tried to make the same play versus Wiggins on the next snap, but the second-year player wasn’t fooled and knocked down Jackson’s pass intended for receiver Keith Kirkwood.
Wiggins might only be in his second season, but he’s no fool and could become one the best at his position in the NFL. Because of his ability, he might not get tested a lot this season with Chidobe Awuzie, Jalyn Armour-Davis and Alexander competing to play on the opposite side.
The Ravens had Armour-Davis playing over the slot at times during Thursday’s practice and even blitzed him a couple of times off the edge. This is a big season for Armour-Davis, as well as outside linebacker David Ojabo. Both are about to enter their fourth seasons before entering free agency.
Offensive line battle
Ben Cleveland and Andrew Vorhees both took snaps with the first-team offense at left guard Thursday, but Vorhees seems better suited for the position. Why? Neither are great pass blockers, but Vorhees is more versatile and durable.
Play of the day
The best overall play of the day was middle linebacker Roquan Smith running stride-for-stride with running back Justice Hill down the left sideline and knocking down a long pass.
The Kansas City Chiefs exposed Smith’s inability to cover in the season opener a year ago and several teams attacked him in similar fashion in the early part of the season. Smith, though, regrouped and appeared to get in better shape deeper into the year.
Pass rush intrigue
When watching the Ravens do sled work, no one rocks it harder than 6-foot-4, 341-pound Travis Jones, the fourth-year defensive lineman out of Connecticut. When he strikes it, the earth moves.
Outside linebacker and third-year player Tavius Robinson also showed good technique and explosion. Also of interest, fifth-year outside linebacker Odafe Oweh is thicker across the chest but appears to be not as quick as a year ago.
It will be interesting to see what weight he plays at during the season. He is listed at 6-5 and 265 pounds.
Kicker watch
With sixth-round kicker Tyler Loop sitting out, presumably for a scheduled day off, undrafted rookie John Hoyland went 9-for-9 on his field goal attempts. Three were from 40-plus, and one was from 50-plus.
Hoyland was wearing a GoPro camera on his helmet, which coach John Harbaugh said allows coaches to see what he’s looking at and different angles of his leg.
Draft gem?
If you want to see quickness, keep an eye on rookie defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles, a sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech. He is getting better with the spin move and did a lot of work with pass-rush specialist Chuck Smith before the beginning of practice.
Still getting better
One of the best improvements from Jackson is his ability to drift to the left, even with a soft shuffle, keep his eyes down the field and complete the pass. The eighth-year veteran couldn’t do that earlier in his career.
In fact, he wasn’t very good rolling to his left at all. It’s all part of his development as a top-tier quarterback.
Baltimore Sun reporter Sam Cohn contributed to this article. Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
]]>As expected, coach John Harbaugh declared it a good practice and certain things were clearly noticeable. It appeared that most of the players reported in good shape and were ready to go, even 6-foot-8, 370-pound starting right guard Daniel Faalele. Linebacker Jake Hummel, who will be out a week with a cut on his hand, was the only unexpected absence.
It will be interesting to see how that plays out in the coming days as the temperatures get hotter, but that’s plus for the offensive line. Other starters who looked good were veteran left tackle Ronnie Stanley, who has rebuilt the lower half of his body recently, and second-year right tackle Roger Rosengarten, who looks bigger and thicker compared with his rookie campaign.
The full pads go on Monday. Here’s what else we saw from the opening day of camp:
Nice hands
There were several top catches on Day 1. Even though he was out of bounds, veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins hauled in a one-handed, quick 15-yard out after the ball rolled along his back.
Tight end Mark Andrews caught a long touchdown pass while streaking down the right hash mark. Andrews completed the play with a 20-yard run, something he couldn’t do last season.
That’s a good sign.
New-look secondary
The Ravens used various starting combinations in the secondary, which included cornerbacks Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, Chidobe Awuzie and Jaire Alexander. The Ravens are hoping the injury-prone Alexander can stay healthy for an entire season and return to the form that made him one of the best in the NFL in 2020 and 2022.
Alexander is cocky, and that’s desperately needed. He knocked down a pass intended for receiver Dayton Wade in the middle of practice and then did one of those signature celebrations.
You didn’t see much of that last season when the Ravens had the No. 31-ranked pass defense in the NFL. I will wait to see if that happens consistently throughout training camp, but it was nice to see some swag back on defense from another player besides Humphrey.
Ravens receivers didn’t get much separation Wednesday, but the defense is always ahead of the offense early in the season.
Injury scare
Fans were holding a collective breath when slot receiver Zay Flowers went down with either a knee or ankle injury after a catch along the left sideline during a 7-on-7 period. Flowers sat on a water cooler for about 10 minutes before returning to action.
Within minutes of returning, he caught a short pass over the middle, made a jump cut and then juked past a defender, so apparently he was OK. Of course, we’ll see if he is on the field Thursday because a lot of swelling might occur overnight.
Flowers, though, looked healthy.
Missed opportunities
The Ravens had two big misses in practice as second-year receiver Devontez Walker failed to hold onto a pass after diving over rookie cornerback Bilhal Kone and falling to the ground.
Third-year running back Keaton Mitchell simply dropped a pass from backup quarterback Cooper Rush in what should have been a 40- to 50-yard touchdown reception. Mitchell is in a battle to be the third-down back with Justice Hill, but Hill’s ability to block gives him the edge in passing situations.
Mitchell might have made the play if he didn’t stop running because he didn’t think that he was going to get the ball.
Where’s the syrup?
The pancake award goes to fullback Patrick Ricard, who easily knocked defensive end David Ojabo to the ground during a pass protection drill. I kept waiting for the late boxing announcer Howard Cosell to say “Down goes Frazier!”
Ojabo won’t want to look at the film on that hit.
Deal or no deal?
With Lamar Jackson in training camp, the Ravens might finally be able to negotiate a new deal with the star quarterback. Everyone knows that Jackson has to be pinpointed, and there is no better time than with him practicing every day.
This isn’t hard to figure out. Top-caliber quarterbacks rotate being the highest-paid player in the NFL, so Jackson will make more on his next deal than the Dallas Cowboys’ Dak Prescott, who averages $60 million per year on his $240 million extension.
Kicker watch
The rookie kickers performed well. Tyler Loop, drafted in the sixth round out of Arizona, was 6-for-6. John Hoyland, an undrafted free agent from Wyoming, was 4-for-5 with his lone miss from 40 yards.
“With the kickers, it’s a process, and nobody’s more processed than the kickers,” Harbaugh said. “It’s probably more like golf than any other sport in terms of process, swing, replicating that time and time again [and] making a good kick. Arnold Palmer used to talk about making a good putt. Did I make a good putt? If I made a good putt, whether it goes in or not is not the point. The point is, if I make a good putt, I’m going to give myself the best chance to be successful. We want our guys to learn how to make a good kick over and over again in every circumstance.
“So that process goes into when they’re over there on the side, and nobody’s paying attention to them. When they bring it over to the team period, when they bring it over to a team situation period like we did the second period today in practice where they had to run on the field and make a kick — as game-like as we can make it now — and then when we take it into the game, replicate the kick every single time. That’s what we’re chasing with those guys.”
Harbaugh on Henry
Running back Derrick Henry has already made a fan out of Harbaugh after only one season with the Ravens.
“The intangible thing is the work ethic and the attitude, the enthusiasm for the day,” Harbaugh said of the 31-year-old veteran, who rushed for 1,921 yards and 16 touchdowns last year. “My dad talks about ‘attacking the day with an enthusiasm unknown to mankind,’ and I see that every day, and it’s not necessarily in what he says — although, he’ll have fun — [but] it’s what he does and the way he works at it and how hard he works to get better, how intentional he is about being the best player he can be. That’s his biggest trait, I think.”
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
]]>It was evident Wednesday when Baltimore signed former Green Bay Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander to a one-year deal worth up to $6 million.
Before everyone starts buying tickets for Super Bowl 60 in Santa Clara, California, here is my rub: Alexander hasn’t been available lately.
The 28-year-old has played just 16 games, including the playoffs, over the past two seasons because of a series of ailments — quadriceps and knee injuries last year, back and shoulder injuries the year before that. He played in just five games in 2021, a season sandwiched between his past two fully healthy seasons, during which he made the Pro Bowl and was a second-team All-Pro each year.
If he plays well (and is available), he could be the next Marcus Peters, a disgruntled cornerback the Ravens acquired in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams in 2019 before he wore out his welcome after the 2022 season. Or he could be the next Marcus Williams, the highly paid safety who played in only 32 games over three seasons because of injuries and poor play.
Which Marcus will show up?
No one knows, but Alexander is worth the gamble. It’s a textbook signing of a veteran to a salary cap-friendly deal. Top-tier cornerbacks are making about $25 million per year. The Ravens might be getting one who is still in his prime, despite his injury history.
Here is another reason for optimism: Since changing their strength and conditioning coaches in 2023, the Ravens have been one of the healthiest teams in the postseason.
So, the move to Alexander makes sense. If he returns to his 2020 and 2022 form when he was one of the best cornerbacks in the game, the Ravens have a luxury at the position. Baltimore had a glaring weakness a year ago on the back end and ranked 31st out of 32 teams by allowing an average of 244.1 passing yards per game, though the unit turned a corner in the second half of last season.
The addition of Alexander allows the Ravens to start 2024 first-round draft pick Nate Wiggins at one corner spot and keep Marlon Humphrey inside over the slot receiver.
The Ravens have another first-round pick in the secondary in rookie Malaki Starks at free safety, and they can move strong safety Kyle Hamilton closer to the line of scrimmage if necessary or keep him on the back end. If Starks performs as advertised, the Ravens might have the best safety tandem in the NFL.
Jalyn Armour-Davis, T.J Tampa and veteran Chidobe Awuzie had been shuffling in as the second outside corner during OTAs, but now they can provide solid depth. Secondary coach Chuck Pagano might be the missing ingredient.
Alexander will get tested because Wiggins can play. Opposing teams will challenge the two-time Pro Bowl selection to see if he is fully healthy or whether he has lost a step.
That’s always a concern.
Williams was a highly sought-after free agent, too, and after a successful first season in Baltimore, he tore his left pectoral in Week 1 the following season. He didn’t have surgery, missed six games, and his drop-off from there was noticeable.
Much has been said and written about star quarterback Lamar Jackson endorsing Alexander, his former college teammate at Louisville. Did it have an impact? Probably, because it’s all part of the pampering of Jackson.
But if Alexander couldn’t play, the Ravens wouldn’t have signed him. The question for Jackson and the Ravens is, where is the hardware? There is no Super Bowl ring, not even a Lamar Hunt Trophy for winning the AFC. Jackson wanted Odell Beckham Jr., he wanted DeAndre Hopkins, and he wanted Marquise “Hollywood” Brown out of Oklahoma in the 2019 NFL draft.
The Ravens have had the best roster in the NFL the past two years and have nothing to show for it. Now it’s time to win, and win big.
A lot of it might depend on Alexander. Which Marcus will he be? Regardless, it’s worth the gamble.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
]]>The Ravens had their first of two straight mandatory minicamp practices Tuesday, and the secondary has been nowhere near as bad as a year ago when it gave up the deep ball consistently and allowed 244.1 passing yards per game, second worst in the NFL. Those Ravens couldn’t find tight ends or running backs, much less receivers.
But the team has used several different combinations in practices thus far, mixing safeties Kyle Hamilton and Malaki Starks, the team’s first-round draft pick out of Georgia in April, along with cornerbacks Nate Wiggins, Marlon Humphrey, Jalyn Armour-Davis and Reuben Lowery.
Keep an eye on Lowery, a rookie free agent out of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He is only 5-9 and weighs 204 pounds, but the 22-year-old continues to make plays and is always near the ball.
It will be interesting to see what the Ravens do with Hamilton and Humphrey this season. Hamilton is an impact player near the line of scrimmage and Humphrey can play inside or outside but is better playing over a slot receiver. He still has decent speed, but isn’t as fast as he used to be.
Jackson watch
Quarterback Lamar Jackson threw the ball reasonably well in his first appearance in two weeks.
His short passes were tight and most were thrown to the outside, which is the perfect location. His long ball had some touch and he even threw some high and tight passes to the outside around 12 to 15 yards down the field, which hasn’t been a strength throughout his career.
But as general manager Eric DeCosta continues to negotiate with Jackson about a contract extension, I wonder what would happen if the Ravens changed directions and stopped pampering him. For instance, schedule practices in the morning instead of allowing Jackson to sleep in.
Maybe stop allowing him to miss practices in the middle of the week and practice like other players on the roster. After eight years, it’s worth trying something else, but maybe the Ravens believe this is their year to reach the Super Bowl despite Jackson’s 3-5 record in the postseason.
Well, it’s just a thought.
Intrigue on offense
It will be interesting to see what offensive coordinator Todd Monken dials up this season.
So far, we’ve seen waggles, throwback screens, rollouts, straight drop-backs, tosses to running back Derrick Henry and quick hitters to running back and speedster Keaton Mitchell as well as passes over the middle to Mark Andrews and even the long ball to fellow tight end Isaiah Likely.
So far, receivers Zay Flowers, Rashod Bateman and Tylan Wallace have made plays, but the most improved might be second-year player Devontez Walker out of North Carolina. His route running has taken a step forward, so the potential is still high for the 2024 fourth-round pick.
D-line dealings
The more I watch rookie defensive lineman Aeneas Peebles play, I like his technique.
He is small at 6 feet and 289 pounds, but has good technical skills. If you aren’t overly big, it helps to have good technique, especially if you are fast. Peebles has a good explosion and gets off the ball well.
If he can get into the backfield early, the sixth-round pick out of Virginia Tech might cause some problems, especially for slower developing plays such as counters or traps.
While on the subject of defensive linemen, second-year player C.J. Ravenell works too high and veteran nose tackle John Jenkins appears to be a perfectionist. Jenkins can get sloppy at times, but always works hard to improve.
Just for kicks
The best moment of the day belonged to a Ravens security officer who stopped the media and fans from walking behind the goal posts when rookie John Hoyland was attempting a field goal.
Really?
Do you think Steelers fans in Pittsburgh won’t be screaming and yelling obscenities among other things if Hoyland or fellow rookie Tyler Loop are attempting a field goal in crunch time during the last game of the regular season?
Get low
Here’s a suggestion for outside linebacker David Ojabo, the fourth-year player and 2022 second-round pick out of Michigan: If he stayed low and wasn’t so stiff coming out of his stance, he would have more success.
When you watch outside linebackers Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, they usually stay low, even though Oweh gets too high at times. Mike Green, the rookie second-round pick and outside linebacker out of Marshall, stays low and works the leverage game.
Pressure’s on
With the additions of Green and veteran receiver DeAndre Hopkins, it’s apparent that the Ravens are loading up for the season. Owner Steve Bisciotti also gave coach John Harbaugh a three-year contract extension in late March, but that’s all meaningless in the grand scheme of things.
Bisciotti gave former Ravens coach Brian Billick a four-year extension at the end of the 2006 season but fired him a year later after the Ravens went 5-11. Of course, Harbaugh is more polished and a better overall coach then Billick, but anything is possible in the NFL if there aren’t enough wins.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun.
]]>Several veterans didn’t show up for the third week of OTAs, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, wide receivers Zay Flowers and DeAndre Hopkins, left tackle Ronnie Stanley, defensive end Nnamdi Madubuike, outside linebacker Kyle Van Noy, fullback Patrick Ricard and defensive tackle Broderick Washington.
Guard Ben Cleveland, who missed the first couple of OTA practices but showed up last week, was at practice in street clothes and did not participate.
It’s not that big of a deal; these are, after all, voluntary. But, interestingly, the Ravens had nearly perfect attendance during the first few OTAs, and now they don’t. A lot of the veterans claimed that their divisional playoff loss to the Bills left a “bad taste” in their mouths.
I guess that “bad taste” has subsided.
Rookie edge rusher is flashing
Rookie Mike Green, a second-round draft pick out of Marshall, has outstanding quickness. His “get off” shows the athleticism he needs to become a good pass rusher. We don’t want to anoint him the next Lawrence Taylor, but he has explosiveness, something both outside linebackers of a year ago, Odafe Oweh and David Ojabo, don’t show nearly enough of.
In crunch time (aka the playoffs), when the Ravens are facing some of the top quarterbacks in the AFC, they will need a pass rusher who can win a one-on-one matchup or even beat a double-team to get a key sack.
Do the Ravens finally have their “go fetch” pass rusher? Or will they have another pass rusher who will disappear against the elite quarterbacks? That’s a key question that could determine their success next season.
Checking in on the O-line
Second-year right offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten weighed 316 pounds last season but seems to have bulked up in his first full offseason in an NFL weight room. The only offensive lineman who might have outworked him is 6-foot-6, 320-pound guard Andrew Vorhees.
Word has it that even the strength coaches got tired of seeing Vorhees in the weight room. As for starting right guard Daniel Faalele, he appears way too big and out of shape. That seems to be the case with the 6-8 and 380-pound Faalele because he always has to play his way into shape.
As for the rest of the offensive linemen, it will be hard for any of the rookies to make a major contribution this year outside of Emery Jones Jr, the third-round pick and offensive tackle from LSU. He hasn’t practiced and probably won’t be ready until late in training camp because of a shoulder injury.
Mr. ‘Tough guy’
There were a couple of radio guys recently who wanted to hand out the “tough guy” award to Stanley. But he isn’t just tough, he’s smart.
Stanley, a 10-year veteran, figured out recently that when a player reaches 30 years of age, he had better work harder in the offseason. He showed last offseason how that would translate to the field, as it finally led to Pro Bowl recognition again after battling knee and ankle injuries for years.
It’s no different than other older players who have come through Baltimore, such as tight end Shannon Sharpe, middle linebacker Ray Lewis and defensive back Rod Woodson.
One big dude
The “Big Body” award goes to C.J. Okoye, the 6-6, 315-pound first-year player and defensive lineman from Agbogugu, Nigeria. We watched him do some work recently, and he punished the two-man sled with straight-up power getting those long arms extended. Not sure how he moves yet, but his muscles and mass are evident.
Another player of outstanding girth is 6-3, 327-pound nose tackle John Jenkins. He doesn’t have Okoye’s power, but he could be difficult to move. He looks a lot like former Ravens nose tackle Michael Pierce, just two inches taller.
Young guys to watch
Some young players to keep an eye on are rookies — cornerback Bilhal Kone, linebacker Teddye Buchanan and second-year receiver Devontez Walker.
A perfect match
Malaki Starks woke up Monday morning to a text from Baltimore’s new defensive backs coach Chuck Pagano, who eagerly came out of retirement to get back into football. Pagano had sent the rookie safety film at 5 a.m. from Thursday’s practice.
“That’s how I want to be coached,” Starks said. “I received that very well. So just being able to have someone like that in my corner, it’s a blessing.”
Absences are notable
The practices are voluntary and plenty of guys have trainers elsewhere that they prefer to work out with in the ramp-up to mandatory minicamp later this month or training camp, which starts in late July. Still, there were plenty of notable absences at the first practice of the week.
Cornerback Chidobe Awuzie limped off the field after a play near the left sideline during a scrimmage near the end of practice. Awuzie took his shoe off and had a trainer tape his ankle. Coach John Harbaugh did not speak with reporters, and no update was given on his status.
CB Tampa making plays
Second-year cornerback T.J. Tampa undercut tight end Charlie Kolar on a pass from backup quarterback Cooper Rush up the seam. Tampa reached out, picked the ball out of the air and pirouetted down to the turf, then took off with an impressive interception. It was a fairly well-placed throw and a savvy read by Tampa.
He’s someone who has plenty to prove this summer. Tampa’s rookie year was hampered by an ankle injury, playing just 18 defensive snaps in seven games. He’s someone who will be in the mix as the team’s first replacement should a Ravens cornerback suffer an injury. Pagano name-dropped Tampa last week as one of the younger guys who sought feedback on what film he had.
DL coach speaks
The Ravens had one of the better defensive fronts last year. They allowed the fewest total rushing yards while bringing down the quarterback 54 times, which was the second most in the NFL last year. Much of that credit is owed to defensive line coach Dennis Johnson, who spoke Monday about two additions to the group.
Baltimore drafted Aeneas Peebles in the sixth round out of Virginia Tech. He’s an undersized tackle at 6 feet, 289 pounds. But Johnson said that “Peebles has elite get-off. Obviously he’s going to have to learn to play a little more technically sound, the way we play here as time goes. But he’s taking to it, he’s learning, he cares and he wants to be out here.”
The other addition, of course, is Jenkins. That signing became official post-June 1, when Pierce’s retirement was processed. Jenkins is in Year 13, playing for his seventh club.
“A very polished vet,” Johnson said of Jenkins. “Already in the meeting rooms, you can tell his wisdom from being in the league for so long. Talking with the younger guys, his ability to pick up a playbook and play the way that we play our techniques fairly quickly. Then he comes out today and is executing more of those things. Gotta get him familiar with the system, but very impressed with him so far.”
Staying in the Loop
Rookie kicker Tyler Loop lined up for six field goals opposite a defense during Monday’s practice. He split the uprights on all six, kicking from what appeared to be 37 yards, 32, 35, 37, 41 and 40. Harbaugh said on Friday that all of Loop’s kicks were “right down the middle,” including one from 60 yards that he made “easily.” Monday’s practice yielded similar results.
Have a news tip? Contact Mike Preston at epreston@baltsun.com, 410-332-6467 and x.com/MikePrestonSun. Contact Sam Cohn at scohn@baltsun.com, 410-332-6200 and x.com/samdcohn.
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