NFL Notebook: 2025 Baltimore Ravens Preview

Lamar Jackson has made the playoffs six times in his seven seasons as starting quarterback in Baltimore, but he’s yet to reach the Super Bowl and has only once reached the AFC Championship Game. John Harbaugh’s Hall of Fame credentials as a head coach are in no doubt, but he’s looking to return to the Super Bowl for the first time since winning it all in 2012. The bar for success is high, windows of opportunity don’t stay open forever and a sense of urgency has to be animating through Baltimore.

LAMAR’S REGULAR SEASON DOMINANCE

Lamar has become one of those rare athletes now identifiable by simply his first name, and for good reason. While Josh Allen may have deserved the MVP last year and while Patrick Mahomes has the rings, Lamar is the most statistically dominant QB in the game. His 8.8 yards-per-attempt is surreal, and what’s even more amazing is he makes those down-the-field throws without making mistakes—a 0.8% interception rate. Then let’s add in over 900 rushing yards, high-percentage short passing and you have one of the great regular season quarterbacks of all time. All that’s left is to finish the job in January

WEAPONS, WEAPONS EVERYWHERE

Greatness abounds at other skill position spots. Derrick Henry rolled up over 1,900 yards rushing. What’s more, a 5.9 yards-per-attempt figure at that volume of carries is almost unfair. Henry joins Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley as those rare running backs who can still break into an MVP conversation in this “all about the quarterback” era.

Zay Flowers and Mark Andrews are two of the league’s best at their positions of slot receiver and tight end, respectively. Something that really stands out is the yards-per-catch. Flowers is at 14.3 and Andrews is 12.2. Given that the nature of their positions means they’ll generally be targeted with shorter throws, those numbers are exceptional.

Rashod Bateman is another field-stretching threat at wide receiver and DeAndre Hopkins is a reliable veteran pickup to fill out the receiving corps. Lamar has a lot of weapons to work with.

A LOCKDOWN SECONDARY

The excellence extends to the secondary. Baltimore didn’t miss a beat last year when free safety Geno Stone left for Cincinnati. In fact, it was Stone’s play that went over the cliff. In the meantime, Kyle Hamilton is a Defensive Player of the Year candidate at the strong safety spot. Marlon Humphrey is one of the NFL’s best corners.

Baltimore further strengthened this area when they signed Jaire Alexander to man the other corner. According to the grades at Pro Football Focus, the Ravens have two Top-10 corners. They also used their first-round pick on Georgia free safety Malaki Starks.

FRONT SEVEN INTRIGUE

The front seven is interesting and that starts with middle linebacker Roquan Smith. By reputation he’s one of the game’s best, making All-Pro again last year. However, the graders at PFF took a dimmer view of his play last year, putting him closer to the middle of the pack at his position. Who’s right? I’ll lean to giving Smith the benefit of the doubt—I take the grades seriously, but they’re as subjective as anything else. And even if the grades are correct, there’s no reason to think Smith wouldn’t bounce right back. But it’s something worth watching.

A similar dynamic is going on at outside linebacker. Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy get their sack numbers. But while their grades aren’t bad, they aren’t elite either. Is this a case of making the high-profile plays, but not playing consistently? Again, it’s something to watch.

OFFENSIVE LINE: THE WEAK LINK

Baltimore’s offensive line is less a question mark and more a flat-out problem. While Tyler Lindblaum is one of the league’s top centers, there are serious problems at guard and tackle play was mediocre a year ago. Ronnie Stanley on the left side is the one capable of doing more this time around.

OUTLOOK

The AFC North is good enough that no team is a lock to win it in August. But even with that caveat, I don’t have any doubt I’ll pick Baltimore and that they’ll probably exceed their 11.5 Over/Under win prop. But, as noted at the top, it’s all about January with this organization right now. They need to at least get to a Super Bowl.