Jeff Zrebiec: 'It's Fair to Be Cautiously Optimistic' Nnamdi Madubuike Has Good Chance to Play in 2026
There was finally some news on Tuesday about one of the biggest questions of the Ravens' offseason, and it was encouraging.
Per ESPN’s Adam Schefter, two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike, who suffered a season-ending neck injury in Week 2 last year, underwent neck surgery last week that left his doctors believing he will be able to resume playing in 2026.
Neither the Ravens nor Madubuike have commented on the report, but there had been indications of optimism over the past few months. On Jan. 30, Madubuike wrote "Good news" on social media, accompanied by a prayer hands emoji. He has also posted videos of himself working out.
While the report is indeed encouraging, The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec said expectations should be tempered.
"It is good news that he continues to work towards playing, but let's proceed with caution," Zrebiec said on the “Baltimore Collective” podcast. "This doesn't mean he's going to return. My understanding is they still don't know. Yes, the surgery's probably necessary if he was going to have a shot to play, but it doesn't mean he's certainly going to play. They still don't really have a definitive timeline yet on it. We're talking about neck surgery. You don't know how he's going to react. You don't know how he's going to feel down the road, how he's going to respond to physicality, contact, all that stuff.
"Surgery doesn't mean Ravens doctors are going to green-light him to play. That's a major step. So, he has the surgery, that gives him a chance to play. We'll see how he recovers. We'll see how he continues to rehab. And then the Ravens doctors are going to have to make a decision here, assuming everything's going OK, whether they'll clear him to get back on a football field. So, we're nowhere near there yet. I would say it's not out of the woods yet, but I think it's fair to be cautiously optimistic that he has a good chance of playing this year."
If Madubuike does come back and is able to return to his pre-injury form, it obviously would be a huge boost for the defense. The unit was 24th in yards allowed last season and tied for the third-fewest sacks in the league.
Madubuike, 28, had a career-high 13 sacks in 2023 when he was named a second-team All-Pro and finished in the top 10 in Defensive Player of the Year voting. From the start of 2023 until he was placed on injured reserve, Madubuike's 21.5 sacks were the most among defensive tackles.
Pundit's Best- and Worst-Case Draft Scenarios for Ravens Involve Pass-Catchers
Sports Illustrated’s Matt Verderame looked at the best-and worst-case scenarios for each team in the draft. For the Ravens, he said it comes down to the availability of the top pass-catchers.
"Best-case: The Ravens have the option of either USC receiver Makai Lemon or Arizona State wideout Jordyn Tyson, or Oregon tight end Kenyon Sadiq at No. 14," Verderame wrote. "Any would be a home run for pass-catcher-needy Baltimore.
"Worst-case: The top three wideouts are off the board for Baltimore, forcing the Ravens to either pivot from a weapon or take Sadiq with no other option."
While the Ravens undoubtedly will look to bolster their wide receiver and tight end groups, it doesn't necessarily mean it's imperative that they do so in the first round. There will be viable options beyond Day 1, especially at tight end.
How Ravens Go About Predicting the Draft
General Manager Eric DeCosta noted at the Ravens' pre-draft press conference last week that the first couple rounds of the draft are "pretty easy to predict."
"There seems to be more of a consensus among teams," DeCosta said. "I think part of that is because of media coverage and social media and things like that, with consensus boards and different things that you can get online."
The Baltimore Banner’s Jonas Shaffer said the rise of predictive models among NFL teams such as the Ravens has also made the draft easier to forecast.
"In Baltimore, the Ravens' draft model seems to loom almost as large as their draft board itself," Shaffer wrote. "Team officials entered Day 2 [of the 2024 draft] hoping to draft an offensive tackle. Derrick Yam, the Ravens' director of data and decision science, told DeCosta there was an 80% chance Roger Rosengarten would be available late in the second round.
"DeCosta considered that an optimistic projection. Yam, DeCosta recalled, nervously conceded that the estimate could be off. But when the Ravens were on the clock again at No. 62 overall, Rosengarten was still available."
Shaffer said there's plenty of "educated guesswork" involved in preparing for the draft.
"In March, DeCosta said he signed outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million contract in part because he believed the pass rushers the Ravens would 'probably covet' in the draft would be unavailable by No. 14 overall," Shaffer wrote.
Ravens Fans Forced to Take Backseat to Steelers Fans at Draft
The Ravens-Steelers rivalry isn't confined to the field. It'll be on display during the draft in Pittsburgh, thanks to a move by Steelers Owner Art Rooney II after he looked at the seating chart for the event.
"I noticed that the Ravens fans were seated in front of the Steelers fans in one section of the draft theatre," Rooney said on a Pittsburgh radio station's morning show, per Steelers Depot’s Ross McCorkle. "So I asked [the NFL] to make that change, and they agreed."
Chalk it up to Pittsburgh having home-field advantage.
"With the draft returning to Pittsburgh on Thursday night, Ravens fans making the four-hour commute will be treated to the first players selected in the coach Jesse Minter era, and they'll get to watch while trying to see over the back of Steelers fans' heads," The Baltimore Sun’s Sam Cohn wrote.
The Ravens have never hosted the draft, but Ravens President Sashi Brown said last month that bringing the event to Baltimore remains a realistic goal.
"So maybe in the next few years, Ravens Owner Steve Bisciotti can settle the score and push Steelers fans to the back of the theater," Cohn wrote.
