Dan Orlovsky Says Ravens Have Assembled NFL's Best New Coaching Staff
The Ravens landed the most sought-after new head coach of this hiring cycle in Jesse Minter, and he has wasted no time assembling a star-studded staff, headed by Offensive Coordinator Declan Doyle and the expected hiring of Anthony Weaver as defensive coordinator.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky believes the Ravens have the NFL's best new staff.
"I'll start with Jesse," Orlovsky said on the "The Ryan Ripken Show" at Super Bowl Radio Row. "When you have the opportunity to call these games and you sit down with coaches, you very quickly, within a matter of minutes, know the guys where you're like, 'You're a head coach.' Jesse was one of those guys. … You just hear how he communicates, how he listens, how he answers questions, his vision of football, team, the clarity, and you go, 'That's a head coach.'
Regarding Doyle and Weaver, Orlovsky said: "For me, [an offensive coordinator] has to come from the [Mike] Shanahan [Sean] McVay tree. … [Doyle] may not come from that tree, but it's the same fruit. So I like that Declan Doyle learned under that style of football.
"Anthony Weaver is another guy [that] when you sit with him, you go, 'Yep, that's going to be a head coach.' I thought the Steelers should have hired him, no offense to Mike McCarthy at all. But he just has a great understanding, vision, communication, and clarity. And so I love this staff that they've put together. I don't expect them to skip a beat at all."
Minter has filled a number of assistant coaching positions with an impressive cast, the latest of which reportedly is Isreal Woolfork as quarterbacks coach.Woolfork, 35, is a fast-rising and highly regarded young coach who spent the past three seasons as the Arizona Cardinals' quarterbacks coach.
Derrick Henry 'Would Love to Have' A.J. Brown in Baltimore if He's Traded
There is speculation that Philadelphia Eagles star wide receiver A.J. Brown could be on the trade block, and the Ravens have been mentioned as a potential destination.
Running back Derrick Henry was a teammate of Brown's with the Tennessee Titans and said he would be all for a reunion in Baltimore.
"We would gladly love to have him," Henry said on the "Up & Adams" show at Super Bowl Radio Row. "A.J.'s a dog. [Lamar Jackson] likes playing with guys who got dog mentality, so he'd love A.J. Come on over. Please, A.J., come to Baltimore."
Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean joined Henry on the show and playfully pushed back on the Brown-to-Baltimore talk.
After Henry said the Ravens would welcome Brown with open arms, DeJean said: "I bet they would. Nah, I think A.J.'s all right in Philly right now."
Three Potential Trade Targets for the Ravens
Speaking of trades, Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine looked at the top potential targets for each team.
For the Ravens, Ballentine chose defensive tackles Javon Hargrave and Kenny Clark and edge rusher Luka Van Ness.
"Bringing in another interior defender who can pair up with Nnamdi Madubuike on the inside would be a good addition," Ballentine wrote. "Javon Hargrave has experience in the AFC North and still has a little pass-rush juice despite a slow year in Minnesota. Clark is still an excellent run defender and the Cowboys have an expensive trio of interior defensive linemen.
"Luka Van Ness would be a buy-low candidate. He's entering the fourth year of his contract and hasn't made the impact that Green Bay expected when they took him in the first round of the draft. Perhaps new head coach Jesse Minter could get another level of production out of him and add depth they need on the outside."
Pundit Predicts Terrell Suggs Will Be Part of 2026 Hall of Fame Class
NFL.com’s Adam Rank predicted which of the 15 modern-era player finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026 will be selected. The Selection Committee may elect up to five modern-era players. The class will be revealed at NFL Honors tonight.
Former Ravens outside linebacker/defensive end Terrell Suggs, who is in his second year of eligibility, was among the five players Rank believes will be inducted this year.
"Suggs sits eighth on the NFL's official all-time career sack list (139)," Rank wrote. "He was the Defensive Rookie of the Year in 2003 and the Defensive Player of the Year in 2011. He also won a Super Bowl in Baltimore in 2012 and nabbed one more title with the Chiefs in 2019 before calling it quits -- and winning rings seems weirdly important to Hall of Fame voters when it comes to defensive players, based on the historical record.
Former Ravens guard Marshal Yanda, who also is in his second year of eligibility, will have to wait at least another year, in Rank's opinion.
As for the rest of this year's class, Rank said quarterback Drew Brees and wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald are locks, and linebacker Luke Kuechly and tight end Jason Witten will make it.
Marcus Peters Reflects on His Favorite Moment As a Raven
Former All-Pro cornerback Marcus Peters reflected on his time with the Ravens during an appearance on the "The Ryan Ripken Show" at Super Bowl Radio Row.
Peters, who played in Baltimore from 2019-2022, said his favorite moment was the Ravens' 20-13 win over the Titans in Tennessee in a Wild-Card playoff game in January 2021. He made the game-sealing interception as the Ravens avenged losses to the Titans in the 2019 playoffs and 2020 regular season.
In the regular-season meeting in Baltimore, Head Coach John Harbaugh and Titans cornerback Malcolm Butler got into a heated shouting match 10 minutes before kickoff and had to be separated by Titans players and Ravens coaches (Ravens players were still in the tunnel). The incident began when the Titans huddled on the Ravens' logo.
"Us getting over that hump, and us feeling the disrespect earlier in the year, us seeing what they did to Harbs while we were inside of the tunnel, and they beat us the year before in the playoffs, we got some get-back," Peters said.
The exclamation point on the "get-back" saw Peters and a bunch of his teammates celebrate on the Titans' logo after his interception.
