Why Ravens Defense's Dominant Performance in Preseason Game Matters
It's hard to know how much stock to put into the results of preseason games, but ESPN's Jason McCourty said the Ravens defense's dominant performance in the 24-7 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Jesse Minter's debut as head coach is meaningful.
"For a Baltimore Ravens football team that has a superstar quarterback in Lamar with a defense that for their standards failed a season ago … you want to come in if you're Jesse Minter, who's now the head coach but also the play-caller on the defensive side of the ball, it's about setting a foundation and setting a tone and an identity for this defense that no matter who's on the field, the starters or the fourth-string guys, there's a standard that has to be upheld," McCourty said on "First Take." "So, I think for them preseason-wise, Minter comes from the Chargers, where they were top 10 in damn near every stat. That's the expectation for a Baltimore Ravens defense.
"And I think you set that tone when you go out there for the first time for anybody to see a Jesse Minter-led defense in the purple for it to look like that, and they dominated in that game."
Chris Canty agreed, saying, "Jesse Minter checked the box, and that's what you want to see from a
coaching, game-day-operations standpoint, from an identity that you want to see them work toward and build. You saw some semblance of that on the field."
Jeff Zrebiec Looks at Ravens' Potential Roster Decisions
The Ravens will trim their roster from 90 players to 53 by Aug.30. The Athletic’s Jeff Zrebiec looked at 10 things we've learned about the roster to this point.
Here are three of Zrebiec's takeaways:
There might be a decision to make on C Ethan Pocic.
"Maybe it was always the plan to bring Pocic along slowly. After all, he tore his Achilles roughly eight months ago, and his first practice with the team was on the first day of training camp. Still, Pocic's first preseason action came well into the fourth quarter on Saturday, and he's operated behind Danny Pinter and Jovaughn Gwyn all summer, which creates some uncertainty about his long-term status.
"If the Ravens are comfortable with Pinter and Gwyn, could Pocic start on injured reserve and sit out at least the first four weeks to get healthier? Should he be considered a roster lock at this point? It was widely believed that Pocic would be the Week 1 starting center as long as he's healthy, yet this is the fourth week of training camp, and he's still not in that mix."
If RB Rasheen Ali misses a lot more time, that could simplify roster decisions on offense.
"The Ravens aren't wedded to the roster construction of 25 offensive players, 25 defensive ones and three specialists, but that's always been General Manager Eric DeCosta's preference to maintain balance. If they go that direction this year, they presumably will keep two quarterbacks, six wide receivers and four tight ends. That leaves 13 spots for the running back and offensive line rooms.
"Keeping both Ali and rookie Adam Randall as the third- and fourth-string running backs behind Derrick Henry and Justice Hill could very well mean they'd be forced to carry nine offensive linemen. They've done that before, although they'd prefer to keep 10 since talented offensive linemen are harder to push through waivers than running backs. Keeping 10 on the 53-man roster becomes more plausible if Ali remains sidelined — he's missed about a week now with an undisclosed injury — or if Baltimore moves on from Ali altogether."
The final defensive spot could come down to a fifth outside linebacker, sixth defensive lineman or fifth safety.
"The Ravens will keep at least four outside linebackers, five interior defensive linemen, four inside linebackers and four safeties. If they stick with the 25-25-3 ratio and keep seven corners … that would mean one remaining spot to use defensively. That presumably would come down to a choice of keeping Adisa Isaac as the fifth outside linebacker, K'Von Wallace as the fifth safety or either Aeneas Peebles or C.J. Okoye as the sixth defensive lineman."
Ravens Crack Top 10 in PFF's Defensive Line Rankings
The Ravens' revamped defensive line is projected to be among the league's best this season, landing at No. 7 in Pro Football Focus’ Gordon McGuinness’ top 10 defensive line rankings.
"The Ravens' defensive line was in rough shape by the end of the 2025 season, but few units have improved more from a personnel standpoint this offseason," McGuinness wrote. "Baltimore added edge defender Trey Hendrickson in free agency after the former Cincinnati Bengal earned PFF pass-rush grades of 90.0 or better in four straight seasons.
"The Ravens also get Nnamdi Madubuike back on the interior. The 2020 third-round pick generated 121 pressures between 2023 and 2024 before a neck injury, initially feared to be career-threatening, limited him for most of the 2025 season."
Veteran defensive tackle Calais Campbell also was a significant offseason addition.
Quick Hits
- Second-year cornerback Keyon Martin and rookie tight end Matt Hibner made PFF’s list of 10 players who turned heads in last weekend's preseason action.
