Sports Illustrated Credits Ravens' 'Player-Development Machine' for Sustained Success
Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer is exceptionally high on the Ravens this season, not only because of how good they appear on paper, but also because of how consistently good they've been throughout the Lamar Jackson era.
"The Ravens have the second-best record in football since drafting Lamar Jackson in 2018," said Breer, who attended a Ravens practice last week, as noted in yesterday’s Late for Work. "They're 78–38, short of only the Chiefs in that time frame, through which they've been a playoff team in six of seven seasons, won four division titles, and carried the No. 1 seed in the AFC into the playoffs twice. No, they haven't made it to a Super Bowl with this group, but they're battle-tested, and generally if you're knocking on the door this much …"
Breer rattled off the Ravens' strengths – the two-biggest being the Jackson-Derrick Henry backfield and a secondary that will start five former first-round picks – and contended that there is no position group that is cause for concern.
"Last year, there was a big offensive line question with three new starters. Now, that unit is young, promising and improving, and a perfect example of the player-development machine that's been churning for a quarter century now in Baltimore," Breer wrote. "Because of it, there's no discernible weakness on the roster, and there's plenty of depth in most areas, with the next crew of young stars (Tyler Linderbaum, Zay Flowers, Travis Jones, Mike Green, Malaki Starks, Nate Wiggins, etc.) in place under that established, war-worn core.
"Add all that up, and that the Ravens were a Mark Andrews two-point drop away from overtime against Buffalo in the divisional last year — with the Bills having taken Kansas City to the wire in the title game the following week — and I'd say this is a team worth watching, in case you'd forgotten about them. And also an operation that keeps functioning at a ridiculous level."
On a related note, Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano identified 20 teams that have a "realistic shot" at making the Super Bowl and placed them in tiers. Unsurprisingly, the Ravens were in the tier of top contenders.
"They are returning all the important pieces from the NFL's best offense and a top-10 defense," Vacchiano wrote. "And as long as Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry stay healthy, they have a chance to steamroll their way through the AFC North and maybe even the entire conference. Yeah, the playoffs are always a bit of a worry and the Chiefs and Bills have proven to be their postseason kryptonite. But they are firmly entrenched as part of the AFC's Big 3."
Starks, Green Ace Summer Exams
As Breer noted, first-round safety Starks and second-round outside linebacker Green are expected to continue the Ravens' tradition of producing home-grown stars. Both rookies have looked the part in the preseason.
The Athletic’s Nick Baumgardner looked at every first-round pick from this year's draft and assessed how they've progressed this summer. Starks landed on his list of preseason winners.
"This might've been my favorite pick of the first round, and it took Starks almost no time to earn an apparent starting safety spot next to star Kyle Hamilton," Baumgardner wrote. "Not only is Starks ready to help Hamilton, but he has the IQ and ability to raise the bar on the back end for Baltimore."
As for Green, NFL.com draft analyst Chad Reuter gave him a B+ grade for his performance in the Ravens' 30-3 win over the Washington Commanders in the preseason finale.
"Green's lack of elite size put him at a disadvantage against the Commanders' massive offensive linemen, but the rookie played tough through contact and shocked blockers with heavy hands at times," Reuter wrote. "His quickness came in handy, as he beat tackles with a ghost move and bend, even though he did not post a sack. Green was engulfed on some run plays, but he broke free from a tight end block to limit one play for a short gain. The stand-up rusher looked agile dropping into coverage, as well."
Ravens Projected to Win 11 Games This Season
The Athletic’s win projection model has the Ravens winning 11 games this season, just behind the Buffalo Bills (11.2) for most in the league.
The Athletic's Jeff Zrebiec feels 11 victories is on the mark.
"The Ravens have one of the league's deepest rosters and it appears they'll get to Week 1 relatively healthy," Zrebiec wrote. "They've traditionally lost a lot of players and coaches in the offseason, but they experienced very modest change this year, so there are no excuses for a slow start. In the four seasons where Lamar Jackson has started more than 12 regular-season games, the Ravens have averaged 12.5 wins.
"With the difficulty of the Ravens' schedule in mind, it's probably wise to not get too carried away with the win prediction. Eleven feels like a good number."
To Zrebiec's point, nine of the Ravens' 17 games are against teams that made the playoffs last season, five of which are on the road.
