Rob Gronkowski Sees Ravens Winning Super Bowl, Lamar Jackson Capturing Third MVP
FOX Sports analyst and former NFL tight end Rob Gronkowski is among numerous pundits who are picking the Los Angeles Rams to win the Super Bowl, but he's also bullish on Baltimore's chances of winning it all.
Gronkowski envisioned a scenario in which Lamar Jackson wins the 2026 MVP award and the Ravens take home the Lombardi Trophy. Only one time in the 2000s has a player won MVP and the Super Bowl in the same season (Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs in 2022).
"I think the Baltimore Ravens are going to be playing the Rams in the Super Bowl. So if the Rams don't win the Super Bowl, well then it has to be the Baltimore Ravens," Gronkowski said on the "Up & Adams Show."
"Lamar Jackson is my MVP pick this year. Lamar Jackson is going to have a breakout season once again, even though he has breakout seasons every year. But last year he even just admitted that he was hurt throughout much of the season. He's going to amp it up a lot and he's going to be at full speed, and that offense is going to be clicking."
Host Kay Adams said that if the defense returns to form under new Head Coach Jesse Minter, she agrees with Gronkowski that the Ravens could be Super Bowl champions for the third time in franchise history.
"They've got obviously the offensive firepower. They love some of their young draft picks. The question would be to me, is the coach ready to go?" said Adams, who attended training camp in early August. "I was eating out of [Minter's] hand. If he gets that defense … you know, he was with [safety] Derwin James [with the Los Angeles Chargers]. Now he has Kyle Hamilton to play with, using him everywhere, lining him up in every which way. If that defense becomes that defense that we know that they historically were, I'm with you."
None of NFL.com's 19 Analysts Pick Ravens to Win Super Bowl
NFL.com analysts are not as enthusiastic as Gronkowski about the Ravens' Super Bowl chances.
None of the 19 analysts picked the Ravens to win the Super Bowl. Only one of them, Raza Umerani, had Baltimore even reaching the Super Bowl.
"Lamar Jackson and the Ravens have a dream season, but the Rams buzzsaw is inevitable," Umerani wrote. "[Rams quarterback] Matthew Stafford walks off into the sunset as a champion."
Unsurprisingly, the Rams received the most votes with eight. Six other teams got at least one vote: the Buffalo Bills (three), Cincinnati Bengals (two), Detroit Lions (two), Houston Texans (two), Dallas Cowboys (one), and Philadelphia Eagles (one).
On a related note, The Athletic asked six NFL executives to rank the 16 AFC teams. The Ravens landed at No. 5, behind the Bills, Denver Broncos, Texans, and New England Patriots.
Baltimore was ranked as high as No. 2 and as low as No. 8.
"I like that they are going to have a motivated Lamar Jackson," the executive who slotted Baltimore second said. "The offense and the offensive coordinator (Declan Doyle) will challenge him in a way he hasn't been challenged in quite some time."
The voter who ranked the Ravens fifth said: "So much depends on Lamar's health and explosion, which is such a question mark. He did not play in preseason. It is all really projection. But how many two-time MVPs are out there? How do you not have them as a Super Bowl contender with him and Zay Flowers and Kyle Hamilton and Derrick Henry and Nnamdi Madubuike back?
"You have to give Declan Doyle the benefit of the doubt with the Ben Johnson scheme, and Jesse Minter is obviously a really smart defensive coach. They are definitely in the mix, and they were a missed field goal away from making the playoffs last year, with everything that went wrong."
Pundit Says Jackson's No. 69 Ranking in NFL Top 100 May Be on the Mark
Jackson falling 67 spots to No. 69 in the NFL Top 100 is old news, but it was revisited Thursday as the months-long countdown of the rankings concluded.
NFL.com’s Jeremy Bergman looked at five things the voters – the players themselves – got wrong. He included Jackson being ranked behind quarterbacks Trevor Lawence of the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 62), Bo Nix of the Broncos (No. 59), and Jalen Hurts of the Eagles (No. 56) among the miscues.
However, Bergman concluded that the voters "may have actually gotten that one right."
"Sure, Lawrence was an MVP finalist, Nix piloted the AFC's top team, and Hurts threw a career-high 25 touchdowns, but why the disrespect to Jackson?, the townspeople cry out in the dark," Bergman wrote. "Of the QB questions that arise from this year's players poll, this one, to me, is the least vexing.
"Lamar had his most un-Lamar-like season (aside from the injuries which seem to rankle every one of his campaigns). Hampered by ailments, he logged a career-low 349 rushing yards, led Baltimore to more losses (seven) than wins (six), was 21st of 33 qualifying QBs in expected points added per dropback, per Next Gen Stats, and came up a Tyler Loop miss short of the postseason. Jackson's air game was more explosive than ever (league-high 13.3 yards per catch), but otherwise, the Ravens star did not live up to his own standard, whereas the playoff-bound campaigns led by Lawrence and Nix were welcome surprises, and Hurts was the steady captain of a turbulent Eagles campaign."
So, once again, Jackson is held to a different standard than his peers.
Mahomes had the worst statistical season of his career and went 6-8, yet his drop (from No. 5 to No. 18) wasn't nearly as precipitous as Jackson's. Likewise, Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow was limited to just eight games because of injury, yet he came in at No. 44, a fall from No. 6 but still 25 spots ahead of Jackson.
Overall, 13 quarterbacks were ranked above Jackson.
It should go without saying that there aren't 68 players or 13 quarterbacks better than Jackson. As Minter said on "The Lounge" podcast in July, "there may not even be one other player in the league better than Lamar."
Jackson Believes Henry Can Rush for 2,000 Yards This Season
Henry is among the nine running backs in NFL history who have rushed for 2,000 yards in a season. No one has done it twice.
Jackson put it out there that Henry, who turns 33 in January, could be the first to accomplish the feat this season.
"It's still King Henry at the end of the day," Jackson told Adam Schein of Sirius XM's "Schein on Sports." "I'm looking forward to seeing what's in store for him. I'm looking at like a 2,000-yard season. Don't quote me, but I'm hoping. That's Derrick Henry, man. … He's still the same guy, maybe better."
Of the running backs who have run for 2,000 yards in a season, Henry has come the closest to reaching the milestone a second time.
Henry, who had 2,027 yards with the Tennessee Titans in 2020, rushed for 1,921 yards with the Ravens in 2024.
Madubuike Is Ravens' X Factor
ESPN’s Ben Solak identified one person from each team who is an X factor, with the caveat that it can't be a quarterback, coach, or rookie.
Madubuike was his choice for the Ravens. The two-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle is expected to return to game action within the first four weeks of the season after missing nearly all of last season with a neck injury.
"He played over 800 snaps in 2023 and 2024 -- serious snap counts for a defensive tackle," Solak wrote. "Can he sustain that level of involvement on a Ravens defense that's relying heavily on older players (Roquan Smith, Trey Hendrickson and Marlon Humphrey) and needs splashy play from their front?
"I've got no clue what sort of form to expect from Madubuike. The closer he can get to returning to his star form, the better chance the Ravens have of fielding a Super Bowl-caliber defense."
Solak noted that the defensive tackle position is especially important in Minter's scheme, which featured light boxes at the fifth-highest rate last season when he was the Chargers' defensive coordinator.
"Strong defensive tackle play is a must for teams trying to fit the run from two-high shells, and next to Travis Jones, Madubuike can stuff early-down runs and get the defense to passing downs," Solak wrote. "There, a deeper bench of rushers can take some of the pressure off him."
Quick Hits
- The Ravens are No. 7 in NFL.com's Gennaro Filice’s top 10 defense rankings.
