athlonsports.com

Baltimore Ravens 2025 NFL Season Preview

[Editor's note: This article is from Athlon Sports' 2025 NFL Preview Magazine. Order your copy today online or pick one up at retail racks and newsstands nationwide.]

Lamar Jackson’s transcendent seven-year career has produced two Most Valuable Player awards but only three playoff wins, and the road to the still-elusive Super Bowl again has obstacles named Patrick Mahomes, Josh Allen and Joe Burrow. The Ravens have a roster built to take the next step, with relatively little turnover after a 12-5 season and second straight AFC North title. The offense returns nearly every starter, and the defense, led by Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey and rising star Kyle Hamilton, will benefit from being in coordinator Zach Orr’s system for a second year. Yet each season, the burden grows for Jackson and this team to change the narrative of playoff shortcomings. Can this be the year they finally do it?

More NFL team previews

AFC East: Bills | Dolphins | Jets | Patriots

AFC North:Bengals | Browns | Ravens | Steelers

AFC South:Colts | Jaguars | Texans | Titans

AFC West: Broncos | Chargers | Chiefs | Raiders

NFC East:Commanders | Cowboys | Eagles | Giants

NFC North: Bears | Lions | Packers | Vikings

NFC South: Buccaneers | Falcons | Panthers | Saints

NFC West: 49ers | Cardinals | Rams | Seahawks

Offense

Coordinator Todd Monken’s attack again will revolve around Jackson, whose ability to improvise has always been one of his biggest strengths. Derrick Henry still looks as if he were built in a lab, running over linebackers and outrunning defensive backs nearly 10 years younger. The threat of Jackson keeping the ball on read-option plays helped Henry, at age 30, average a career-best 5.9 yards per carry in his first season in Baltimore.

Henry and Jackson lead a rushing attack that again includes underrated Justice Hill as a third-down back. Road-grading fullback Patrick Ricard is back to pave the way. The Ravens hope that Keaton Mitchell, who flashed as a speedy undrafted rookie in 2023 before missing most of last season with a torn ACL, can return to form. He’s also a candidate to return kicks.

Baltimore Ravens running back Derrick Henry (22).

Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The Ravens’ signing of a 30-something receiver seems to be an annual tradition, and this year’s new toy is DeAndre Hopkins. He joins a group headlined by Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman. Flowers is a 5-foot-9 jitterbug who can be vexing to defenders given how he jukes his way for extra yardage. Bateman, maligned early in his career for his inability to stay healthy, is the team’s top deep threat. He caught nine touchdowns last year after totaling only four in his first three seasons.

The Ravens have one of the league’s best tight end duos in Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and the fact that each is entering a contract year brings a sense of urgency. Andrews has been Jackson’s favorite target since the two arrived as rookies together in 2018. He’s also highly motivated to move past a disastrous AFC Divisional Round loss at Buffalo in which he lost a fumble and then dropped a potential game-tying two-point conversion. Likely does a lot of damage after the catch with a ferocious stiff-arm that would make Henry proud.

Up front, the Ravens re-signed All-Pro left tackle Ronnie Stanley as their most significant move of the offseason. He and Pro Bowl center Tyler Linderbaum anchor a line that returns four starters, including right guard Daniel Faalele and second-year right tackle Roger Rosengarten. The left guard spot is the only vacancy among offensive starters. The Ravens didn’t draft any plug-and-play option, so Andrew Vorhees, a starter early last season, probably opens camp as the favorite.

Defense

Orr’s defense experienced growing pains in his first season as coordinator, but the unit steadily improved and includes Pro Bowl talent at all three levels. The Ravens leaned defense in the draft with three of their first four picks.

Up front, bull-rushing Nnamdi Madubuike can blow up the pocket from the inside and commands double-teams after a 13-sack season in 2023. Travis Jones is an emerging force, but the team needs a run-stuffer after Michael Pierce’s retirement.

Smith returns in the middle of the 3-4 defense, but the Ravens are searching for a complement alongside the All-Pro. Trenton Simpson underwhelmed in his first attempt to seize the job last season, but the 2023 third-round pick will get another chance.

As with the tight ends, there’s a sense of urgency with the edge rush group. Both 34-year-old Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh, who tallied a team-best 12.5 and 10 sacks, respectively, in 2024, are set to become free agents after the season. Depth behind them has been a major question. Enter second-round draft pick Mike Green from Marshall. After leading the nation with 17 sacks, he should work into the rotation immediately.

In a strong Ravens secondary, Hamilton and Humphrey lead the way, and the team bolstered the unit by drafting Georgia safety Malaki Starks with the 27th overall pick.

Nov 7, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton (14) reacts after tips a Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) pass during the first quarter at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images

Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton

(Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images)

Hamilton, a two-time All-Pro in his first three seasons, has emerged as one of the most versatile defenders in the league. He settles the defense from the back as a free safety, but his length (6-4) and physicality also play well near the line of scrimmage. He is a superb fundamental tackler with the ability to shed blocks and blow up bubble screens or blitz off the edge.

Starks can play all over as well, and the versatility of Hamilton and Starks will allow the Ravens to disguise looks right up until the snap. The unit suffered a blow, though, when safety Ar’Darius Washington suffered a torn Achilles during conditioning in May. The Ravens were expected to use him extensively in three-safety looks, and they’ll need to add a veteran to a group that lacks depth.

Cornerback Nate Wiggins, the team’s top draft pick in 2024, will command one spot on the outside with speed and instincts to stay with the best receivers. If Humphrey plays in the slot, which is often the Ravens’ preference, the Ravens need a new starter on the outside, with Brandon Stephens gone in free agency. Veteran Chidobe Awuzie has been signed and could be that guy. Jalyn Armour-Davis and T.J. Tampa should also get a chance to win the job but need to show they can stay healthy, something they’ve failed to do.

Specialists

The Ravens in May released All-Pro kicker Justin Tucker amid a league investigation into allegations that Tucker had engaged in sexual misconduct with more than a dozen Baltimore-area massage therapists. It’s a stunning fall for the most accurate field-goal kicker in NFL history. It appears the Ravens will entrust their kicking game to rookie Tyler Loop, who became the first placekicker ever drafted by the team. Look for the Ravens to add a veteran to compete with Loop in training camp.

Jordan Stout is back as the team’s punter, but the return game was pedestrian last year, and head coach John Harbaugh, who cut his teeth as a special-teams coach, has made it clear that he expects more out of his returners. Sixth-round pick LaJohntay Wester might get the first shot to win the punt return job.

Final Analysis

Jackson has nothing left to prove in the regular season, with a record of 70-24 as a starter and two MVP awards. With the electrifying quarterback leading an offense that returns nearly every starter and a defense stocked with Pro Bowl players at all three levels, the Ravens again are positioned as a legitimate Super Bowl contender.

Yet for all the team’s regular-season success, flawed execution in the postseason has been a recurring problem. That fact will burden the Ravens until they can overcome it.