Ravens Voted AFC's Best Team by NFL Executives
The Athletic asked eight NFL team executives to rank the 16 AFC teams. Unsurprisingly, the Ravens, Bills, and Kansas City Chiefs were the only teams to be ranked in the top three on every ballot.
The Ravens took the No. 1 spot with four first-place votes, two second-place votes, and two third-place votes. The Bills were second, followed by the Chiefs.
"I feel like [the Ravens] were really the best team last year and are even hungrier now with the loss in the playoffs, not getting over the hump," one voter said. "I think they'll have a top-five defense, maybe even top-three. Last year, it took them a while after losing [coordinator Mike] Macdonald. They won't have the Justin Tucker struggles, either."
Another exec who ranked the Ravens No. 1 said: "I'll go Baltimore this year, because of the quarterback and then the overall roster. They have a good combination of young guys and veteran guys this year."
The Ravens' AFC North foes were ranked fourth (Cincinnati Bengals), seventh (Pittsburgh Steelers), and 16th (Cleveland Browns).