### **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](https://www.si.com/nfl/nfl-takeaways-why-niners-super-bowl-window-could-reopen-2025#_2of4ce66s), who attended a Ravens practice last week, as noted in [yesterday’s Late for Work](https://www.baltimoreravens.com/news/53-man-roster-cuts-ravens-lamar-jackson-derrick-henry-ravens-espn-top-100-trenton-simpson). "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."