The Baltimore Ravens finished the 2023 season with a 13-4 record and made the playoffs for the 5th time in 6 years. Unfortunately they lost in the AFC championship game to the Chiefs with a score of 17-10 and unfortunately they would go on to win the Super Bowl two weeks later. It was a very very frustrating end to the 2023 season for the Ravens – in a year where it felt like they were going to win the Super Bowl. They had double digit wins over several playoff teams including the Texans twice, a 14 point win over the 49ers on Christmas night, and a 37 point beatdown of the Miami Dolphins in week 17. But they couldn’t finish the job in what was otherwise a fantastic year for the Ravens. And now the Ravens are in a very tough situation. Not just because of losing to a dynasty in the postseason – but because of how many coaches, and former players were taken from the 2023 roster compared to where they are now. From the AFC championship game against the Chiefs until now – the Ravens had to replace 3 starters along the offensive line, 3 starters on defense, and plenty of more rotational players. And this is a big reason why I think the Ravens are in a tough situation entering 2024. And despite being in a tough situation entering this year – I want one thing to be clear – they are still a very good football team and they are probably going to be a playoff team again. The only question is – how far can they go? Well we’re going to break everything down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down what the Ravens did in free agency – both in terms of who they lost – and in terms of who they acquired. The biggest lost they had was linebacker Patrick Queen who signed a 3 year deal with the Steelers for $41 million dollars. Internally the Ravens knew they Patrick was going to leave in free agency after the 2023 season because they didn’t want to pay an average of $34 million dollars for their inside linebacking duo of Roquan Smith and Patrick Queen. The writing was on the wall for Queen and he had to have known his days were numbered when they made the trade for Roquan – and especially when the team gave him a $100 million dollar contract. And credit the Ravens because they had a replacement plan in place for this – as they selected Clemson linebacker Trenton Simpson in the 3rd round of the 2023 draft to eventually be the Queen successor. But one big reason as to why I am a little hesitant with the 2024 Ravens – believe it or not – has nothing to do with Lamar Jackson – but it has to do with how many players had career years for Baltimore last year – with Patrick Queen being one of them. Queen had over 130 tackles, 9 tackles for a loss, and even 3.5 sacks and played at a pro bowl level. Is it realistic to expect Trenton Simpson after playing 46 total defensive snaps last year to come in and play at the level Queen did last year – you can be the judge of that question, but I don’t think it is. Not only that, but they also lost Jadeveon Clowney who signed with the Panthers and I know Jadeveon had unrealistic expectations coming out of South Carolina back in 2014 – but he had the most pressures in any year of his career last year with 71 – which also led the team. And entering the year their top two edge rushers are Odafe Oweh and Kyle Van Noy – and while Van Noy has been a really solid player throughout his NFL career – I have some concerns with him being the number one pass rusher on a team at 33 years old. Owen also runs hot and cold and I have said countless times on the channel that it usually takes trench players a few year to really come into their own – but this is a gamble in itself for Baltimore. After those two guys it’s David Ojabo who I liked coming out of Michigan a few years ago, but he’s played in 5 career games and played just 83 snaps last year. Their number 4 edge rusher is 3rd round rookie Adisa Isaac who I would not expect much out of in year 1 – and we’ll break him down more later. All of this is to say – that replacing Jadeveon Clowney is going to be a very difficult task despite what you may think of him as a player. They also lost safety Geno Stone in free agency who had 7 interceptions last year and while I think Geno had a career year – replacing his production is going to be almost impossible. I know they recently signed veteran Eddie Jackson – but replacing the defensive production of what Queen, Clowney, and Stone brought to the table in 2023 is going to be next to impossible. Are they still going to be a good defense this year? Yes and that’s not a question. They’re not going to go from the best defense in the NFL to bottom 5 barring several major injuries or flat out poor coaching. But I really believe the 2023 Ravens defense would have been talked about like the 2015 Broncos defense was – had they won a Super Bowl last year. And when you factor in nearly every player on this defense having a career year – whether it was Justin Maduibuike, Roquan, Kyle Hamilton – or whoever – along with the players we mentioned that left in free agency – along with the position coaches that got promoted elsewhere – this is why I think the Ravens are fighting an uphill battle entering 2024.
Not only that but there were also a lot of things that went the Ravens way from a competitive standpoint last year. Having Joe Burrow go down benefitted the Ravens from a football standpoint. We don’t wish injury upon players of course – but Joe Burrow going down last year – benefitted the Ravens the same way Lamar not playing in 2022 – benefitted the Bengals. Also yes, I know the Ravens beat the Bengals with a healthy Joe Burrow in week 2 of last year and I was simply pointing that out. But what also benefitted the Ravens last year – that absolutely can not be counted on again – was the Chiefs – struggling at times in the regular season. There was a point in time where the Chiefs went from 7-2 through 9 games to 9-6 through 15 games and due in large part to that – that allowed the Ravens to get the number one seed in the AFC. And also the collapse of the Jags which the Ravens played a part in dismantling themselves. Are the stars going to align for Baltimore this year – in that sense like they did last year? I personally doubt it. But what I will say positively about the 2024 Ravens defense is they are still a very talented uni and I absolutely love this teams secondary. Winning in the AFC in today’s’ era is an incredibly difficult task – much less making the playoffs in 5 of the past 6 years like the Ravens have. Aside from having an elite quarterback – which the Ravens absolutely have in Lamar Jackson – how do you consistently compete in today’s era? Having a good secondary to be able to counter the quarterback play. We will break down Nate Wiggins more during the rookie impact – but Baltimore picking him up was a very Baltimore pick – and I mean that in the best way possible because of how good of a prospect he was. Marlon Humphrey only played in 10 games last year and has played in 13 games or more just once in the past 3 years so adding not just a 5th round depth player to the secondary – but a legit first round prospect was critical. And there will be questions in March of whether or not to pay corner Brandon Stephens who is entering the final year of his deal. The 2023 Ravens finished 6th in passing yards allowed last year, 2nd in passing touchdowns allowed, and were 3rd in interceptions as a team as they pulled down 18. They will be a good secondary again in 2024 and I have no doubts about that. Outside of the corners Baltimore has – which are already impressive in itself – they have one of the best safety duo’s in the league – if not the best safety duo in Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams. Kyle Hamilton – like Nate Wiggins this year – and hell Tyler Linderbaum too for that matter – were all very Ravens picks in the sense of letting the board come to them and then taking the best player available and making several teams look like fools years later. Which is exactly what happened with Kyle Hamilton too. Kyle was a first team all pro last year and the way they used him – which was really as a versatile chess piece – should be expected again.
I didn’t mean to sound so down on Baltimore earlier – as much as I was frustrated for them when the cards aligned for them the way they did last year because I don’t think that’s going to happen for them again this year. At least not to that magnitude. But the 2024 Ravens defense has playmakers everywhere – whether it’s Roquan, Kyle, Justin Madubuike who is an absolute beast in the middle, or even Marlon or soon to be Nate Wiggins on the outside. They are led by new defensive coordinator Zach Orr and personally – I think they should finish in the top 5 to 7 in points allowed per game. Their schedule is very difficult so I wouldn’t say top 2 or 3 – but with how good this unit is – and with how much I expect the Ravens to run the ball offensively – which in turn will help keep the defense fresh throughout the year – the sky is the limit for the 2024 Ravens defense. The big thing is – the new guys are going to have to step up – and in a major major way.
