The Ravens are entering a new era with a head coach who looks a lot more likely to trust the punt team than to roll the dice on fourth down.
Jesse Minter is new to the job, but his football roots point in a pretty clear direction. He came up as a young assistant under John Harbaugh in Baltimore, then spent the rest of his career around Jim Harbaugh at Michigan and with the Chargers.
That’s a pretty conservative coaching tree to climb. His closest NFL head-coaching reference point, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald, is even more inclined to punt, and he too came through Baltimore.
Add in offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, who just turned 30 and spent most of his career with Sean Payton, and you’ve got a staff that does not exactly scream fearless aggression on fourth down.
Minter said after Thursday’s practice that the approach will depend on the game and the moment, and he made it clear that both sides of the ball will shape those calls.
“Both sides of the ball will inform those decisions on how the game is going and how we’re playing,” Minter explained after the final practice of the week Thursday. “If we’re smoking on defense and we can pan pin them back inside the 5, sometimes that’s a real weapon.
If we’re rolling on defense and we’ve got (running back) Derrick (Henry) rolling downhill, obviously some of those you can go - you can put the ball in the best quarterback in the world’s hands and see what happens. So there’s a lot of scenarios, and with a young punter, sometimes, let’s see what he can do.
So all those things go into that.”
That sounds like a coach who wants the situation to make the call, not one itching to hand Lamar Jackson every borderline fourth down. Minter didn’t frame it as a defensive-coach thing, but his background is impossible to ignore, and so is the reality of this roster right now.
The Ravens’ defense has more continuity, better familiarity, and a proven playcaller. The offense, meanwhile, is brand new to everyone, and Doyle has never held this kind of role before.
That alone could push the early balance of power toward the defense, and with it, toward more conservative game management.
Minter also said if that happens, it won’t simply be because he comes from the defensive side.
And if he does lean that way, it’s “not because I’m a defensive coach,” Minter said in what sounded a little like a warning. But rather based on “how the offense and defense are playing in those exact moments.”
The numbers behind the people around him tell a similar story. John Harbaugh went for it on fourth down 25 times last season, below the league average of 28.
Over the past three years, he did it 54 times, third fewest in the NFL. From 2019-2022, Harbaugh went for it 90 times, 12th most in the NFL.
Jim Harbaugh, with Minter running his defense, went for it 37 times across two NFL seasons, tied for second fewest in the league. Mike Macdonald was even more willing to kick, going for it just 31 times last season while leaning hard on his defense. Sean Payton, who shaped Doyle, has gone for it 42 times since returning to the NFL in Denver three years ago, the 10th fewest in that span.
Payton has never lacked boldness - his on-side kick to start the second half of a Super Bowl remains one of the gutsiest calls ever - but that hasn’t shown up nearly as often on fourth down.
The preseason has given this staff a chance to talk through the process, though it’s hardly a perfect rehearsal. The personnel is different, the games don’t count, and the key pieces aren’t all on the field. Still, Minter, Doyle, defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver and game-management coordinator Charlie Gelman have been working through the situations together.
“We have spent quite a bit of time meeting, with Jesse, myself, Charlie, Weave - going through some of these situations,” Doyle said this week, “talking about our decision-making. That changes week to week with the kicker, with the weather, with the defense, the offense, whatever.
“I am a part of that, in that I am calling the game and on second down I need to know whether I have a couple downs here or just one. That's the biggest part of it. I am reacting in a lot of ways because it's the head coach's decision.”
For now, the signs point in one direction: early in Minter’s tenure, the Ravens are likely to play it safer than some fans might expect. Even with Derrick Henry.
Even with Lamar Jackson. Even with a rookie punter.
In Other News...
Ravens Are Flirting With A Derrick Henry Risk Fans Know Well
Derrick Henry is heading into his age-32 season with a new offensive coordinator, and Declan Doyle has already made it clear the Ravens want to lean on their star back in a major way. The idea is straightforward enough: Henry remains one of the leagues most punishing runners, and Baltimore has every reason to trust him as a central piece of the offense if he stays healthy and productive.
The challenge is obvious for a back with that kind of mileage, especially at this stage of his career. Jesse Minter has already acknowledged that Henrys workload will have to be managed carefully over the course of the season, which is where the familiar tension comes in for the Ravens: how much can they ask from a runner like Henry before the risk starts to outweigh the reward? [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Suddenly Have A Backup QB Problem Fans Can't Ignore
The Ravens quarterback room has taken on a different look at the worst possible time, with Lamar Jackson still firmly at the top and Snoop Huntley now sitting as the clear next man up. Skylar Thompsons injury thinned out the depth chart even further, and it left Baltimore with a backup plan that is suddenly looking more fragile than it did a week ago.
That matters even more because the offense is still being rebuilt under new coordinator Declan Doyle, which makes backup experience a bigger issue than usual. If Jackson misses any time, the Ravens would be asking a quarterback group with little proven help behind Huntley to keep a new system on track, and that is the kind of uncertainty fans cannot really ignore. [Read more 🡒]
Ja'Kobi Lane Is Giving Ravens Fans A Reason To Watch Preseason
Training camp has given Ravens fans an unexpected preseason subplot in rookie wide receiver JaKobi Lane, who has turned in a string of impressive plays while trying to carve out a role in Baltimores offense. His work has shown up in the kind of moments that catch a practice crowds attention, from contested grabs to highlight-reel receptions, and he has been spending time on the field with Lamar Jackson as the offense sorts out its early looks.
Lanes rise has made him one of the more interesting names to track when preseason games begin, especially with the competition for roster spots and snaps always sharpening in August. The real question now is whether he can carry that training-camp momentum into live action, where the speed changes and every snap brings a little more pressure to back up the hype. [Read more 🡒]