The Ravens didn’t exactly cruise through the 2026 NFL free agency period. They added talent, sure, but the departures kept piling up and the depth took a real hit.
One of the bigger losses was punter Jordan Stout, who landed a market-setting contract with the New York Giants. Special teams may not grab the spotlight very often, but Baltimore still had to replace the production of the 2025 All-Pro. So far, they may have found the answer in sixth-round rookie Ryan Eckley.
Eckley is set to handle punting duties for the Ravens in 2026, and he’s already giving the team plenty to like. First-year players usually need time to settle in, but he’s wasting none of it.
The early returns have been loud. Through training camp and two preseason games, Eckley has shown off a huge leg - the same kind of booming power Stout brought every week last season. If this keeps up, Baltimore might have another top-tier punter on its hands.
That’s not a small thing, either, because Stout’s rise didn’t happen overnight. He didn’t turn into an All-Pro and justify that big contract until his 2025 season, when he averaged 50.1 yards per punt and placed 45.3% of his punts inside the 20. Before that, inconsistency was part of the story, and there was reason to wonder if Eckley might go through something similar early in his career.
Instead, Eckley has started to quiet those worries. His preseason debut began with a rough one - a 27-yard punt that fell well short of the standard he’s shown since. But he bounced back fast.
In Week 1 of the preseason, he drilled a 40-yard punt that landed inside the 20. Against the Minnesota Vikings, he took it up another notch, punting six times and averaging 55.3 yards per kick. Five of those six traveled 54 yards or more, two went 60 yards, and two were downed inside the 20.
And that might not even have been his sharpest work yet.
During Monday’s training camp practice, according to The Baltimore Sun’s Josh Tolentino, Eckley put together five straight coffin-corner punts, all of them downed inside the 5-yard line.
That’s the combination Baltimore wants to see: power and placement. Eckley appears to have both.
Still, the rookie isn’t fully finished product yet. In both preseason outings, his first punt left something to be desired, which means he still has to show he can start fast instead of spending the rest of the day correcting course.
Week 3 against the Washington Commanders will be another chance to clean that up. The upside is already showing. Now the Ravens want to see him string it together from start to finish before the regular season arrives.
In Other News...
Ravens Pass Rush Battle Is Putting Adisa Isaac In Trouble
The Ravens pass-rush competition has become one of the more interesting roster battles in camp, and Adisa Isaac has not yet made the kind of early case that usually helps a young edge defender stick. Through more than 30 preseason snaps, he has not put up any statistics, while Ethan Burke and Kaimon Rucker have both used their chances to stand out in a crowded group.
Burke delivered a breakout Week 2 showing with multiple impactful plays, and Rucker followed by earning the top defensive grade on the team in that same game. With the August 30 cutdown date approaching, Baltimore has a real decision to make for its final pass-rush spot, and Isaacs quiet preseason is putting him in a tougher position than he likely expected. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Center Battle May Not Be As Open As It Sounds
A recent game offered a reminder of how quickly an offense can get out of rhythm when the middle of the line is not steady, with penalties and procedural issues helping derail things for rookie offensive coordinator Declan Doyle. Doyle and his mentor Sean Payton have both put a premium on what a veteran center brings to an offense, which helps explain why Baltimore moved to add Ethan Pocic and give itself a more experienced option in the middle.
For now, the Ravens are sorting through a center competition that features Pocic and Jovaughn Gwyn, and the coaching staff has made clear this is not a snap judgment. The job will keep being evaluated as camp and the preseason unfold, but the broader message is already clear: in this system, the center spot is too important to treat like a placeholder. [Read more 🡒]
Ravens Secondary Depth Just Put Marlon Humphrey In An Awkward Spot
The Ravens have spent enough time building out their cornerback room that Marlon Humphrey is no longer as easy to slot into the long-term picture as he once was. Between his contract, his age and a recent dip in performance, the conversation has shifted from whether he can still be part of the plan to whether Baltimore should use that depth to its advantage and rethink how much cap space it wants tied up at the position.
NFL personnel executive Pat Kirwan even floated the idea of marketing Humphrey for a trade, which gives the discussion a little more weight than a typical offseason debate. Baltimore does not have to move him, and there is still plenty of value in keeping a proven veteran around, but the fact that the conversation is happening at all says plenty about how crowded and flexible the secondary has become. [Read more 🡒]