Snoop Huntley is no longer just in the mix for Baltimore’s backup job. He’s locked into it, and that’s where the problem starts for the Ravens.
With Lamar Jackson set as the starter and Huntley firmly installed behind him, the quarterback room looks thinner than it should for an offense that is effectively starting over. The Ravens have called this a “brand new” offense, and Jackson and Zay Flowers have both used that same description. That matters because the backup quarterback now has to operate in a system built on new verbiage, new concepts, flipped footwork and a heavy emphasis on “timing, progressions, different route styles.”
Quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork laid that out Thursday, and it only sharpened the concern. Huntley is being asked to learn a lot in a setup that demands precision, and he’s doing it in a room that has very little experience with the kind of system Declan Doyle is working from. Doyle, 30, has never called a play in his life, and the group around him isn’t loaded with quarterbacks who have spent meaningful time in a Sean Payton or Ben Johnson offense.
That is why the Ravens’ decision to make Huntley the unquestioned No. 2 feels so stark. It’s not a battle.
It’s not a competition. It’s an anointing - one year after the team wanted nothing to do with him as an undrafted free agent signing.
The loss of Skylar Thompson before the first preseason game only makes that picture uglier. Thompson had been viewed as a capable third-string option, and now he’s on Injured Reserve, leaving Baltimore with nobody behind Huntley that it would actually want to see in an NFL game. There is still time to sort through cuts around the league before Week 1, but that doesn’t change how shaky the setup looks right now.
Jackson won’t play in the preseason, and the offensive line won’t be fully intact either. That means Huntley is going to be working behind a group that may not give him much help, while rookie head coach Jesse Minter has to be careful with how much he exposes him. The Ravens also committed $3.5M fully guaranteed to Huntley, a price that makes the whole thing look even harder to justify.
One longtime NFL executive who follows the Ravens closely didn’t hide his view of the room.
“They’ve got one of the worst QB rooms in the league outside of Lamar,” he said. “I don’t know what they were thinking.”
Huntley, for his part, sounded upbeat about getting into the offense early this offseason.
“Just being able to learn the playbook from day one,” Huntley noted.
He also said of the system:
“Some unique ways we get into our plays,” Huntley said. “It’s a great playbook. I can’t wait until we keep digging away at it.”
But the broader concern is harder to ignore. Huntley has spent most of his career in one offensive world, and the transition from Todd Monken’s approach was described as spoon-fed. He has also been behind Jackson mentally and physically, and Jackson will continue to get the most important practice reps as long as he stays healthy.
That is why a backup who had already mastered the offense made so much sense. Baltimore did the opposite.
The skepticism isn’t just about theory, either. Huntley’s career body of work is what it is: 16 starts, 30 appearances, 13 touchdown passes, 10 interceptions, a 5.6 air yards per attempt average and an 82.3 rating. He’s in his age-28 season now, and the version of him that once drew optimism is not the same player anymore.
There’s also the preseason question. If injuries and the state of the offensive line keep Huntley from getting much work, the Ravens may be asking for trouble if they ever need him in the regular season. That would leave the front office, which has already been in a funk of its own, searching for another option on someone else’s roster - ideally a quarterback with ties to Payton or Johnson.
The other idea floating around is a backup who could actually be worth taking Jackson off the field for in certain short-yardage or piledriver situations, the kind of role Sean Payton once explained in detail when he sat Drew Brees for Taysom Hill on “The Daily Flock Show.” That kind of usage is more appealing than simply running back the Lamar-and-Snoop setup in a completely new offense.
Baltimore still might end up adding someone else. But for now, the Ravens have chosen Huntley, and with everything around him changing, that choice carries more risk than comfort.
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