The Ravens have every reason to be in the Super Bowl conversation, but betting on them to actually get there is a different story.
Baltimore enters training camp with real buzz and a roster good enough to make a playoff push. The problem is what comes after that. Winning it all, especially in a season shaped by major coaching changes and a roster with plenty of questions, is a much steeper climb.
The biggest obstacle is history. Only twice has a rookie head coach won the Super Bowl, and both cases came with unusual circumstances.
Don McCafferty stepped in for Don Shula and guided Baltimore’s Colts to Super Bowl V, but that was a different NFL era and a team with proven championship pedigree. George Seifert also inherited a dynasty, taking over Bill Walsh’s 49ers after years on the staff and with plenty of experience already in place.
That is not the situation here. Jesse Minter is not walking into a setup like that, and this is not a franchise that has made a habit of steady postseason success. There’s also the fact that this is a rare staff - Miami is the only other NFL team for the 2026 season without a single former NFL head coach on it.
Then there’s the offense. Lamar Jackson is good enough to carry a team deep, but in January the margin gets thin.
Defenses are better, pass rushes are nastier, and coordinators are sharper. Outside of Zay Flowers, the Ravens do not have a proven group of receivers ready to consistently win those battles.
Flowers has his own limitations, especially in the red zone and end zone, and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle has never held this job before and has never called a play.
Baltimore could still make moves before the midseason trade deadline, and the defense should be strong. But the Ravens’ larger issue goes beyond one unit or one coach.
This team has become tied to late-game collapses, especially when double-digit leads disappear. Firing John Harbaugh would not automatically fix that.
The culture problem, as described here, stretches across multiple coordinators and multiple phases. Even with Mike Macdonald running a defense that set records before he left for Seattle, the same problems kept showing up.
Adding Trey Hendrickson would help, but he is older and has an injury history. Scheme alone is not enough to erase a pattern like this.
The roster itself raises more concerns. Football is a young man’s game, and Baltimore’s recent drafts have not been strong enough.
Some of the better young players also left in free agency. The Ravens now have their highest payroll ever, but a lot of that money is tied to older players, declining players, or players whose bodies have aged faster than their actual years.
That leaves a lot on the shoulders of key veterans. Hendrickson and Calais Campbell, who is 40, would have to carry the defensive line.
Roquan Smith is coming off a rapid decline over the last two seasons and will wear the green dot. Marlon Humphrey has slowed and injuries remain a concern.
Nnamdi Madubuike’s status after neck surgery is still unclear.
The offense has its own age and durability questions. Ronnie Stanley once thought his career might be over after multiple surgeries.
Derrick Henry is 32, which is a tough number for an NFL running back. Mark Andrews, the team’s only proven move tight end, averaged under 9 yards per reception, got paid again, and has still never caught a playoff touchdown.
Ethan Pocic, the newly signed center, is 10 years into his career and is coming off a Week 14 Achilles tear.
Baltimore may well be a playoff team. But when it comes to being the last one standing, there are too many moving parts, too many age concerns, and too little precedent for this kind of setup to make the Ravens the safest Super Bowl pick.
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Devontez Walker is the name that stands out as the player most likely to benefit from the shift, especially with the Ravens expecting him to see more playing time in his third season. But the competition behind Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman is still unsettled, and the rookies added in the middle rounds have given Baltimore a legitimate camp battle that could end up shaping how Lamar Jacksons offense looks when the season starts. [Read more 🡒]