Jesse Minter Can Unlock Ravens Gifted Young Pass Rusher

The best testament to a great coach at any level, but especially in the NFL, is how they can develop and get the best out of the talent on the roster. By hiring former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter to replace John Harbaugh as the fourth head coach in franchise history, the Baltimore Ravens also brought in one of the best groomers of talented defenders in the league.

Minter's two-year stint with the Chargers proved that he can get young players and well-seasoned veterans alike to produce at high-to-elite levels both in the front seven and secondary. He helped safety Derwin James return to All-Pro form, coached outside linebacker Tuli Tuipulotu to his first double-digit sack season (13) after recording 8.5 in 2024 and a Pro Bowl bid and took former Ravens safety Tony Jefferson from a retired player-turned-scout to playing the best ball of his career at 33 years old.

The best example from last year that exemplifies his ability to maximize the talent of a highly drafted edge defender was the wonders he worked with fifth-year veteran Odafe Oweh, who was acquired via trade from the Baltimore Ravens ahead of the midseason deadline. After failing to build off his first double-digit sack season in 2024 with none through the first five games of the 2025 season, the 2021 first-rounder recorded 10.5 in 13 games, including the playoffs with the Chargers.

Minter consistently put Oweh in positions to succeed let him wreak havoc week in and week out as one of the most disruptive players on one of the best defensive units in the league. In Los Angeles' low-scoring loss in the Wildcard round of the playoffs, Ravens fans had to watch their once much-maligned young pass rusher set another team's franchise playoff record for sacks in a single-game that stood since 1993. He brought down New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, an MVP frontrunner, in the backfield three times, forcing a fumble twice.

Just watching the incredible tear that Oweh went on once under Minter's stewardship without an elite interior defensive tackle couldn't be a bigger indictment of how the Ravens' edge defenders underperformed. Under former defensive coordinator Zach Orr, after two-time Pro Bowler Nnamdi Madubuike suffered a season-ending neck injury two games into the season, Baltimore's outside linebackers only mustered 11.5 combined sacks in the next 15 games.