The 5 Most Pressing Questions With The 2026 Ravens

The Ravens still have work to do this offseason, but, man, what a whirlwind it’s been already. And spring practices are just around the corner.

It’s the perfect time - now a week removed from the draft kicking off – to step back and look at this franchise from 40,000 feet and asses what’s happened (we told you Calais Campbell was a must), what still needs to happen, and where they are going. You don’t get the finished product in May by any stretch, but it’s also not like they are going to pull off a bunch of blockbuster trades before now and September or go crazy in free agency (and there isn’t much left out there, anyway).

There is more uncertainty about this organization and more unknowns than at any time in at least the last 15 years, easy. Certainly, since John Harbaugh became established as a legitimate NFL head coach in Baltimore. And a lot of the answers we aren’t going to find out until October or November; even if they start another ridiculous pre-season winning streak that don’t mean a thing the first time.

Here are the five biggest questions surrounding the Baltimore Ravens as we head towards rookie camp, and then Organized Team Activities:

1) Will They Get A Deal Done With Lamar?

This trumps everything else. By far. Unequivocally.

Some will freak out about how much Lamar Jackson participates in OTAs. Fine. I am much more obsessed with how long it takes them to get a proper new contract done with him after ceding even more leverage with the latest restructure. If a deal isn’t done before Week 1, Jackson will surely command even more by 2027, sitting on a $90M cap hit and a year from free agency.

It’s an indictment of a front office that has always been at least 15 months too late and tens of millions short when it comes these deals already – and that their franchise QB had to demand a trade last time to get a fair-market deal. Time is wasting. This is the most paramount issue facing this organization and nothing else is close.

2) Can These Guys Coach?

The tandem of general manager Eric DeCosta and team president Sashi Brown are prone to extremes, and their coaching search – not just head coach Jesse Minter but the entire staff – may prove to be overboard in terms of inexperience. They have a little too much in common with Miami – a franchise that can never get it right at head coach – with how this staff is put together, with no one with prior NFL head coaching experience on it,

Minter has head coaching chops, but it’s about more than just a few guys, and the totality of this offensive staff gives me pause. The Mighty Mike Macdonald had to blow out his offensive coordinator on his initial staff after just one season to get where he wanted to go. There are plenty of skeptics around the league about that side of the ball in Baltimore.

3) How Many Games For Nnamdi And Ronnie?

Nnamdi Madubuike opting for by what seems by all accounts to be potentially- career-saving neck surgery recently is a great sign. But that was obviously a significant injury and there is a nebulous timetable about when he comes back, and any injury of that nature is going to require considerable attention and care. Will he be able to take on and sustain a normal workload and get back to an All-Pro level?

As for Stanley, putting together consecutive years in which his ability to perform is not limited to come capacity by his history of serious ankle/lower leg problems doesn’t come easy. The depth behind both stalwarts is pretty negligible in the eyes of many.

4) Who Plays Center And Is The OL Any Better?

There are at least two options on the open market who could potentially step in and solidify center for a season (or hopefully at least close to it). But pretending the answer to this glaring roster hole is on the roster is folly, and DeCosta has now taken to in-house media to float the idea of a trade.

Cool.

Do something and do something fairly substantial. Because if you try to run out an offensive line as crappy last year again, and you do it with a novice coordinator who comes from a questionable family tree and has never called a play before, you might be courting disaster. The center is the anchor and the central nervous system and check out youtube.com/@BIGPLAYBaltimore to see what the great Brian Baldinger had to say about the Ravens wonky swing tackle situation.

5) Zay And Pray?

A year ago the Ravens reverted from the “Pick Your Poison” offense to Lamar chucking it to Zay Flowers somewhere in the middle of the field and everyone keeping their fingers crossed. Run game was far more inconsistent with an OL getting its ass kicked at the point of attack even with the soon-to-be-highest-paid-center in NFL history playing every snap.

Todd Monken is a helluva play caller and he ran out of solutions. Mark Andrews is in steady decline – they couldn’t get any draft compensation for him after 2025 and rewarded him with a silly new deal in 2025! – Rashod Bateman was a one-year wonder and they are going to be relying on a bunch of rookies to try to fill the gaps.

Offensive coordinator Declan Doyle just turned 30 and is going to be under fire to produce right away with a team in Super Bowl-or-bust mode. We’ll see what his version of a Sean Payton/Ben Johnson offense looks like, but if the passing game resembles anything close to last year, and Derrick Henry experiences what virtually every running back in NFL history has experienced in his age 32 season, then Minter’s defense better be top five.

Or else.

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