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The original was posted on /r/nfl by /u/zhang-scouting-04 on 2025-06-21 01:55:26+00:00.

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Hey y’all,

My name is Jared Zhang, and I make draft content on the r/NFL_Draft subreddit and contribute to the correlated discord. Besides my work in football with my online presence, I am a published writer for Lindy’s Draft Magazine and I currently intern as a scouting assistant for a sports agency. Though I am a Lions fan, I wanted to cover the team I felt had the best draft this past season from a needs and draft value perspective, and that team was Baltimore. Before we dive into the actual draft itself, let’s go over the 2024 season and what went right/wrong.

The 2024 Season Broadly

Though they fell short of winning a Super Bowl, the Baltimore Ravens disproved the narratives pushed by media pundits.

Did you doubt Lamar Jackson’s ability to thrive as a passer? He just passed for 4172 passing yards, 41 touchdowns, 4 interceptions, and a passer rating of 199.6 (the fourth-highest in NFL history).

Did you question whether Derrick Henry could still dominate at age 31? He just ran for 1921 yards and 16 touchdowns with an astonishing 5.9 yards per carry.

Did you think the historic 2023 Ravens defense would majorly regress with the loss of Mike Macdonald and contributing defensive pieces? Well, you might not be wrong on that one. 

What Went Right

The Ravens’ playmakers on both sides of the ball had great seasons across the board. Though we have already touched on Lamar Jackson and Derrick Henry’s elite seasons, we have not mentioned the career years that Isaiah Likely, Rashod Bateman, and Zay Flowers where all three players played major roles in Jackson’s dominance as a passer. In terms of offensive rookies, Roger Rosengarten had a phenomenal season for a late second round pick and looks to be the Raven’s future franchise RT.

On defense, the team’s superstars in Kyle Hamilton, Marlon Humphrey, and Roquan Smith all had phenomenal All-Pro seasons. Their performances were complimented by the impactful contributions from the impressive rookies like Nate Wiggins, ageless veterans like Kyle Van Noy and Michael Pierce, and breakout stars like Odafe Oweh and Ar’Darius Washington. Even Nnamdi Madbuike and Mark Andrews who had “down seasons” still played at a very high level and were some of the best players at each of their respective positions. While I can continue to go on about everything that went right for one of the NFL’s best teams, I think it is more important to examine the shortcomings that held the Ravens back.

What Went Wrong

While the Ravens’ offense had issues with their IOL’s pass protection, poorly timed turnovers, and demoralizing drops, the major concerns came from the team’s defense. Even though I expected some regression with the loss of defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald and key players like Jadaveon Clowney, Patrick Queen, and Geno Stone, I was shocked to see how bad the pass defense was in the beginning of the season.

The major reason for the regression initially was the atrocious play from veteran safeties Marcus Williams and Eddie Jackson. After acquiring Eddie Jackson in free agency, the Raven’s planned to use both as the team’s split safeties when they let Kyle Hamilton roam close to the LOS as a slot/linebacker. Though this seemed like a good plan on paper, both Williams and Jackson would regress heavily and be arguably the worst safeties in the entire NFL. Eventually, Williams would get benched for former UDFA Ar’Darius Washington and Jackson would get waived. With a gapping hole at safety, the Ravens completely shuffled their secondary: Marlon Humphrey in the slot, Nate Wiggins and Brandon Stephens as boundary corners, and Ar’Darius Washington and Kyle Hamilton as deep safeties. Most of these players played very well in this configuration except for one: Brandon Stephens. With seven defensive penalties, five touchdowns allowed, 926 receiving yards surrendered, a 67.9% completion rate allowed, and a missed tackle rate of 13.4%, Brandon Stephens was the worst starting cornerback in the NFL last season. Considering the fact that the rest of the corner room consisted of a washed Tre’Davious White and unproven former day three/UDFA players, the Ravens had no viable option to take Brandon Stephen’s starting job.

Beyond the secondary, the team also struggled to find consistent play at linebacker next to Roquan Smith. Though former third round pick Trenton Simpson started most of the season, a series of inconsistent performances led to him being benched late in the season for a combination of veterans Malik Harrison and Chris Board. Pass rush also remains an understated issue for this defense. While the Raven’s defense does generate solid pressures and sacks as a unit, the team does this mainly by exploiting matchups or confusing offensive lines/QBs with their odd pre-snap looks. The team currently lacks a true number one pass rusher that can reliably win by themselves and has the gravity to demand extra attention from opposing offenses’ pass blocking schemes.

Finally, there’s the uncomfortable situation with Justin Tucker. When looking at his performance on the field, Tucker was a liability this past season. After going 1-5 from 50+ in 2023, Tucker’s reliability from range would regress heavily in 2024 as he would go 11-19 from 40+ yards. After back-to-back season of regression paired with 16 separate accusations of sexual misconduct, Tucker being released and currently unsigned should not be surprising (and likely a good thing).

After going over everything that went wrong, let’s discuss the Raven’s 2025 free agency.

2025 Free Agency

Internal Losses

  • CB Arthur Malet - Released
  • S Marcus Williams - Released
  • K Justin Tucker - Released
  • NT Michael Pierce - Retired
  • OG/OT/OC Patrick Mekari - JAG - 3 years $37.5 Million
  • CB Brandon Stephens - NYJ -3 years $36 Million
  • LB Chris Board - NYG - 2 years $6 Million
  • LB Malik Harrison - PIT - 2 years $10 Million
  • CB Tredavious White - BUF - 1 year $6.8 Million
  • OT Josh Jones - SEA - 1 year $4.75 Million
  • QB Josh Johnson - WAS - 1 year $1.197 Million
  • WR Diontae Johnson - CLE - 1 year $1.117 Million
  • WR Steven Sims - SEA - 1 year $1.070 Million
  • LB Kristian Welch - GB - 1 year $1.5 Million

Internal Re-signings

  • OT Ronnie Stanley - 3 years $60 Million
  • OG Ben Cleveland - 1 year $1.17 Million
  • FB Patrick Ricard - 1 year $3 Million
  • WR Tylan Wallace - 1 year $2.25 Million

RFA Signings

  • S Ar’Darius Washington - 1 year $3.262 Million

UFA Signings

  • QB Cooper Rush - DAL - 2 year $12.2 Million
  • WR Deandre Hopkins - KC - 1 year $5 Million
  • OT Joseph Noteboom - LA - 1 year $2 Million
  • CB Chidobe Awuzie - TEN - 1 year $1.2 Million
  • LB Jake Hummel - LA - 1 year $1.2 Million
  • NT John Jenkins - LV - 1 year Unknown
  • CB Jaire Alexander - GB - 1 year $4 Million

2025 Free Agency Recap

By losing relatively little and addressing key roster holes, the Ravens emerge from free agency as one of the biggest winners from this offseason. While parting ways with impactful homegrown talent like Malik Harrison, Patrick Mekari, and Michael Pierce does sting, the Ravens made up for it with several savvy signings that allow them to address roster needs in a cheap, effective manner.

Internally, the Ravens being able to keep Ronnie Stanley at just $20 million APY considering the state of the OT market is one of the biggest wins that any team had this offseason. Among other internal free agents, Patrick Ricard and Ar’Darius Washington being brought back at affordable deals are two excellent value signings for two starting-caliber players. Beyond starters, Ben Cleveland and Tylan Wallace are both fun depth signings, and Cleveland has the upside to be the Raven’s starting left guard this season.

Externally, DeAndre Hopkins and Cooper rush are cheap, effective answers to the roster needs at WR3 and QB2. The answers that have gotten the most buzz have been Chidobe Awuzie and Jaire Alexander. With both being capable starters with questionable health at this point in this career, Alexander and Awuzie are high upside signings that helps ensure that the Ravens do not start the worst starting cornerback in football next season. Though I believe Alexander wins the camp battle for CB3, I also realize that the CB3 spot is going to be more based on winner’s ability to keep their job by staying healthy rather than talent alone. In addition, the Ravens have a ton of flexibility in their secondary with these signings as they could deploy packages that have Humphrey and Wiggins on the outside with Hamilton in the slot as Awuzie/Alexander rotate off the field dependent on matchups and health. In terms of the signings geared towards depth, Jake Hummel is a cheap, athletic linebacker signing that has been a valuable special teamer for the Rams and John Jenkins provides a capable veteran body to back up Travis Jones. My personal favorite signing was Joe Noteboom.

A former top-100 pick by the Rams, Noteboom entered the league as a long, athletic position versatile OL prospect that has played every position besides center during his time with Los Angeles. After a series of quality spot starts where he even filled in for Andrew Whitworth during the divisional round of…

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