Baltimore Beatdown
Through most of their history, the Baltimore Ravens have been a model of consistency. From 1996 to 2025, they had three head coaches — Ted Marchibroda, Brian Billick, and John Harbaugh. They’ve had two general managers — Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta. They’ve had exactly nine losing seasons in 30 years, and three of those were in their first three campaigns.
Then, 2025’s 8-9 season happened, and the Ravens changed a lot.
Harbaugh was out, replaced by former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter. There’s a new offensive coordinator in former Chicago Bears OC Declan Doyle, and a new defensive coordinator in former Miami Dolphins DC (and ex-Ravens assistant head coach and defensive assistant) Anthony Weaver. Minter will call the defense, and given his history under Jim Harbaugh as Mike Macdonald’s DC replacement at Michigan in 2022 and 2023, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Ravens are attempting with Minter to replicate what Macdonald — also a former Ravens coach, of course — has accomplished in Seattle.
“We spent two weeks; it was a sprint to the finish,” DeCosta said in February of the Harbaugh replacement process. “We talked to at least 20 candidates in different formats – Zoom, in person, on the phone. Really, really proud of the process, and it became apparent quickly that Jesse Minter was the right guy to be our next head football coach. Jesse’s smart, he’s a leader, he has great humility, he’s a problem solver, [and] a great tactician. We’ve enjoyed watching his defenses play. He started at the bottom [Minter was on the Ravens’ staff from 2017-2020 as a defensive assistant, assistant defensive backs coach, and finally as defensive backs coach], and now he’s here. I think that’s great.
“I’m so happy to work with him as a partner over the coming months and coming years, and I think this is a great day for the Baltimore Ravens.”
You don’t undergo this much offseason chair-shifting without questions to answer, and the 2026 Ravens obviously want to claw their way back to the contention status they’re used to. For that to happen, excellence will have to come from more than just the obvious names — as is the case for any NFL team, the whole roster will need to step up.
To that end, I’ve identified three Hidden Gems for the 2026 Ravens — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent, and one underrated draft pick.
The 2025 Ravens ranked 17th in Defensive DVOA, down from sixth in 2024, and first in 2023. Which represents a rather precipitous decline. Injuries played a part, especially with Nnamdi Madubuike missing all but two games with a serious neck injury, but the secondary was also an issue overall. Baltimore’s pass defense allowed 399 completions in 625 attempts for 4,423 yards, 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 89.7. Not epically bad, but certainly not on the same level as the 76.2 opponent passer rating...
