Baltimore Beatdown
The Ravens are Pro Football Focus’ top-ranked team after free agency.
The first week of free agency has concluded and following the moves made, Pro Football Focus and Pro Football Network have both placed the Baltimore Ravens as the No. 1 team in the NFL in their respective power rankings.
PFF’s Mason Cameron: “After falling short of capitalizing on a historic season from Lamar Jackson, the Ravens made two critical moves—retaining talent and addressing a glaring offensive hole. They re-signed Ronnie Stanley, the top pending free-agent tackle, and added veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to bolster the passing attack. With a strong defensive foundation and an offense led by the highest-graded quarterback and running back tandem in the NFL, Baltimore is positioned to take the next step in the postseason.”
PFN’s Kyle Soppe: “PFSN’s QB+ metric projected Lamar Jackson to repeat as MVP last season. While he ultimately didn’t win the award, he remains one of the most impactful quarterbacks in the league. In his first season with Derrick Henry, Jackson led an offense that paced the league in yards per play — and by a wide margin. The Baltimore Ravens were 9.7% better per play than any other team. They moved to sustain that success by re-signing Ronnie Stanley and Patrick Ricard while adding DeAndre Hopkins to an already potent offense. Jackson was backed by the eighth-ranked defense, which peaked down the stretch. If that unit can build on its late-season success, there’s no reason to think this team won’t be playing in February.”
Not everybody was willing to place the Ravens atop their rankings list, multiple others still find the Ravens as a Top 3 team.
NFL.com’s Eric Edholm: “The Ravens were already an offseason winner for me when they retained left tackle Ronnie Stanley. I’m not quite as enamored with Stanley as others are, but there’s no doubting his value to this team — and the replacement options weren’t great. The DeAndre Hopkins signing was a nice little surprise, even if the 32-year-old is going to have some quiet games these days. Even the Cooper Rush signing was a smart addition, giving the team one of the stronger backups in the NFL and another layer of insurance after Lamar Jackson. Most of the band is back together, and the Ravens should be right up there among the elites in the league. It was a bit curious that they didn’t tender Ar’Darius Washington at the second-round level. He played a pretty big role for them at safety last season, and the right-of-first-refusal tender at least opens the possibility of another team giving him an offer sheet. We’ll see.”
USA Today’s Nate Davis: “By and large, the AFC North champs are running it back in 2025 – and why not? Two-time league MVP Lamar Jackson somehow seems to consistently improve year over year and now has DeAndre Hopkins as his No. 3 wideout. The Ravens looked like the best team in the league for periods of time last season,...
