Baltimore Ravens 2024 In-Depth Preview!

what's going on everybody welcome back to another page from The Playbook this is Nate bringing to you guys the conclusion for the AFC North indepth Series where I've talked about the Steelers Browns Bengals today my final team for this Division Baltimore Ravens before we get into today's video guys I just want to give a special shout out to today's sponsors starting with gold finding bows lawyers for the injured personal injury workers compensation those are their two things but any sort of legal advice they're the people to call give them a phone call 309 673 5144 tell them we sent you okay and I'd also like to shout out SeatGeek for sponsoring today's video as well use promo code Playbook Sports on their website to get $20 off your first purchase of $30 or more let's get back to the video last year Ravens fans let's talk about it just a little bit here I don't think it's a stretch to say that the Ravens were the NFL's best team last year I'll say it they were the best team in the NFL last year no they didn't win the Super Bowl nope I get it but hear me out they best overall record most wins beat the number one team in the NFC the Super Bowl representative for the NFC beat them in San Francisco convincingly they only trailed by eight or more points for 43 total plays that's unbelievable when they were losing it was by a few points and the games that they lost were by such small margins right there're you could have easily make a case that they could have gone undefeated right you look at the games that they lost you're like well they could have won that they could have won that week 18 they already had the division locked up they lost to the Colts in overtime and then they had a seven-point loss to the Steelers twice they lost by one possession in all of their games all four of their losses they easily I mean not easily but they could have been 17 and0 they didn't just play well they weren't just a good team they were dominant last year incredibly impressive season and ultimately ended at home in disappointing fashion now when I look at that playoff game I really put a a lot of the blame kind of on the coaching I know everyone's like oh Lamar in the playoffs no no no hear me out why are you having Lamar Jackson throw the ball 37 times against the Kansas City Chiefs fantastic secondary why are we taking a running team with the best running team in the NFL best running quarterback in the NFL that was averaging 5.1 yards a carry against the Chiefs they were not just running the ball effectively it was fantastic it's a first down every two runs on average and they decide we're only going to run the ball 16 times in a low-scoring affair and we're going to drop back and have Lamar throw at 37 that doesn't make any sense to me I don't know what it is about playing the Chiefs but you guys will notice some of some teams against the Chiefs in big games like the playoffs they will completely go away from what got them there the Ravens all year rode the rushing attack and then Lamar was able to attack off play action and scrambling and all that other stuff that one him another MVP but against the chiefs no we got to change it up we got to go with a whole new secret formula and get guess what it doesn't work it doesn't work no one just ever plays their game against the Chiefs they've got to do something big they got to do something better I don't get it it drives me insane but anyways disappointing ending to what was an absolutely fantastic season for the Ravens what if they changed this off season will they retain the number one seed in the AFC let's get into their coaching staff now obviously John Harbaugh Remains The Top Dog in Baltimore as he's been there for 17 years now making him the second longest 10e head coach in the NFL currently behind Mike Tomlin 11 playoff appearances in those 16 years second tied for second most in that period of time he's third in wins as well the guy has just been a winner since he took over this job and a key part of that honestly has been his ability to just continue to surround himself with very talented coordinators a key part of that defense last year was defensive coordinator Mike McDonald fantastic defensive coordinator gone for Seattle defensive line Anthony Weaver who had Justin matab playing the best football in his career gone defensive coordinator in Miami so he's obviously surrounding himself with guys that have head coach that are head coaching talent and there's something to be said for that because some coaches really struggle to build staffs not John Harbaugh now you replaced Mike McDonald with Zachary or who was promoted from the linebackers coached where he coached up Patrick McQueen Patrick Queen and roquan Smith who are obviously very very good linebackers so how much coaching did they need what ever he was still coaching them and they were fantastic last year also he'll keep good continuity on the defense considering he's been working with this system for the last couple of Seasons I love that I like that they the internal elevation keeps the defense from having to learn an entirely new scheme it should hopefully be pretty much step for step what McDonald was doing out there and I'm a big fan of that big fan of that offensively Todd monan back for his second year as offensive coordinator where he did what he said he was going to do he said we're going to be passing the ball more we're going to be moving the ball more and they did they were a lot better with the ball through the air and I've got a ton of Statistics to back that up uh I mean he was a 2023 finalist for AP NFL assistant coach of the year after leading the Baltimore offense that ranked fourth in points per game sixth in total yards they averaged 156 and a half rushing yards a game and that's even with throwing the ball Lamar Jackson who was your MVP I mean for the second time in his career produced the fourth best passer rating through for 3,678 passing yards which is a career high for him 24 passing touchdowns to go along with just seven interceptions and then he had 821 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns as well made him the only NFL QB in history to cross the 3,000 passing yard 800 rushing yard Milestone balanced offense super balanced he had them leading the league and rushing and he had them fantastic through the air I mean huge fan of what Todd monan did in year one building this system up in Baltimore that's scary folks because Baltimore's always been known for def defense and now their offense is going to cook like this do not love that I do if you're you know you do if you're a Ravens fan but yeah I'm a big fan of this coaching staff four for four in the AFC North on coaching staffs honestly I it's very impressive a little bit annoying that they just are G to continue to be the AFC North and the Ravens are the class of that so let's get into the depth chart here we're going to start in the QB room where there will be no changes especially when it comes to who's running the offense and that will be two-time MVP Lamar Jackson will be running this offense absolute stud and I love Victory lapping this because I could not understand why teams would not even talk to Lamar Jackson why within 30 minutes of becoming a free agent teams were announcing we're not interested in Lamar Jackson why not and everyone's like well it's not collusion it's not because the owners don't want to pay him a guaranteed salary he just isn't worth it and then the dude goes and wins an MVP so if that's not worth it then what is it's a great move by the Ravens to bring him in clearly and the rest of the league bunch of suckers man bunch of suckers so many teams could have used Lamar Jackson like every team unless you have Patrick Mahomes or Josh Allen I think you could have been very happy getting Lamar Jackson as your quarterback and everyone's like nah nah we're good we don't want the MVP at 26 27 years old we're good stupid moving on running back we do have a new face here as the king Derrick Henry moves on from Tennessee and heads over to Baltimore uh Gus Edwards JK Dobbins both gone Derrick Henry is going to be the power bcow B back and then when Keaton Mitchell gets healthy he will be the lightning to Derrick Henry's Thunder I just don't know how I feel about it honestly I like Derrick Henry I love what he's done in the league if this was five years ago man forget about it if this was first MVP Lamar Jackson with Derrick Henry in the backfield yeah right forget it but Derrick Henry is on the wrong side a 30 so I'm not exactly sure what he's got left in the legs especially when he's been getting 350 touches every single season the guy is such an animal I would never bet against him though so Derrick Henry and Lamar Jackson that will be fun and then they bring back Keaton Mitchell who will return at some point this season and he is electric so I like the running back room wide receiver room honestly an uninspiring group when I look at it Z flowers look solid last year but outside of him it's Rashad Batman and Nelson aalor how is Nelson aalor still getting time how is he listed as a starter look at their depth chart the dude is listed as a starter it's Nelson freaking aalor drives me nuts I don't understand that don't love the depth here I do I did like the pick of devontes Walker he's probably going to get some work early I think I think he's a really good kind of deep thread at this point so I like that pick but I mean outside of Z flowers man there's just not much here not much in the wide receiver room Lamar Jackson still just does not have many weapons except in the tight end room where he still got Mark Andrews who is still an absolute beast and backed up by Isaiah likely we're going to see a lot of 12 Personnel a lot of two tight end sets in my opinion because Isaiah likely looked great last year when Andrews went down I don't see any reason why you wouldn't try and get him the ball ton too get the ball to Andrews get the ball to likeley get the ball to flowers and maybe a little bit you know to baitman and Walker but please don't throw the ball Nelson aalor what are we doing offensive line we did have quite a bit of changes here Baltimore's offensive line has some movement new starting left guard will be Andrew VOR he's a former seventh round pick I thought he was arguably the biggest steal of the draft when they drafted him Torres ACL I think it was running the 40 it was doing one of the drills towards ACL dude could have gone home dude he was a a projected second round pick could have gone home hung his head realizing I just cost myself so much money instead he stays and highest amount of bench press reps at the combine for that year I think that showed a ton of heart and you taking him the Ravens took him knowing we don't need you this year but we will love to have you going forward I think that was one of that was one of my favorite picks of the entire draft uh I think he's going to be very solid for them a very solid replacement for John Simpson who left for the Jets they also have a new right tackle with Morgan Moses now gone also to the Jets it's currently listed Patrick mcari as a starter right now but they did also draft Roger rosengarten out of Washington who I like I just think he needs to put on a little bit of mass he's a little bit of he's not I mean he's over 300 PB but it's like a light 300 lbs very very technically sound very good technician I think if he would have stayed in college for one more year he might have been a late first round pick last or this upcoming draft in 2025 but that's neither here nor there I think Roger rosengarten has the talent to have been a first round pick just needs to put a little sand in his pants get a little heavier be able to to Anchor against bull rushers but I think that once he gets a little more power and they get him in an NFL wait room I think he's got starting right tackle potential for sure so I like that one just some new faces here but they're still going to be solid they've still got Ronnie Stanley and Tyler Linder bomb in the middle so their offensive line is going to not be a problem I don't think defensively I super glad for them that they kept Justin matab had to keep him in after the season he had last year they did lose starting middle linebacker Patrick Queen to their rival Pittsburgh Steelers his SP will be filled this year by second seconde third round pick Trenton Simpson he got to learn behind Queen for a year got to learn behind ran Smith and we'll still have ran Smith out there with him I think that he is going to be really solid I remember him getting drafted thinking this is a pick for the future this is a pick for when Patrick Queen leaves and sure enough that's exactly how that ended up happening um I I love their safety tandem I've got some concerns about the cornerback room truthfully I like the Wiggins selection in the end of the first round I just think he's so small he's got to put on some weight in order to really be effective at the NFL he's going to go up against bigger receivers who are going to give him some problems but he might I mean it's very possible that he proves me wrong Marcus Peters did it for a long time at a smaller frame so who knows there if he develops and plays like the first round corner he was selected to be I'll feel a lot better about this room as a whole but right now it's kind of some unknowns in there so I have some questions about the cornerback room you're going to have to cover that up by getting home on the defensive side with the defensive line you're going to have to make pressure in order to make kind of cover up some of the warts there but overall this team's loaded with Talent right I can sit here and nitpick it all I want but at the end of the day this team is absolutely loaded with Talent primed for another great year let's get into their schedule here get you guys a final breakdown on what I think they're going to do and what their final record will be week one the Baltimore Ravens get blessed to start the year on the road in Kansas City to start the NFL season first game of the year Baltimore Kansas City NFL schedule makers thank you I we appreciate this a lot rematch from last year's AFC Championship Game unfortunately Ravens fans I think this one goes the same way as the AFC Championship game did I think that the Chiefs come out and win this one I know the Chiefs start slow and maybe whenever we do the Deep dive into the Chiefs we have them starting slow after this one but I really think that the Chiefs come out and get the win here before last year's Lions game they were real solid to start the year Patrick Mahomes had never thrown an interception until Brian Branch picked him off at least an opening day obviously so I like the Chiefs to get the win here and start the year for the Ravens out 0 and one fortunately for them they get a nice bounceback spot here as they get to host the Las Vegas Raiders and if you guys have been following along you know I'm not big on the Raiders this year offensive or defensively truthfully so I like the Ravens to bounce back at home get the win over the Raiders and move to one and one week three at Dallas man it is hard to go to Dallas their record last year at home was unbelievable their splits at home were unbelievable I think Dallas gets the win kind of a tough tough draw to have to go to Kansas City and go to Dallas kind of a tough draw for the Ravens I'm sure they'll bounce back though spoiler alert so I'm going to have them starting out 1- two with a loss here at Dallas week three again moving them to one and two week four though they get to come home and host the Buffalo Bills and I got the Ravens winning this one this is a battle of who people a lot of people thought should have won the MVP last year in Josh Allen versus the actual MVP and Lamar Jackson and I just like the Ravens more in this spot because I don't think the bills can exactly hurt them where the Ravens can be hurt defensively the Ravens problem is their cornerback room I don't think any receiver in Buffalo is going to give them a whole lot of trouble truthfully I don't especially in week four I mean if we're counting on Keon Coleman to have already established himself as the stud by week four you're fooling yourselves so then it's going to be a ground and pound type of game and that absolutely favors the Ravens at home so I like the Ravens to win that one here and move themselves back to two and two before traveling to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals kind of a tough start for the year I mean my God Super Bowl champions Raiders don't count them but then at Dallas and against Buffalo those are Let's see we have the two seed and the three seed in the AFC and then the two seed in the NFC in Dallas that's a tough start and then you go two Cincinnati to take on the Rival Bengals I got the Ravens getting the Dub here too I know a big theme in these videos especially for the AFC North has been when they play each other taking the home team I like the Ravens in the spot the Ravens kind of own Joe burrow outside of 2021 when burrow absolutely lit them up for like a thousand yards in two football games but outside of that the Ravens own them and I think the Ravens go into Cincinnati and get a huge win here moving themselves to three and two on the year before a couple of easier ones that are coming up on their schedule like week six when they take on the Washington commanders in Baltimore this is a Beatdown commanders fans watch this game and hope that pray that Jaden Daniels becomes half of what Lamar Jackson is because that would be very very good I I don't see much in this game in the way of Washington pulling it off especially in Baltimore absolutely not week they travel to Tampa Bay another playoff team at the beginning of the year man kind of a rough start the Ravens have a hard schedule uh they go to Tampa Bay to take on the Bucks again I got the Ravens winning this one here I just think the Ravens have more overall Talent it will be an interesting matchup to watch the receivers take on the corners here you're gonna have to probably put Wiggins on Chris Godwin because I think Mike Evans is the kind of receiver that Nate Wiggins would really struggle with so I don't expect him to have to cover him so I but I like the Ravens to win this game offensively I just think they'll be able to move the ball pretty easily against the Bucks defense week eight they go to Cleveland where I do have the Cleveland Browns getting the win and ending a four-game winning streak Cleveland at home's a different animal I can't say it enough how good their defense was at home this year Jim Schwarz is still there and all those pieces are still there I don't see it changing Ravens kind of struggled with Cleveland last year so I like Cleveland to get the win in week eight here dropping the Ravens let's see we're currently sitting at one one one two four in a row five- two sitting at 5 and three after to the Cleveland game here week nine they take on Denver you guys know my thoughts on Denver I'm not a believer in Denver I you can't tell me otherwise I just not until I see bonex go out and light it up I don't think he will so I got Ravens winning this one here moving to six and two before they host Cincinnati and they get another win sweeping the Bengals this year which is absolutely huge for them because I think the Bengals are going to be right there fighting for this division sweeping the Bengals is massive for this division so give me them winning that one as well moving on to seven and two just kidding moving them on to seven and three next up week 11 at Pittsburgh I do have them losing this one they lost both games to Pittsburgh last year 17 to 10 that's kind of a crazy thing Pittsburgh just plays them well Pittsburgh always plays the Ravens well Ravens fans have to just absolutely hate that they really struggle with them and I don't think it changes this year so I'm going to go with Pittsburgh to win this one drop them to seven and four on the year and then we got week 12 here at the Chargers not a big fan of the Chargers guys I'm sorry I just don't think the Chargers are going to be very good this year maybe they prove me wrong I just don't see it and it's Battle of the Harbaugh and I got JN beating Jim and moving them to eight and four on the year week 13 huge game Philadelphia comes to town I've talked a lot in these videos about how I think Philadelphia is going to be a lot better this season I still got the Ravens winning this game I think the Ravens win this game at home in a great football game man an absolutely great football game here Ravens take it and they move to 9 and four after 13 weeks mercifully getting to their by week kind of at the right time I actually don't I thought I would hate a week 14 buy but the more I look at it I really don't hate it all that much now you've got a week off to kind of rest and gear up for the stretch run here you just played 13 straight weeks of football that is exhausting you are exhausted you're going to take this week and not do much probably but then you come back and you go to the Giants and you take on the Giants who they are going to blow out of the water I think the Giants think your biggest concern in this game are injuries because medlife is absolute trash so that's your biggest concern as a Ravens fan not the game itself that's going to be a win now we're sitting at 10 and four next up week 16 against Pittsburgh they finally beat Pittsburgh for the first time in two seasons here at home in a game that gives them back I would think the one seed or has them right there for it that's a must-win game you cannot get sweat by Pittsburgh this year and have any hope for the one seat again got lucky that you got it last year you cannot have that happen again this year Ravens so we got them winning week 16 against Pittsburgh before falling week 17 at Houston I think the Texans could be really solid this year I'm not going as far as like last year everyone was all about the Jags and jaguars and the similarities between the Jags and the Texans are kind of scary truthfully so I'm not going to say sit here and say Texans one seed but I think the Texans win their division I think the Texans are a really really good team this year so I've got them winning at home against Baltimore before the Ravens go into week 18 against the Cleveland Browns in Baltimore this is a weird one will the Ravens have the one seed locked up I don't think they will I think they're going to have to play to win this football game and if they have to win this football game they will win this football game if the Ravens are not locked in at their seating if the division is still up for grabs if there's anything to play for at all in this football game the Ravens win if there isn't I think Cleveland wins as it stands right now I don't think that they have anything locked up going into this football game and they need this Victory therefore I'm going to give the Ravens the win here and a week 18 win against Cleveland wins them the division at 12 and five and yeah I'm saying the AFC North has four teams above 500 again I called it last year I I've broken down their schedules unless they have a multiple bad upsets per team or they just get bitten with the injury bug I think all four of these teams are above 500 football teams I think they're all playoff caliber football teams just from a roster standpoint uh I love the coaching staff's in this Division I think the rosters are all built very similarly to where they are just going to ground and pound you and wear you down the only team that I think is less of like a rushing team is the Bengals um but I I think the Ravens are the best of the bunch I think the Ravens are once again going to find themselves in the fight for the one seed in the AFC and I think they're going to be another once again be a a pick for the Super Bowl a lot of people are going to say I think it's the Ravens year will that come to fruition that's why they play the games it's going to be fun to watch and that's all I got for you guys on the AFC North that's all I've got for you guys on the Baltimore Ravens in depth 2020 24 season outlook thank you guys for coming along with the AFC North videos we're going to have more of these coming out I've got a whole other division to do Addison Colin Sage each have two divisions worth of videos to do for you guys so stay tuned for all those we're going to get all of those out before the NFL season starts in one month people it is go time I am so excited it is about to be an awesome football season can't wait to enjoy it with all of you guys we'll see you all in the next one [Music]