Baltimore Ravens reality check: 4 major concerns for 2020 season
By Ian Schultz
With the start of the regular season less than three months away, let’s take a look at what question marks still exist for the 2020 Baltimore Ravens.
There are plenty of things to be excited about as a Baltimore Ravens fan.
For starters they return the majority of their roster that achieved a franchise best 14-2 campaign before a disappointing playoff defeat at the hands of the Tennessee Titans. This includes franchise quarterback, unanimous MVP, and Madden cover star Lamar Jackson who will be looking to build on a season in which he combined for 43 total touchdowns and over 4,300 total yards.
They return most of their potent offense around Jackson including Marquise Brown, Miles Boykin, Willie Snead, Mark Andrews, and Mark Ingram among others. Defensively, star returnees litter the field in Marlon Humphrey, Marcus Peters, Matt Judon, and Earl Thomas among many others as well. The Wolfpack also returns to give the Ravens one of the best kicker/punter duos in the NFL. And lastly, nearly the entire coaching staff returns looking to win the Ravens’ first playoff game since 2014 (Yikes!).
They have made many additions to an already loaded roster during free agency and the draft as well. Prominent draft picks include first round linebacker Patrick Queen, and second round running back JK Dobbins. Queen will look to be the next great Ravens linebacker while Dobbins will join a rushing attack that is fresh off of breaking the single season NFL rushing record. Other expected immediate draft contributors include Malik Harrison and Devin Duvernay among others.
The Ravens beefed up their defensive front with the additions of Jaguars stalwart Calais Campbell (via trade) and former Broncos standout Derek Wolfe (via free agency). The run defense really let them down against Derrick Henry and the Titans and the additions of Campbell and Wolfe coupled the infusion of youth at linebacker should help sure up any holes there.
It’s a roster that appears loaded at every level, has an elite coaching staff, and even has some pundits predicting a 16-0 season (stop it Colin Cowherd). But we know about all the good. Let’s explore what could hold this team back.