Baltimore Ravens: Stock up, stock down after Week 1 win

For the seventh time in eight years, the Baltimore Ravens got things right in Week 1 and beat the Houston Texans 25-9 in a scorigami-game in which the franchise debuted a new offensive scheme and lost a whole bunch of starters to different injuries.

The victory has Baltimore tied with the Cleveland Browns at the top of the AFC North with both franchises winning their opening games and Pittsburgh and Cincinnati losing.

It surely was a costly and bittersweet win, but a win's a win and you always take them. There are still 16 more games on the schedule but with one matchup already in the 2023 books it's fair to start assessing the stock of a few Baltimore Ravens players.

Stock Up: RB Justice Hill

As sad as the news concerning J.K. Dobbins are, Hill must be ecstatic about his present and his future within the Ravens organization.

Hill got the touches near the goal line of the Texans on Sunday and capitalized by scoring two touchdowns after Dobbins left the game injured.

He did it on just eight carries, the same that both Dobbins (starting) and Gus Edwards (RB2) got throughout the game, which bodes well for him going forward in goal-line snaps.

Hill was already one of the main pieces of the backfield, but with these two scores and Dobbins out for the season, he has only solidified his role in the Ravens offense for the remainder of the year.

Stock Down: TE Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar

If there was a player in a prime position to reap the Week 1 rewards, that was reserve tight end Isaiah Likely considering Mark Andrews was ruled out Sunday with a quad injury. Didn't happen.

Likely was targeted one time and although he caught that pass he could only rack up four yards on the play. That's all he did, which was surely disappointing considering Lamar Jackson's love of the tight end position and force-feeding of Andrews when the TE1 is out there on the field.

The only good thing going Likely's way is that fellow rotational TE Charlie Kolar did even less, getting targeted once but failing to catch that ball.

If/When Andrews is back available and playing, Likely will get to his TE2 role and he'll find himself in a position in which he'll need to prove his talents starting from the ground if he wants to fulfill his potential in this offense.

Stock Up: ILB Patrick Queen and Roquan Smith

Smith broke a franchise-Week-1 record by tackling opponents 16 times on Sunday, something not even Legendary Raven Ray Lewis (14) ever got to do on a season opener.

Queen tackled 11 foes himself. Both men got a sack, hit rookie QB C.J. Stroud, and kept building on their already-strong relationship in the middle of the second level of the Ravens defensive unit.

If Queen and Smith are not the best ILB tandem across the NFL they must be the closest thing to it that there is.

As much criticism as the defensive line and pass-rushing unit endured all summer long, nearly every member of the unit put on a show in Week 1 and helped the depleted secondary to limit the Texans' offense to score just a few field goals throughout the game.

Stock Down: CB Rock Ya-Sin

The Ravens signed Rock Ya-Sin as the replacement of Marcus Peters to use him across from Marlon Humphrey... but Ya-Sin went down injured through training camp, never appeared in a preseason game, and barely debuted in Week 1 defending only eight snaps in the second half.

Ya-Sin's injury, paired with many other members of the secondary including Humphrey going down through the summer, forced Baltimore to sign veteran CB Roanld Darby to defend the outside.

Not only did Ya-Sin seemingly lose the battle against Darby (who was excellent) but he also seemed to be jumped by Brandon Stephens in the pecking order with the veteran hybrid corner/safety taking on all 77 defensive snaps and doing a great job.

With Humphrey inching closer to his return and Darby and Stephens proving they're fit and ready to go, Ya-Sin will fight an uphill battle to get a starting role in the secondary.

Stock Up: CB Brandon Stephens and Ronald Darby

Following a preseason in which he transitioned from cornerback to safety after spending years dealing with wideouts, the never-ending string of injuries affecting Ravens cornerbacks forced Stephens and the franchise to bring him back to his natural corner position.

And oh boy did he put on a show on Sunday. Stephens appeared in all 77 snaps, completed 11 tackles, and although his ball skills proved to be terrible for the nth time, it is also very true that not a lot of CBs can stick so close to their main coverages as BS does, limiting their production after the catch.

In similarly positive news, veteran CB Ronald Darby showed no rust at all after suffering an ACL injury last season that cut his year short barely a month into the 2022 campaign.

Darby got 69 snaps, tackled seven foes, deflected one pass, and was great in zone coverage on Sunday stopping opponents three times for no gain.

Head Coach John Harbaug said on Monday "We have a good guy in Rock who got in there late," and he still thinks Ya-Sin will be "a lot stronger this week so we'll have a chance to roll our guys in."

Until he proves it, though, this secondary looks like it belongs to Stephens and Darby with Humphrey an insta-starter when available and Ya-Sin the man on the outside looking in.

Stock Up: WR Zay Flowers

Are we sure this dude is a rookie? Seriously?

What a debut for Flowers, who was the most-targeted Raven on Sunday getting 10 looks from Lamar of which he hauled in nine for receptions amounting to 78 yards.

Flowers added nine yards on two carries and was the best pass catcher on the field.

You'd wonder how it is possible that C.J. Stroud went no. 2 to the Houston Texans in the 2023 NFL Draft while Flowers dropped all the way down to the 22nd spot where the Ravens snatched a gem and the potential Offensive ROY.

The freshman paced every receiver by a good chunk with Rashod Bateman getting the second-most receptions with three, and Flowers also racked up more than double Odell Beckham's yards (37).

Stock Down: WR Odell Beckham and Rashod Bateman

This is a little bit harsh, but when put next to Flowers' ridiculous performance these two really struggled in comparison on Sunday.

Beckham and Bateman were both playing after lengthy periods of rehabbing from different injuries and having missing a ton of playing time through the last few months of their respective pro careers. That's a fact.

That said, OBJ only caught a couple of balls for 37 yards while Bateman finished with three receptions for 35 yards. Things will definitely get better for them, but not even having target-hog Mark Andrews off the field they couldn't get close to Flowers' target share.

The return of Andrews, along with Flowers' talents and rapport with Lamar, might make the rookie the actual WR1 of the Flock while demoting OBJ and Bate to lower roles.

Stock Up: LG John Simpson

The hottest training camp battle involved veteran free-agent signing John Simpson, rookie Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu, and Ben Cleveland. Simpson edged the other two on his way to get the starting gig at the left guard position. And oh, boy, did he deliver.

Not only was Simpson good on Sunday against the inexperienced Texans, but he was actually so great that he made it all the way to PFF's Team of the Week for the opening weekend of play this season.

Simpson got the fourth-best overall grade (87.2) among OL and guards in Week 1 according to PFF, and he joined fellow lineman and Ravens starting C Tyler Linderbaum in the Team of the Week.

Neither of the two committed a penalty, and Simpson only gave up a hit and one QB hurry as well as two pressures from defenders trying to get to Lamar. For someone that was never a lock to make it all the way to the starting lineup, it surely was a promising start to the season for Simpson.

Stock Down: QB Lamar Jackson

Jackson made his much-anticipated return to the field after a hiatus since last calendar year when he was injured and never returned, missing the lone postseason game played by Baltimore in January. Some may attribute his performance to rust, but he was rather mediocre out there nonetheless.

Jackson struggled to connect for a touchdown pass or find the end zone via a rushing touchdown. He committed two fumbles and threw a costly interception on a red-zone pass that made no sense a tall to go for.

Jackson got sacked four times and although the offensive line didn't help him that much on Sunday, it's not that they had a day to forget. At the end of the day, both C Tyler Linderbaum and LG John Simpson got into PFF's Team of the Week, so there is nothing on that front for Lamar to build a case that excuses himself for those woes.

To be fair, Jackson posted an efficient 17-of-22, 169-yard passing statline. He led all Ravens rushing for 38 yards, but it felt like he didn't do all he has proven capable of doing in the past.

Let's assume this was just part of the growing pains of learning a whole new offense led by OC Todd Monken and waiting for a bigger sample size before making more damaging assumptions.

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