The Baltimore Ravens season will kick off in under a week. While we get ready for the big excitement, what are some of the biggest questions that should be answered by the time the season is over?
10. Is the Baltimore Ravens safety duo the best in the NFL?
The Baltimore Ravens defense may be better than some think, and that may come almost exclusively from the safety duo. We know that Marcus Williams is good, and we know that Kyle Hamilton is good, but we have not seen both of them together in the roles that they will be in this season.
Marcus Williams has been an excellent signing when he is on the field. He missed seven starts last season, his first with the team. More than that, Kyle Hamilton did not play strong safety at all. He started the year in Dime and mostly played there when Williams was out. When Williams came back, he shifted to the slot due to injuries there.
Now, he is a strong safety and is entering his second year in the NFL. Williams is healthy, has a new talented partner next to him, and is in the second season of this Mike MacDonald defense. There is a lot of reason to believe that these two are ready to take a big step and become one of the best duos in the NFL.
9. Can Ronnie Stanley give the Baltimore Ravens a full year?
Everybody talks about the health of Lamar Jackson, but is it just a coincidence that the play and health of Jackson have slipped after Ronnie Stanley has been unable to stay healthy? Stanley was a first-team All-Pro in 2019, Lamar Jackson was excellent, and the Ravens broke records.
In 2020, he played six games; in 2021, he played just one game, and last year, he played 11. The good news is that the 11 games played came at the end of the season. He missed the first six while he continued to get back to full health from his 2021 issues.
So, he entered the 2023 season fully healthy and had an offseason where he did not rehab since he was an All-Pro, and the Ravens were the one seed. It is not as simple as his return, meaning the Ravens are now going to be back to setting records, but it is one of the most important pieces in all of football, and at his best Stanley is as good as anyone. Can the Baltimore Ravens get the Stanley of old or, are those days gone? We will know by the end of this season.
8. Can Justin Madubuike earn a big-money contract with the Baltimore Ravens?
There was a pretty good chance that the Baltimore Ravens would extend one of their upcoming free-agent linemen, but at the same time, it was hard to see them tying up both of them. That is what came to fruition as the Ravens extended Broderick Washington, who is more cost-effective compared to Justin Madubuike, who probably will be looking for a strong salary.
So, now Madubuike is entering the season with the chance to earn that huge salary, whether with the Ravens or in the free-agent market. The key to Madubuike will be sacks. He had one as a rookie and then jumped to two.
He was up to 5.5 last year, his biggest increase yet. Now, he is 26 years old and in year four, so there is real reason to expect the best from him this season. When you add in the money factor there are reasons to see him motivated. Will the Ravens get the best year of his career and let him walk? What will Madubuike, in his prime, looking to cash in, look like and how much will it help the defense? We will find out soon.
7. How will Lamar Jackson fit in the Todd Monken offense?
One thing we do not have to question is whether the Baltimore Ravens offense will be the same or different. Going from Greg Roman to Todd Monken is a major change. If Lamar Jackson is ready to make that jump as a quarterback, then the offense is definitely ready to take him to the next level. The question is whether he is ready.
Yes, Todd Monken is known to play to the strengths of the talent around him. At the same time, he is also known to throw the football a lot and down the field. Lamar Jackson has a good arm, but there is a question of what it would look like if he played a more dropback style of a traditional passer.
We will not see him be Drew Brees in the pocket or anything, but this season may involve more traditional passing from those looks. Is Lamar Jackson ready to make that leap? If not, will Monken change his offense? What if we learn that Roman was not holding Jackson back?
6. Can Patrick Queen improve his compensatory value for the Baltimore Ravens?
One big question at linebacker will be the play of Roquan Smith. Still, the major questions surrounding Smith involve whether or not he will be one of the best players in the NFL and a complete game-changer or if he will just be flat-out good. For Patrick Queen, we could see this thing go in so many different directions.
The drafting of Trenton Simpson says that the team will move on from Queen after this year. However, the play of Simpson in the preseason says that Queen will get this full season to show his worth without anyone knocking on his door.
Queen will get to play next to Roquan Smith and not have to be the man in the center of the defense. That should help him, and he played his best late last season. If he can continue that play then the Ravens can explore trades, or at the least see Queen get paid which results in a compensatory pick. Both are wins.
The worst case is he plays poorly, and they hardly see any return. That is on the table. It will be worth watching all season.
5. Can the new Baltimore Ravens wide receiver room come together on the fly?
The Baltimore Ravens wide receiver group has a chance to be legitimately special. At the same time, they are asking a lot for this group to come together on the fly. On paper, Zay Flowers, Odell Beckham, and Rashod Bateman are as good as you will see for a threesome.
They have differing skill sets, and they all have first-round talent, but they all have plenty of questions that may make it tougher to come together. We know that Beckham and Bateman are coming off of lost seasons due to serious injuries.
For Beckham, he is also at an age where his play may be declining. For Bateman, we have not necessarily seen him put anything together beyond a game or two in a row. Then, there is Zay Flowers. He could easily lead the group in most passing stats, but he is also just a rookie. We saw flashes in the preseason, but plenty of those preseason heroes fall short.
When this room is together, and at the top of their game, they will be tough to beat. How often will that happen?
4. What can David Ojabo bring to the Baltimore Ravens?
David Ojabo is a major question mark, and the Baltimore Ravens need a lot from him this upcoming season. Ojabo surprised many just by getting activated in his rookie season. The Ravens had drafted him with the plans that he would redshirt and rehab his torn Achilles last year, but his recovery went better than expected.
Now, he is back to full health, but he was not able to progress from his college days. This is technically a rookie season in the eyes of fans and management, so the question is how much can he actually bring to the table?
Rookie Tavius Robinson is developing slowly, and Tyus Bowser will miss at least four weeks to start the season. The Baltimore Ravens will rely on Jadeveon Clowney, but there gets to a point with him where you just want him to be a part-time player.
Can Ojabo at least take some of the work away from Clowney? Anything on top would be gravy, but they need him to play a big role this season. The preseason was up, but mainly down, so we have a lot to see in the coming weeks.
3. Can the Baltimore Ravens establish starters at cornerback?
The Baltimore Ravens cornerback room is a mess. Luckily, the team has not placed Marlon Humphrey on the IR. So, he may miss a week or two, but that appears to be the extent. Looking at the Baltimore Ravens from a season-long perspective, you have to wonder how the cornerback room will shake out this year.
In week one, they have four options to start on the outside. Rock Ya-Sin has not been healthy but should be back. Still, if not it will be Ronald Darby and Brandon Stephens with Kevon Seymour mixed in. The hope is that by week three, they have seen enough of these four to know that one of them can start across from Marlon Humphrey for the rest of the season. Even if they had to piece it together with a few starts from each, if they could feel good about their number two all season, it would go a long way. More than that, who will start in the slot?
Ar'Darius Washington is probably the week one option, will that stay the same? Arthur Maulet is closer to health than Pepe Williams, does he get a shot? Do they activate Williams for a late-season run? The Ravens need to sort out this depth chart.
2. Will the Baltimore Ravens involve Charlie Kolar on offense?
The Baltimore Ravens have a chance to have one of the most lethal tight end rooms in the NFL. We know about Mark Andrews and what he brings. Isaiah Likely had a strong first season and looked to be a pass-catching option in year two. However, a sleeper could emerge and have a role in the offense as well.
Charlie Kolar is entering year two and missed almost his entire rookie season due to injury. However, he was drafted ahead of Isaiah Likely in the same draft. There is a real chance that Kolar can step into the NFL and find a real role.
Kolar is a big-bodied tight end who can split the seams and make plays over the linebackers and before the safeties. He showed reliable hands in the preseason and ended up as a team leader in receiving. What if Kolar is a gem, and we had no idea because he was hurt last year? How much of a dimension would that add to the offense?
1. How many passes will J.K. Dobbins catch?
Earlier in the offseason, the questions around J.K. Dobbins centered around whether he was going to play or be healthy at all. Now, we are talking about whether he can have a new game-changing role in the offense.
We noted that Monken wants to pass more, but that may be a lot on Lamar Jackson's plate. One way to pass more with ease for Jackson is to have Dobbins catch passes near the line of scrimmage. Dobbins has 162 yards in his NFL career. That is not a long career, but it essentially adds up to one catch for seven yards over his career. That needs to be a bit higher.
He does not have to be a leading receiver, but even David Montgomery averaged 19.8 yards per game last year and has a 20.7 yards per game average for his career and he has had the Chicago Bears quarterback play. Can we at least get Dobbins up to that rate? That seems doable for this season.