Ravens Remain Division-Winning Favorites After Free Agency Slows
Despite pundits seeing the Ravens taking a step again, oddsmakers stay excessive on the Ravens. As free company subsides, these setting the strains see the Ravens atop the AFC North in 2024.
DraftKings Sportsbook locations the Ravens at +115 to win the AFC North. FanDuel Sportsbook have the Ravens at +110 (48% implied likelihood). PFF’s Mason Cameron dove into why the Ravens are at the peak.
“Joe Burrow’s return to the Bengals’ lineup locations Cincinnati (36% implied likelihood) as the biggest menace to Baltimore’s reign atop the AFC North in the eyes of oddsmakers,” Cameron wrote. “Albeit, that continues to be a steep problem as the Ravens seemingly bolstered their presence on the floor with the Derrick Henry signing. The Henry and Lamar Jackson pairing is bound to trigger defensive coordinators round the league sleepless nights.”
Trio of Pundits Say Ravens Have “Taken a Step Backward”
It’s been an offseason of turnover for the Ravens, with quite a few gamers and coaches going elsewhere in the NFL. While all groups see change every offseason, the Ravens noticed a number of extra family names depart than others, drawing dismay from a roundtable of pundits hosted by ESPN. Three pundits named the Ravens as a crew that is taken a step backward over the previous week, together with ESPN’s Matt Bowen, Jeremy Fowler and Andscape’s Jason Reid.
“The Ravens added working again Derrick Henry, who’s an improve and a scheme slot in Todd Monken’s offense,” Bowen wrote. “However, that is extra about the gamers (and the coaches) who’ve moved on this offseason. Linebacker Patrick Queen, guard John Simpson, security Geno Stone and cornerback Ronald Darby signed free agent contracts with new golf equipment. Plus, former defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald is now the head coach in Seattle, and defensive again coach Dennard Wilson took over as the coordinator in Tennessee.”
While the Ravens did lose a number of starters, their cornerstone contributors stay on the roster.
For Fowler, it isn’t a lot about the losses as it’s delivering on the Ravens’ method of touchdown replacements to take the mantle.
“Baltimore misplaced three starters alongside the offensive line that it should substitute,” Fowler wrote. “This is the Baltimore method, letting veterans stroll in change for compensatory picks down the line. The Ravens want to shore up that O-line, however they might additionally replenish at receiver with a veteran or excessive draft decide, ideally a real X receiver that Lamar Jackson hasn’t had.”
Reid notes the Ravens’ losses weren’t stunning, as their listing of free brokers was prolonged.
“They entered the season with many pending free brokers, so the losses aren’t surprising. But the Ravens seem to be weakened,” Reid wrote. “It would not be stunning if the Ravens took a step backward subsequent season.”
With the parity of the NFL and the Ravens’ excessive degree of success in 2023, it isn’t a sizzling take to count on the Ravens to have issue matching final 12 months’s season. They completed with the No. 1 protection in sacks, takeaways and scoring protection. The offense ranked No. 4 in scoring and Lamar Jackson gained league MVP. They went by means of a gauntlet of a schedule and emerged with the No. 1 seed in the AFC by Week 17, going 13-4 and making it to the AFC Championship. With Jackson at the helm and a gifted roster, Baltimore should not be dominated out.
Will the Ravens Need to Trade Up to Land an Offensive Lineman in the 2024 NFL Draft?
The 2024 NFL Draft has been lauded as one in every of the finest in current historical past for offensive line and huge receiver expertise. But after a free company cycle that includes an absence of choices at each positions, The Athletic’s Dane Brugler sees a prolonged run coming in Round 1 of the 2024 NFL Draft.
“There will probably be extra huge receivers and offensive tackles drafted in the first spherical this 12 months than every other place,” Brugler stated on “The Athletic Football Show Podcast.” “I do not know if one results the different, it is simply form of the method it is labored out on this specific draft and this offseason, however I do suppose it speaks to the bigger level that hey, if groups have one in every of these guys, a sort out or receiver that they really feel is a Pro Bowl degree participant, they’re simply not letting him go.”
This has Russell Street Report’s Dev Panchwagh contemplating the Ravens as a crew needing to take into account a trade-up to land the participant they need.
