Even with an offseason that saw the Ravens lose multiple defensive staples and a total of 15 players, Baltimore has no shortage of top-tier talent remaining.
ESPN senior NFL writer Jeremy Fowler recently compiled the opinions of league executives, scouts and coaches to create his annual top-10 rankings at each position. The Ravens had seven players — Lamar Jackson (No. 4), Derrick Henry (No. 9), Mark Andrews (No. 3), Ronnie Stanley (No. 10), Roquan Smith (No. 2), Justin Madubuike (No. 5) and Kyle Hamilton (No. 2) — make their respective lists, tied for second-most on a team in the NFL.
Fowler is especially bullish on Jackson, who earned his first career appearance inside Fowler’s top five quarterbacks. Jackson’s improvements as a passer last season in Todd Monken’s offense earned him the widespread respect of league executives, something that’s long eluded Jackson — a player passed up by 31 teams as an offseason target just last year.
Jackson’s second MVP season brought his career regular season record to 62-24. It solidified him as someone who, in Fowler’s words, “wins like nobody else but Tom Brady.”
“It’s certainly been long overdue for him to be a top-five passer, or ranked as such in league circles,” Fowler said on Glenn Clark Radio July 18. “… People have their beliefs. Coming out of the draft, I’m sure they felt like he wasn’t as polished as a passer in the pocket as he needed to be. This year, he really got the chance to address that because he was in more of a passing offense for the first time. And he certainly delivered.”
Derrick Henry will line up alongside Jackson this season after the four-time Pro Bowl running back signed a two-year deal with the Ravens in March. Henry’s No. 9 ranking on Fowler’s running back list is his lowest rank since Fowler started compiling the lists in 2020.
Fowler wasn’t surprised by Henry’s fall, citing potential durability issues. Henry has led the league in carries each of his last four healthy seasons and eclipsed 2,000 career carries last season. But some league executives Fowler spoke to don’t share the same concerns.
“Talking to people in Baltimore, they don’t feel like he’s on the downhill at all,” Fowler said. “… He looks tremendous. He’s in great shape. He’s constantly asking questions to coaches about the offensive to get up to speed this summer in the new system. They feel like they have a top guy, there’s no doubt about that — publicly and privately. Really it’s more of a question of the offense and some of the shotgun stuff that he maybe hasn’t done as much of in Tennessee, is that going to translate. They’re confident that it will.”
On the defensive side of the ball, safety Kyle Hamilton and linebacker Roquan Smith both slotted in as the second-best player at their respective positions.
Hamilton broke out in 2023, earning first-team All-Pro honors for the first time in his young career. The 6-foot-4, 220-pound safety put on full display the versatility and athleticism scouts obsessed over when Hamilton entered the NFL Draft in 2022.
“He’s like a unicorn a little bit in all that he can do,” Fowler said. “He’s not like a traditional post safety. He’s not going to play 30 or 40 yards deep and have to chase guys down. He’s great in his role. … Sometimes he lines up as a linebacker essentially. His versatility is crazy and he certainly deserves all the recognition he got. He’s going to be around for a long time.”
Smith also joined the Ravens in 2022, and he earned first-team All-Pro nods in his first two years in Baltimore. He wears the green dot on defense — meaning he’s responsible for relaying play calls — and has become the nucleus of Baltimore’s uber-communicative and versatile defense.
He’ll be without his co-star in the linebacker room, Patrick Queen, who signed with the Steelers in the offseason. But that could lead to even more opportunities for Smith to establish himself as a game-breaking defensive presence.
“It’s pretty impressive how he’s established himself there and really … he elevated [Queen’s] play as well,” Fowler said. “Not to knock on Queen, he got a big contract in Pittsburgh, but I’m curious to see what he does without that Superman in front of him in Roquan.”
For more from Fowler, listen to the full interview here:
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