Ravens Season Preview: Impact of Derrick Henry + Schedule Breakdown | GSMC Sports Podcast

welcome back into the gsmc sports podcast and we are continuing to preview all 32 teams for the upcoming NFL season today we are now moving on to the AFC North and we are going to be starting with the Baltimore Ravens who were I would say almost unquestionably during the regular season at least the best team in the NFL and I think that you can still make an argument although they lost to the Chiefs that they were undoubtedly in that top three and were a prime Super Bowl Contender which is why it was definitely a disappointment for the Ravens when they fell short in the AFC Championship game and I was really disappointed not because I'm anti- Chiefs or anything but because I did think that this was going to be the Redemption story we were waiting for with Lamar Jackson because it had been a number of years since we really saw Lamar at the peak of his pow as he missed the second half of the previous two seasons in 2021 and 22 so we hadn't gotten a playoff performance from him since 2020 in the weird covid year so you know overall I think that this was it was a lot of time that went between the last time we saw Lamar in the playoffs and this season and people were holding the playoff choker title over him I think un fairly because we have seen him dramatically in improve as a passer over the course of the past few years but he hasn't been healthy at the right times and Lamar went on to win his second MVP awards so he was incredible during the regular season I don't think that his coaches really did him any favors in that Chief's playoff game the fact that the Kansas City's defense was Elite but the one area they were able to be exposed a little bit was in the Run game and the Ravens just entirely abandoned it and I thought it was a bad call there and as a result it kind of gets pinned on Lamar and we're sitting here saying well he hasn't done anything in the playoffs yet which sure is true but he's also still just 26 years old turning 27 or just turned 27 year old heading into his 27 year old season and you know he is won multiple MVPs his resume is already Elite and this is something that I don't want to spend too much time on now because we're going to go more in depth with the Lamar conversation next off season or next segment I should say but Lamar has been proving the doubters wrong essentially from day one and it's something that I'm I'm really on board with I feel like the opportunity is going to come through for him and again I just you know he's somebody that I wasn't necessarily all that high on either as he was coming into the league but he absolutely won me over especially it was I think really from that Texans game on in the first game of the year when you saw him just sort of slinging it it it's so clear that he's an improved passer and no he's not prototypical and his backbone probably is a little bit more run heavy than throwing the ball itself but I mean the guy can throw now so he's scary for any opposing defense and NFL fans need to respect him I think in the same way that other teams do but when you look at the overall numbers for the Ravens offense last season very good across the board obviously the number one thing for them is that prolific Rush attack they were the number one run offense in the league and I know the passing numbers don't look great at 21st but part of that I think 100% plays into the fact that they ran for which is over 15 more than the second best team which was the Bears so while everybody is going into this air raid attack the Ravens have a prolific Run game also with the fact that Lamar now can throw as well but that Rush attack is what their identity is and I felt like they sort of turned away from that in the playoffs when it mattered most so I'm sure they would like to have that one back but we're talking about the number one Rush offense in the NFL last season and then you add into that one of the Premier running backs of his generation in Derek Henry who was of course the big offseason signing for the Ravens and I think that it is a perfect fit into what the Ravens are already doing now what I did like last year and you saw it some with Justice Hill and Gus Edwards that they were operating some sort of a passing out of the back field as well that was especially you know apparent during the playoffs I think when their receivers weren't getting it done now I don't think it was the design that it was going to be so heavy on with the running backs in the receiving game that's not really Derrik Henry's Mo and it's something that you know is going to lead to the opening of an elite playaction offense and you know NFL defenses are going to be sort of you know shaking trying to read trying to defend the run and then getting thrown over as well it's going to be very difficult to get a hold on this Baltimore offense this upcoming year and Derrik Henry I love the addition again would be nice to see I mean I'm not sure necessarily what they have here is I can double check what their depth chart looks like because you know ultimately the backup running backs I mean they still have Justice Hill I I actually forgot about Keaton Mitchell who was a you know massive Splash for them up until he almost immediately got hurt as he was getting himself going but you know I think that overall here when you look at the offense they have a a lot of good skill position players but one of the bigger issues for them next year is going to be the fact that they are managing with three new offensive linemen during the off season they lost John Simpson Morgan Moses and Kevin zetler so they're both of their guards and their right tackle and as of right now you know there's still a lot of questions as to who can take over in those spots Ben Cleveland is probably the most likely candidate to take over at least one of those jobs likely at Right Guard somebody who's been with the team for the past few seasons and has gotten some starts under his belt I could say the same for Patrick maai who is the uh uh tackle prospect slashguard that has been sort of hanging around the the Ravens for a couple years now has been with the team so he could look to take over a spot um there's uh also Daniel Tha alele who is another potential option for them both uh maai and fele are the projected starters on a post from the Baltimore Ravens themselves that they made back in March now since then they have drafted Roger Rosen Garden in the second round who is a very capable candidate to take over that right tackle position ESPN also has Andrew Vorhees as the pro projected left guard he was a seventh round selection in 20123 so there are definitely questions there coming off of a good group last season football analysis has them ranked as the 16th best o line for the upcoming season tied with the 49ers so just around average with the rest of the weapons on this offense average might just be enough for this offensive line group but we will see defensively see the numbers on the screen there the Ravens were the number one scoring defense in the League last year and the number two red zone defense they did have a couple losses on the year that definitely don't feel great necessarily but we saw the way that Mike MCD and also the fact that even Mike McDonald is gone in the off season probably should have included that in my key losses graphic here but javien Clowney and Patrick Queen are the two Personnel players themselves that are going into uh that left in free agency and we'll have to see you know how the Ravens are able to to replace that and I think that they're going to be capable of it Zack or taking over as the defensive coordinator for the Ravens you know it's definitely going to be a change I'm sure we're going to seem see some sort of a step back but ultimately they still have three elite players at each they or I should say they have an elite player at each of the three levels Justin matab up front who they just signed this off season roquan Smith at linebacker and Kyle Hamilton one of my personal favorite players in the NFL in the secondary and a number of other veteran Talent players as well on that defense where you look at a Kyle vanoi who actually stepped up big for them last year uh you have also Marlin Humphrey a number of guys but some of the younger core as well is going to have to take over we've seen d o become a big contributor for them and they are likely going to have to have Trenton Simpson the first round pick or the third round pick I should say out of Clemson um in that starting lineup as well but you know as we continue on here looking at the Ravens upcoming schedule you can see the beginning of the season is really going to be their toughest stretch they start with the Chiefs week one in the remat and not the rematch but I believe that is going to be the opening game of the season so that's obviously a lot of eyes on them there but a lot of other tough out of divisional opponents as well early on they're going to be at Dallas and against the bills at home not to mention then they get their first divisional game of in the in Cincinnati against the Bengals you're never going to have an easy schedule ahead of you when you are in a division that's as talented as the AFC North is and the sharp football analysis would back that up by ranking the Ravens as the fourth hardest strength of schedule but this is a team that should very much be able to compete you look at how they handled their division last year they were 2-0 against the Cincinnati Bengals they played in week two where burrow was clearly still not a the same version of himself he was recovering from that calf injury and then the Thursday night football game in week 11 where burrow suffered his season ending wrist injury so they went two and0 against the Bengals but they are Cincinnati is going to be much more of a threat I would say in this upcoming season with a fully healthy Joe burrow the Ravens also split with both the the Browns and the Ste Steelers last year again that division is just a tough one to work your way through so overall when you look at this Ravens schedule you know they also have a couple other tough outof division opponents against the Eagles in week 13 and then I would probably also throw Houston in week 17 into that conversation a rematch of last year's AFC divisional round we'll see who's really still playing at that point but I don't think I think because of the fact that the Ravens schedule was pretty tough ahead of them they're going to have success but I actually have them going under their season total their current line is at 11 and a half wins I have them just under at 11 and six still a very good record going to be at the top of the AFC and a very good chance to have the one seed as a whole but you know they have a number one seed schedule this upcoming season they're going to have some tough games along the way but and are going to have to deal with some level of turnover as well but I do think that they're going to be capable for it so I have them an 11 and six and just sort of adding that to the updates of all of the other records that we have performed or that we have uh predicted up to this point I have the Ravens tied with the bills for the best record as things currently stand we are just sort of going this day by day so I don't necessarily have the I haven't D dove into just yet all these other teams but Ravens in a pretty good position there and I feel like the majority of people would say that they have a great chance to run it back and become the one seed in the AFC once again but definitely B be sure to let me know what you think will be the case for the upcoming season with the Ravens but I do want to Circle back a little bit to the ation around Lamar Jackson and where he currently stands at from a legacy perspective after winning his second MVP last season so uh we are going to be taking our next break here but we when we come back we will be diving more into that we will be right back stick with us