OTL: We Made It! Game Week is Here

Good news Baltimore, you have just survived the last Sunday without NFL football. It’s here. Football that matters is coming right up. The excitement is building.

THIS IS THE LAST SUNDAY WITHOUT RAVENS FOOTBALL!! pic.twitter.com/2KRUj7lHyX

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) August 31, 2025

The Ravens are done with the games that don’t count, and for what it’s worth, the Ravens training camp experience is apparently elite.

All love from the Flock.

: https://t.co/AziuMMKTBV pic.twitter.com/n6kO8CrfK2

— Baltimore Ravens (@Ravens) August 28, 2025

According votes by the fans, Newsweek has given the Ravens the title of the third best training camp experience. This makes sense because the Ravens have beautiful facilities and are incredibly inviting to fans. The only teams to top the experience the Ravens offer are the Detroit Lions and the Indianapolis Colts. Detroit has a positive energy around their entire franchise. As we get into the games that matter the Ravens organization can take pride knowing that the hot summer days mattered to the families of fans who attended training camp.

So what’s on deck for you, the fan? You probably just had your fantasy draft or you have coming up today or tomorrow. ESPN’s Seth Walder predicts that Keaton Mitchell is going to be a fantasy sleeper you shouldn’t pass on:

Running back Keaton Mitchell will have at least four games with 20-plus fantasy points. This is more or less me running back (pun intended) my bold prediction from a year ago, when I was also bullish on Mitchell. Perhaps I was a year too early then. Even with the extra time passed, I have a hard time forgetting Mitchell’s 201 rush yards over expectation on 47 carries in 2023, per NFL Next Gen Stats.

I don’t disagree that Mitchell is going to have some great moments. I would pump the brakes a little bit though, for two reasons. First, Mitchell is an injury prone player who dealt with a minor hamstring injury after one impressive preseason performance. Secondly, Derrick Henry and Justice Hill are going to have way more opportunities.

I don’t think Mitchell will get consistent enough snaps to make him a viable fantasy player on a weekly basis; furthermore I doubt any of us will be able to predict the weeks where he makes the biggest impact. Mitchell is going to be a player who does a lot with a calculated and measured amount of touches. Could he have four big games? Absolutely. Will you see them coming? Probably not.

From the same ESPN article, Jamison Hensley scribes that Tyler Loop is the Ravens biggest concern going into the season:

Biggest concern: Tyler Loop. This has the makings of the most complete team in Jackson’s eight-year run. The biggest change is going from Justin Tucker, the most accurate kicker in NFL history, to Loop, a rookie sixth-round pick. According to Pro Football Reference’s database, of the 128 place-kickers in NFL history who have attempted 20 or more kicks as a rookie, 19 have hit or exceeded an 85% conversion rate.

The Ravens roster is pretty stacked so pointing to a rookie kicker makes logical sense. That being said Loop hasn’t missed an extra point and is six for eight on field goals in the preseason. There will be a bit of unease until Loop has earned trustful kicker status, yet his preseason success rate checks the boxes for the Ravens. The Ravens aren’t going into the season actively worrying about Loop and the rookie kicker controls how much they will ever worry about the place kicking position.

My biggest concern would be the ability for the offensive line to sustain an injury or two and function throughout the season. This has been a problem the Ravens have dealt with before and with the injury histories of Ronnie Stanley, Andrew Vorhees and the somewhat unproven status of Daniel Faalele, it seems more likely to be a speed bump.

NFL.com’s Around the NFL Staff overwhelmingly picked the Ravens to be the winners of the AFC North crown this season:

One of four teams to appear on all 29 ballots (Bills, Chiefs, Eagles), the Ravens are again considered the overwhelming favorites in the North. But they might not be going to the dance alone. The Bengals, who garnered some support as division champs, were voted into the top wild-card slot, appearing on 76 percent of all ballots. The Steelers and Browns, both led by seasoned Super Bowl-winning QBs, were not viewed as optimistically, however. The majority of voters picked Pittsburgh to miss the playoffs for the seventh time during Mike Tomlin’s lengthy tenure, while the Browns are expected to come up short for the fourth time in Kevin Stefanski’s six seasons at the helm.

Is the AFC North having a slump though? The Bengals are good offensively but have the same questions as they did last season. The Steelers are an unknown commodity. It seems telling that the voters Around The NFL were low on their prospects. The Browns are starting Joe Flacco on a team with low expectations. If the Steelers surprise as contenders with Rodgers and D.K. Metcalf the division is heading into another year of being the most competitive in the NFL.

It’s not impossible though that the Ravens are the only contender in the bunch (if they stay healthy of course). The Ravens come into the season with some upgrades, knowing who they are. This Ravens squad has an exciting rookie class and they added DeAndre Hopkins. The rest of the division has to start developing their new identity as the season kicks off.

I guess now we’re all waiting for Sunday night.

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