OTL: Ravens Still Betting Favorites to Win AFC North

I’ll tell ya, Flock, it’s a heck of a lot easier to write about this team when they’ve had the success that we’re all accustomed to. These days, I wish I had a little more positivity to share, but after Sunday’s game, it almost seems like we as a fanbase might be turning the page to next season before we even hit the BYE week.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a #Ravens team quit like this. Like, you have rookies and backups who should be hungry to put good tape out. If nothing else.

Rex Ryan had that 2005 defense playing hard with 3 CBs.

Absolutely inexcusable effort.

Clean house with this staff.

— Dev Panchwagh (@devpanchwagh) October 5, 2025

Now, Vegas may not think the year is done…

Ravens STILL favored to win the AFC North at 1-4… pic.twitter.com/0kakQCKBnG

— Kay Adams (@heykayadams) October 6, 2025

…but maybe they haven’t been watching the same games we have. I was going to make a joke about them watching too much Raiders football and then realized we have the same record. Oof.

Usually, I would wait until the end of the year to shift into this mentality, but it may very well be time to just start talking about what the Ravens need to do moving forward, basically treating the remainder of this season as a wash. There are changes that can be made now that can minimize the damage and get them ready to compete again next year, or at the very least, stop the bleeding.

As of a week ago, if you give credence to what Coach Harbaugh has to say, dismissing Zach Orr or any of the defensive position coaches isn’t one of the changes they plan on making.

John Harbaugh if he’s considering changes related to DC Zach Orr or any of his defensive staff:

“I do not think that’s the answer. We gotta go to work is what we need to do. We need to stick together is what we need to do. We need to find ourselves. And that has to do with… pic.twitter.com/86YIuRUaA8

— Bobby Trosset (@bobbybaltim0re) October 5, 2025

However, that clip was from before they got trounced by Houston, and if there are large-scale changes to the coaching staff, Harbs might not have a say anyway because he may very well be included. I understand the line of thinking that mass changes in coaching at this time of the year could be extremely disruptive to any sense of continuity, but with what we’ve seen to this point, is continuing this way any better, especially knowing many of these coaches are lame ducks?

There’s one change that I’ve seen kicked around over the last few days that leads into more macro-scale chance for improvement: accept that this season is likely lost and ship veteran players on expiring contracts to load up for draft capital.

Eric Williams of Fox Sports talked to a league source who believes the Ravens would be willing to part with TE Mark Andrews. pic.twitter.com/bzgtjD4t29

— Ravens Nation ð™‡ð™„ð™‘𙀠(@LIVERavenNation) October 6, 2025

Given how non-committal Eric DeCosta was during the offseason about Mark Andrews’ future, I’d venture a guess and say that the Ravens were exploring this option anyway. Isaiah Likely’s season got off to a rough start with an injury, but with Andrews slated to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year, you look at his age (on the wrong side of 30 at the beginning of next season) combined with the recent ankle injury and figure that Likely would be the more prudent investment as a future TE1. Given the circumstances, players like Kyle Van Noy and Odafe Oweh could also very well be trade targets, as neither is under contract in 2026 and both could provide a boost to other teams looking to improve depth on the pass rush.

Look, I know all of us hate the idea of throwing in the towel on the season. In large part, that’s just not who this team is. I’ll say this, though: with the core players on either side of the ball that the Ravens have, I don’t think it needs to become a “burn it all down” kind of rebuild. This front office would need to be smart, load up on their picks and (for the love of all that is holy) be aggressive for once.

Draft folks, we uppic.twitter.com/JVrbFtEVoN

— Chris (@ChrisJustJoking) October 5, 2025

In the history of the franchise, the Ravens have drafted in the top 5 only three times. Those selections were Jonathan Ogden, Peter Boulware and Jamal Lewis. Expand that criteria out to top 10 selections and it includes Duane Starks, Chris McAlister, Terrell Suggs and Ronnie Stanley. I hate the idea of a lost year, but if it ends up being the price the franchise pays to get a plug-and-play O-lineman for the future or a pass rusher whose skills actually translate to the NFL level, maybe the juice eventually becomes worth the squeeze.

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