After a Season of Very Few “Leaps,” Which Ravens Can Make Them in ’26?

Each season in today’s NFL is a chapter unto itself.

Free agency, an increased willingness by modern general managers to make trades and the ebbs and flows of modern offenses and defenses have created teams with new identities every season, facing off against teams who also have new looks. Add in a general lack of patience by many owners with their coaching staffs, and you have entirely new systems to consider, both in and outside your building.

An interior defensive lineman could very well prosper in one system, and then look lost and confused in the next. Conversely, a player could find a new scheme more to his liking, or the addition of another player to the team could unlock potential he had never unleashed before. Or, one day something can just “click” in a talented guy, and he goes from “oozing with potential” to perennially garnering All-Pro consideration.

When I started diving into what went wrong with the 2024 Ravens, it was pretty clear that there weren’t a lot of Ravens players who had their pendulum swing “up” last season. Who exceeded expectations, if we’re being honest?

I’d say Chidobe Awuzie played better than I was expecting. Jordan Stout had a season far greater than his three previous years portended. Is that it? I mean, Travis Jones really played well in the second half of the year, so we can throw him a bone there. On offense? Did anybody play better than expected? Derrick Henry probably defied odds considering his age and usage the season before, but I’ve kind of grown numb to the very concept of Henry being mortal, so that doesn’t really move the needle.

So, not a lot. And that can fall on coaching or the players themselves for not taking the next step. Regardless, there wasn’t a lot of “ups” in the “ups and downs” of last season, and that’s probably what led to a mediocre showing for a season that carried such promise.

What will the 2026 Ravens look like? Well, with a new staff in place for the first time since The Dark Knight and Iron Man were on the big screen, there is a lot up in the air, especially when you consider new coach Jesse Minter’s consistent take that the system will adapt to the players on hand, so we are going in to this with a lot of hope and excitement rather than anecdotal evidence.

But, we’re in that window between the initial rush of free agency and the draft, so we have time to throw a few educated darts at the wall and see what lands. Here are a few candidates to take that leap next season.

Nate Wiggins

Former first-round pick Nate Wiggins took a small step back in 2025, as many second-year players do. His PFF rating dropped from 70.7 overall to 63.8, with his coverage mark going from 68.3 to 62.8. Granted, PFF is not the end-all, be-all, but that evaluation seems pretty consistent with what we saw last year.

I’m a big believer that the corners last year were put in a terrible position due to a pass rush that resembled, well, anything but a pass rush. NFL receivers are going to find space if you give them three seconds to spring open, let alone 10 seconds.

The Trey Hendrickson gravity should help some of his fellow front-seven guys, but it will also impact the back end, and I think Wiggins could take a big step this coming season.

Malakai Starks

Malaki Starks is another young defensive back who I expect will benefit from Hendrickson’s pass-rush, as well as from Minter’s defense. Starks was very good at the end of last season after an uneven start, and I also believe the addition of safety Jaylinn Hawkins will help Starks, as Alohi Gilman’s arrival did last year.

Starks could become a turnover machine, and it’s easy to imagine him grabbing three picks simply off pressure created by Hendrickson and — fingers crossed — the return of Nnamdi Madubuike.

Roger Rosengarten

There were times in the first half of the 2025 season I felt like Roger Rosengarten had taken a significant step back, and I was beginning to worry if this was not the long-term answer. But he was very good at the end of last season, and, again, his PFF marks reflected his growth. In 2024, the then-rookie right tackle posted an overall score of 66.9, with a pass-block grade of 70. In 2025, those numbers jumped to 74.1 and 73.4, respectively.

He did solid work in isolation situations, and plays with a ton of confidence, and it wouldn’t surprise me if he rose to Pro Bowl-level play this year.

Tyler Loop

I’ll be honest. This could go one of two ways. After air-mailing the most clutch kick attempt of his life and subsequently putting into action one of the most consequential off-seasons in Ravens history, we could see a Tyler Loop who has fixed his kickoff problems and learned to conquer whatever snuck into his head before that kick, or we could see the result of being a young player who had the proverbial world fall around him in front of the world and never recovered.

I’m betting on him.

Rashod Bateman

There is no empirical evidence that suggests Rashod Bateman is ready to get back on the optimistic side of the ledger, but I wonder if a new staff and passing game can unlock the tasty hints we’ve seen from Bateman in the past.

Like Loop, this is just a bet.

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