OTL: 3 Ravens with the Most to Prove in 2026

For a franchise as successful as the Baltimore Ravens, expectations do not reset on a yearly basis.

In fact, the team is once again the preseason betting favorite to escape the AFC for the second consecutive year despite a miserable 2025 season that saw them miss the playoffs for the second time since 2017.

Even as Baltimore parted ways with future Hall of Fame head coach John Harbaugh and welcomed a rookie to the position in former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, sportsbooks and analysts still believe in the Ravens to be in heavy contention for Super Bowl LXI.

That level of national confidence speaks to the talent that general manager Eric DeCosta and his crew have assembled throughout the Ravens’ roster over the years. After a strong set of offseason additions, championship contention is well within reach.

However, not every player enters the new season with the same level of certainty.

Everyone’s goal is to rebound from the disappointing finish to last season, but some players must show they can rebound from notably underwhelming 2025 campaigns in order to help Baltimore return to its well-known contender status.

Here are my picks for the three Ravens with the most to prove as the NFL enters the summer stage of its offseason.

Rashod Bateman

Wide receiver Rashod Bateman is entering his sixth season with the team that drafted him at 27th overall in the 2021 NFL Draft.

Of Bateman’s previous five seasons with Baltimore, his most recent was his most underwhelming.

The former first-round pick finished 2025 with 224 receiving yards and two touchdowns on 19 receptions, earning career lows in total yards, receptions per game (1.5) and catch percentage (50.0). Bateman also finished the year with 0.7 yards per route run, the fourth-worst total among receivers with at least 30 targets.

An ankle injury and a late-season illness did prevent the 26-year-old from playing in four games, but it’s safe to say that his production fell extraordinarily short of the expectations. One could argue that with an average of 429.4 receiving yards and three touchdowns per season, his entire career as a former first-rounder has come up short of expectations.

But, we have seen the potential.

In 2024, Bateman posted career-highs in several notable statistics: receiving yards (756), touchdowns (9), yards after catch (186), targets (72) and first downs (39). He also finished the year with a 132.2 passer rating when targeted, the fourth-best among wide receivers that season (min. 30 targets) and the best by a Ravens wide receiver since Marquise Brown’s 134.4 in 2019 (min. 30 targets).

Bateman also saw a career-high in average depth of target two seasons ago (15.2), highlighting his ability as a potential deep threat.

The wide receiver signed a three-year, $36.75 million extension with the Ravens last offseason, keeping him under contract with the team through the 2029 season. However, Bateman has been subject to a number of trade discussions across the past year.

Baltimore appointed Declan Doyle as the team’s offensive coordinator this offseason after a season in the same role with the Chicago Bears. The youngest offensive coordinator in the NFL, Doyle’s bright and innovative mind could be the key to unlocking Bateman’s full potential as a threatening contributor in this offense.

If not, this could mark the end of the road for Baltimore’s longtime WR2, especially since the team selected two promising receivers in Ja’Kobi Lane and Elijah Sarratt during this year’s draft.

Mark Andrews, TE

Baltimore’s veteran tight end Mark Andrews is another player to receive a multi-year extension. While he signed his toward the end of the season, rather than before it like Bateman, it was still similar to the WR in that he received it right around the worst season of his career.

Andrews, 30, tallied just 422 receiving yards a season ago, the lowest of his eight-year career by a 122-yard margin. The three-time Pro Bowler also posted a career-worst 8.8 yards per reception, falling significantly short of his previous career-worst 11.6 yards per catch back in 2022.

DeCosta’s decision to extend Andrews on a three-year, $39.3 million deal in December of last season could certainly be considered a large factor in the team losing 26-year-old Isaiah Likely, who signed an almost identical deal to follow Harbaugh to the New York Giants.

With Likely in the rear-view mirror, the expectations only stack higher for Andrews.

The Ravens added Durham Smythe to replace Charlie Kolar, who joined Jim Harbaugh and the Chargers in the offseason, as the squad’s blocking tight end. Other than that, Baltimore selected two tight ends—Matthew Hibner of SMU and Josh Cuevas of Alabama—in the 2026 NFL Draft.

Essentially, DeCosta is doubling down on his decision to extend Andrews, leaning on the veteran to carry the position. He is currently the only tight end on the roster with viable receiving experience at the professional level.

Not only will Andrews carry that heavy weight on his shoulders, but he will also need to prove that his career is not doomed for a catastrophic downward trajectory. In 2024, the former All-Pro accrued a career-high 11 touchdowns on a career-best 79.7% catch percentage.

Considering his chemistry with two-time MVP quarterback Lamar Jackson, Andrews still possesses the ability to play at a high level. But Ravens Flock will need to see it firsthand with all that is at stake for this season and his career. Otherwise, this quickly turns into a poor investment for DeCosta and company.

Marlon Humphrey, CB

In alignment with much of the team, cornerback Marlon Humphrey looked like a shell of himself in 2025.

One year removed from his second All-Pro nod, Humphrey ranked dead last in yards allowed by cornerbacks, allowing 909 in 15 games last season. That’s a whopping 60.6 yards allowed per game by just one player.

The 29-year-old’s four interceptions and above average run defense limited the damage to a degree, but the veteran’s disastrous season was still cause for serious concern.

Though, the addition of a defensive mastermind in Minter could save the day for Humphrey.

With Los Angeles in 2025, Baltimore’s new head coach guided each of the Chargers’ four starting cornerbacks to strong seasons. In fact, just one of those four, Cam Hart, allowed more than 350 receiving yards last season. Three of them accumulated at least four passes broken up, two of them allowed a passer rating under 65.0 and all of them allowed fewer than 2.6 receptions per game.

For context, Humphrey finished the 2025 season with 4.5 receptions per game allowed and a 90.9 passer rating allowed.

The meltdown of the four-time Pro Bowler will give the Ravens new coaching staff reason to draw back his playing time. The emergence of former first-round pick Nate Wiggins and 2025 standout Chidobe Awuzie also create strong insurance while Humphrey looks to get back on track in 2026.

The veteran cornerback becomes a free agent after the 2026 season, making this the ultimate make-or-break year of his tenure with Baltimore. Can’t get much more pressure than that.

The post OTL: 3 Ravens with the Most to Prove in 2026 appeared first on Russell Street Report.

Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/06/01/out-to-lunch/most-to-prove-bateman-andrews/