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The 2017 Baltimore Ravens were 9-7 and finished the season only one touchdown away from making the playoffs.
This year, with quarterback Joe Flacco back in the QB position for the 11th straight year, the Ravens will look to get over the playoff hump that has eluded them for the last three seasons. Our Baltimore Ravens betting odds have them finishing second in the AFC North behind the Pittsburgh Steelers. Among all AFC teams, they fall somewhere in the middle of the pack in terms of the Ravens betting odds to advance to the Super Bowl.
For more information on NFL odds and open lines, visit our NFL sportsbook.
A big question surrounding the Ravens this year is how close Flacco is to retiring. This year the team traded up in the 2018 NFL draft to select QB Lamar Jackson out of Louisville. Jackson is a two-time ACC player of the year and a former Consensus All American in 2016.
Such a pick would seem to indicate that the Ravens are starting to look beyond Flacco towards the future, but for now coach John Harbaugh has indicated that Flacco will be the starter for this season and the foreseeable future.
The good thing about Jackson is that he is extremely versatile. There is a chance of using him as a running back for now. Over his three years as the quarterback in Louisville, he compiled 4,132 yards rushing to go with his 9,043 yards passing. According to reports coming out of offseason training, the Ravens are already experimenting with using Flacco and Jackson on the field at the same time.
Regardless, the Ravens drafted him at quarterback and all indications are that they plan to use him that way. If he adapts quickly to the pro game, he could be a stellar replacement for Flacco, who has struggled since winning the Super Bowl six years ago.
Accordingly, a lot of the signings that the Ravens did in the offseason were done to support their QBs. The head office went to work on perimeter and got receivers Mike Crabtree from the Raiders and John Brown of the Cardinals.
Both NFL veterans, Crabtree has spent 9 seasons in the NFL compiling 6,879 passing yards and 51 touchdowns for the 49ers and Raiders. Brown is coming off his fourth season with the Arizona Cardinals, where he had 173 receptions for 2,515 yards in that time.
To further develop their offensive options, The Ravens acquired TE Hayden Hurst with the 25th pick of the draft. A first team All-SEC selection out of South Carolina, Hurst can block and is fast, both of which are attributes that the Ravens could use if they want to get back to the Super Bowl.
Determined to get better on both sides of the ball, the Ravens also hired former linebackers coach Don 'Wink' Martindale as the new defensive coordinator. He replaces Dean Pees, who had held the position with the Ravens since 2012.
Martindale is expected to give more freedom and responsibility to a defense that was ranked 12th in the NFL last year. That might not sound bad, but it was the worst ranking the Ravens' defense had had in the last four years. The change should be beneficial to the Ravens defense, who have several experienced veterans like Eric Weddle or star players like CJ Mosley who appreciate the increased freedom to think on their feet.