3 Biggest Offseason Questions Still Looming for the Baltimore Ravens

With all 32 NFL teams preparing for OTAs and mandatory minicamps, Athlon Sports is going under the hood to see what key questions remain for each team before training camps open in July. These questions might not get answered at minicamps, but any opportunity for new coaches to get familiar with their roster, rookies to get a feel for life in the NFL and free agents to get comfortable with a new team can be helpful.

The focus today is on the Baltimore Ravens, who are coming off a disappointing 2025 campaign marred by key injuries and defensive collapse. Lamar Jackson struggled to live up to his normally high level of play, and the defense looked nothing like we're used to seeing out of this team. The result was a losing record, missing the playoffs, and parting ways with longtime head coach John Harbaugh.

As they forge ahead with a first-time head coach in Jesse Minter, here are three big questions still looming over the Ravens as they head into the 2026 NFL season:

Can Lamar Jackson Return to MVP Form?

Jackson already has two NFL MVP awards under his belt, and should have a third one after the historic numbers he put up in 2024. But he struggled to live up to that standard last year, with his numbers falling off a cliff while missing four games and struggling with nagging injuries. While the defense was largely to blame for the team's 6-7 record with Jackson as the starter, the offense didn't pull enough of their own weight, either.

The 2026 campaign will bring a new offensive coordinator in Declan Doyle, who has been an understudy for Ben Johnson in Chicago last year, and Detroit before that. That creative, innovative scheme should take full advantage of Jackson's rare skill set, putting him in position to return to his MVP level of play. He'll have to prove he can stay healthy this time around, but an offseason of strong additions on both sides of the ball should bolster Jackson's chances of a bounce-back campaign.

Can Jesse Minter Get the Defense Back on Track?

For years, the Ravens were known for their physical style of play on both sides of the ball, but particularly for playing dominant defense throughout most of their existence. That wasn't the case last year, as injuries and inconsistency led to a disappointing season that saw them unable to close out games or make enough key plays in clutch situations to avoid a losing record and missing the chance to go back to the postseason as AFC North champions.

Enter Minter, who ran one of the league's better defenses with the Los Angeles Chargers last season. He's got big shoes to fill in terms of replacing Harbaugh in the big-picture sense of handling the head-coaching duties, but his biggest challenge will be returning this defense to its usual place among the league's best. Adding one of the league's best edge rushers in Trey Hendrickson should be a huge help, as will keeping key players like Nnamdi Madubuike and Kyle Hamilton healthy. The talent is there for this unit to bounce back, and Minter will have to live up to his expectations as a schemer and play-caller.

Will Derrick Henry Finally Lose a Step?

Especially when you consider his heavy usage, going all the way back to his high school days, it was understandable to expect Henry's ability and effectiveness to fall off significantly at some point over the past couple of seasons. Running backs in particular typically experience that kind of regressing as they approach 30 years of age, but Henry continues to prove himself to be the exception to the rule.

Now 32 years old, Henry is coming off another ridiculous season of high-end production (1,595 yards rushing, 16 rushing TDs), showing no signs of slowing down in 2025. The Ravens spent their top pick in the 2026 NFL Draft on this year's best interior offensive lineman in Penn State's Olaivavega Ioane, which should only make life easier for Henry between the tackles. We've always viewed Henry as a "unicorn" of a player, but Father Time comes for everyone eventually. Will this be the year Henry finally shows signs of slowing down, or will he keep defying reality with another huge year?

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This story was originally published June 8, 2026 at 7:01 AM.