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The Baltimore Ravens 53-man roster is now official, as the team heads into a Week 1 battle vs. the New York Jets. The Ravens roster is deep and talented with an All-Pro quarterback (and a solid backup), good offensive line depth, a slew of talented tight ends, and a strong secondary. That said, after the final Ravens roster cuts, there are still a few positions that John Harbaugh needs to improve if they hope to be a true Super Bowl contender.
Here are the two positions the Baltimore Ravens still must improve following the 53-man roster cuts.
Ravens positions that need improvement after 53-man roster cuts
2. EDGE
After the final Ravens roster cuts, the franchise is in an interesting spot. On the edge-rusher front, the team has a great long-term outlook. In the short term, though, the unit can definitely use improvement.
Odafe Oweh is a promising young player who made two starts and contributed 5.0 sacks in his rookie season. As a starter in Week 1, he should continue his development as the season goes on. However, he’s not a true game-disruptor right now.
The other starter at outside linebacker vs. the Jets will be Justin Houston. The 33-year-old used to strike fear in the hearts of QBs but hasn’t been that guy in a while. Houston had 4.5 sacks last season. His last double-digit sack year came in 2019. And Houston is seven seasons removed from his last Pro Bowl and eight from the year he put up 22.0 QB takedowns with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Ravens 53-man roster will eventually have two more exciting pass-rushers, but that isn’t happening for a while. Tyus Bowser, who has his best season last year with 7.0 sacks, is on the shelf for at least the first four games as he continues to recover from last season’s Achilles tear.
Also, this season’s second-round pick, Michigan’s David Ojabo, is still recovering from his own Achilles tear, suffered at his pro day. The youngster had 11.0 sacks in 13 games last season for the Wolverines and is saying he’ll be back by midseason, but that doesn’t help John Harbaugh right now.
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The Ravens face the entire AFC East in the first four games of the season. If the team can’t get more pass-rushing help on the Ravens roster after cut-down day, that could become a long stretch of games.
1. WR
Look, John Harbaugh and Eric DeCosta knew what they were doing when they traded Marquise “Hollywood” Brown on draft night. The Ravens roster is now made to fit Lamar Jackson’s strengths.
Baltimore will run and throw to tight ends Mark Andrews and Isaiah Likely, and now the offense has two wideouts who will help Jackson more than the electric (but often unreliable) Brown.
Second-year WR Rashod Bateman and third-year pass-catchers Devin Duvernay and James Proche II are the top WRs on the Ravens 53-man roster now. This trio is talented and has some experience, but Bateman’s 515 yards is the most any of these players have had in a single season, and for Duvernay and Proche, neither has crested 300 yards.
Andrews and Likely are basically giant-sized wide receivers so Jackson will have plenty of targets to throw to. But bringing in one of the veteran wideouts who didn’t survive the chopping block today couldn’t hurt.
A veteran WR on the Ravens roster would not only help Jackson, but he could also help in the development of these young, talented pass-catchers.
