The Baltimore Ravens enter 2026 with a new head coach, a retooled roster around Lamar Jackson, and a schedule that’s set up to help rather than hurt — here’s our team’s full breakdown of where things stand after a season that ended in disappointment.
2025 Season Recap
Baltimore’s 2025 season was a genuine roller coaster. The Ravens opened 1-5, looking like a team in real trouble, then reeled off five straight wins to climb to 6-5 and grab first place in the AFC North. From there, though, they won just two of their final six games and needed a Week 18 victory over Pittsburgh to clinch an unprecedented third consecutive division title. They came up just short, falling 26-24 to the Steelers, and finished 8-9 — missing the playoffs for the first time since 2021.
Injuries were a major storyline. Lamar Jackson missed time with a Week 4 hamstring injury and a Week 16 back injury, forcing Cooper Rush and Tyler Huntley into starts. There were bright spots amid the frustration — Mark Andrews broke the franchise’s all-time receiving yards record, and Derrick Henry ran for a career-high 216 yards and four touchdowns against Green Bay — but the inconsistency was enough to cost John Harbaugh his job. He was let go two days after the season ended, closing out an 18-year tenure that included a Super Bowl title and a 180-113 regular-season record.
Offseason Moves
The biggest change in Baltimore is at the very top: Jesse Minter, the former Chargers defensive coordinator who spent 2017-2020 on Harbaugh’s Ravens staff, takes over as head coach. Minter has said he intends to call the defense himself and has already talked up safety Kyle Hamilton as a “positionless” weapon he plans to deploy all over the field. He’s also been vocal about building the offense around Jackson, calling him “the best player in the National Football League.”
Up front, Baltimore made a real investment in the pass rush, signing Trey Hendrickson to a four-year, $112 million deal after an earlier trade for Maxx Crosby fell through on medical concerns. The Ravens also retained Tyler Huntley as Jackson’s backup on a two-year deal, brought back guard John Simpson (three years, $30 million) and cornerback Chidobe Awuzie, and added safety Jaylinn Hawkins for depth. On the line, the losses of center Tyler Linderbaum (to Las Vegas) and tight end Charlie Kolar (to the Chargers) left real questions, which the team addressed by bringing in veteran center depth in Danny Pinter and pass-catching tight end Durham Smythe, who already knows coordinator Declan Doyle’s system.
In the draft, Baltimore used its first-round pick (No. 14 overall) on Penn State guard Olaivavega Ioane, a well-regarded lineman who reportedly didn’t allow a sack in his final two collegiate seasons — a direct answer to the interior line questions left by Linderbaum’s departure. The Ravens doubled down on the pass rush in Round 2 with edge rusher Zion Young, viewed as a strong complement to Hendrickson, and added receiver depth in Round 3 with Ja’Kobi Lane.
2026 Season Outlook
The schedule is doing Baltimore a real favor this year. By 2025 opponent win totals, it grades as the ninth-easiest slate in the league, and Vegas has it even friendlier — sixth-easiest by projected 2026 win totals. Part of that is scheduling luck: the Ravens draw the NFC South, where no team finished above .500 a year ago, and their own AFC North had an unusually down year with three losing-record clubs. There’s still real competition mixed in — seven of Baltimore’s opponents made the 2025 playoffs, including road trips to Buffalo, Carolina, and Houston, plus home dates against Jacksonville and Los Angeles — but the overall load is lighter than what this roster has faced in recent seasons.
Baltimore also gets four primetime games this year, against Cincinnati, the Chargers, Jacksonville, and Atlanta, though notably the Bills matchup — arguably the most anticipated game on the schedule — wasn’t given a primetime slot. Between the easier overall schedule, a healthier defensive front, and a new coaching staff installing its own systems, this looks like a team widely expected to bounce back after last year’s late collapse.
Our Team’s Projection
We’re projecting the Ravens at 12-5 for 2026. Baltimore’s win total sits at 11.5 (over +118, under -140), and our number leans toward the over.
The case for the over starts with the schedule — a genuinely lighter slate than Baltimore has seen in years, paired with a pass rush that added Trey Hendrickson and a second-round edge rusher to pair with him. If Jackson stays healthy after a 2025 marred by two separate injuries, an offense that already features Henry and Andrews should have little trouble scoring against a schedule this favorable. The case for the under is just as real, though: Jesse Minter is a first-time head coach installing a new scheme, the interior offensive line lost its starting center in Linderbaum, and Jackson’s recent injury history is a legitimate variable that’s out of anyone’s control. A slow start while a new staff finds its footing could make 11.5 a tough number to clear even with a friendlier schedule.
Win totals like this one are as much about scheduling and roster context as raw talent evaluation — for more on how this kind of betting actually works, our team broke down the full approach to season win-total betting in a recent Bet Smarter piece. Baltimore’s AFC North rivals are worth watching too as this series continues — we’ve already covered the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cincinnati Bengals, and Cleveland Browns previews earlier in this series.