Lamar Jackson's Juke at Louisville Tore Someone's ACL
One of the most memorable moments from Lamar Jackson's magical 2019 season with the Ravens was when he juked a Cincinnati Bengals defender with a spin move on a 47-yard touchdown run, causing astonished announcer Kevin Harlan to exclaim, "Oh, he broke his ankles!"
Harlan was using hyperbole, but it turns out Jackson's fancy footwork really did result in a defender injuring himself when Jackson was at Louisville. It occurred during practice, according to Minnesota Vikings linebacker Jonathan Greenard, Jackson's college teammate.
"I think it was the first camp practice we had, and [Head Coach] Bobby Petrino had him live," Greenard said on the “Green Light with Chris Long” podcast. "We're all looking like, 'You sure?' And I'm pretty sure [Jackson] was looking back like, 'Are y'all sure?' I remember he took a read zone about 70 yards first play. And then next time he took another read zone and stopped on a dime, and everybody knows the story that went to Louisville. Man, he ended up tearing a guy's ACL based off of him cutting so hard and dude's trying to stop on a dime too, and it was all she wrote."
Jackson slimmed down this offseason to be more agile like he was during his Heisman days. More jukes (not in practice) are coming.
Pundit Says Ravens Should Target Bengals WR Tee Higgins in 2025 Free Agency
Bleacher Report’s Alex Ballentine cited wide receiver as one of the Ravens' biggest weaknesses and proposed they address the need by targeting Bengals star Tee Higgins in free agency next year.
"Tee Higgins can fill that void and potentially take the Ravens offense to an even higher level," Ballentine wrote. "Stealing him from a division rival would only make the signing even sweeter."
The Ravens know firsthand how talented the 25-year-old Higgins is. He had the best game of his career against them in 2021 when he made 12 catches for 194 yards and two touchdowns.
It's tantalizing to imagine Higgins catching passes from Jackson in Baltimore, and Higgins said earlier this year that Jackson is on the short list of quarterbacks he'd like to play with.
That said, it seems unlikely to happen.
With the way the wide receiver market has exploded, Higgins will probably be too expensive for the Ravens, who have typically invested in the position via the draft rather than by signing high-priced free agents. Higgins is playing under the franchise tag this season and will earn roughly $21.8 million.
Higgins produced back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons in 2021 and '22, but he missed five games in 2023 and had career low numbers of 42 catches for 656 yards and five touchdowns.
Roquan Smith Cracks Top 20 on Top 100 Players List
The NFL Network continued its Top 100 Players countdown, and inside linebacker Roquan Smith landed at No. 19.
"As the ringleader of Baltimore's stingy defense, Smith's contributions can't be fully realized on a stat sheet," NFL.com.’s Michael Baca wrote. "The do-it-all inside linebacker is the main solvent of a blitz-heavy unit that led the league in sacks (60.0) in 2023. The sturdy cleanup (158 tackles) and pesky pass coverage (one interception, nine pass breakups) he provides allows such defensive freedom. His Ravens teammates feasted as a result, leading the NFL in takeaways (31), but make no mistake who's administering the flock. The Ravens defense did its part in the AFC title game loss to the eventual champion Chiefs, souring Smith's first full season in Baltimore, but the leadership he'll provide in the years to come isn't a question."
639: Roquan Smith on Why the Ravens Defense Will Be Better, the Lost Art of Physicality, Trash Talk, And More
Our insiders, Ryan Mink and Garrett Downing, sit down with LB Roquan Smith to talk about this year's defense, his smashmouth mentality, Patrick Queen's defection to the Steelers, the team's up-and-coming defender, and much more.
Smith moved up five spots from last year's list. It was his third consecutive appearance in the top 100.
The top 10 players will be revealed Friday at 8 p.m. on NFL Network. It's a safe bet that Jackson will be among them, but how high?
Two Sets of Ravens Ranked Among NFL's 10 Best Duos
CBS Sports’ Cody Benjamin ranked the NFL's top 10 duos of 2024, and two sets of Ravens made the list:
6.Jackson and RB Derrick Henry
"If there's any duo that defines 'thunder and lightning' in the NFL, it may well be these two, who are teaming up in 2024 after years of headlining competing AFC contenders. Henry, 30, is aging and racked up plenty of miles with the Tennessee Titans, but he remains a physical anomaly with supersized bulldozing ability. Jackson, meanwhile, oozes electricity as the game's most dynamic dual threat under center. Imagine trying to defend this run game."
9. Smith and S Kyle Hamilton
"Linebackers and safeties don't necessarily draw the most eyes, but that's not the case in Baltimore, where defense played a pivotal role in the club's 2023 AFC Championship bid. Smith is a punishing tackle machine at the heart of the unit, while Hamilton was all over the field rotating between positions on the back end in an All-Pro breakout. At just 23, he's primed to become an even more prominent face of the team."
On a related note, Henry was No. 2 in Fox Sports’ Ralph Vacchiano’s rankings of the top 12 running backs who are with new teams.
"The Ravens were the No. 1 rushing team in football last year despite rotating their way through five injury-plagued running backs. Now they get one of the steadiest and most durable in the league in Henry, who has topped 1,000 yards in five of his past six seasons," Vacchiano wrote. "The powerful Henry should thrive behind an offensive line that is far better than what he ran behind in Tennessee. And his power combined with quarterback Lamar Jackson's speed and moves will keep defenses off-balance.
"Henry is 30 and has more than 2,000 carries over eight NFL seasons, so his health and usage bear watching. But if there's no fall-off, the Ravens' ground game will be impossible to stop."
Ravens Had No. 1 Red-Zone Defense in 2023
No team was tougher to score against in the red zone last season than the Ravens, according to Pro Football Focus, which ranked the NFL's best red-zone offenses and defenses.
Unsurprisingly, Hamilton and Smith played huge roles in the defense's dominance inside its 20-yard line.
"The Ravens' defense did an excellent job of defending the pass in the condensed spaces," PFF’s Thomas Valentine wrote. "The secondary, led by Kyle Hamilton, performed particularly well and the defense allowed the lowest EPA per passing play in the red zone. At the same time, Hamilton's 86.4 PFF overall grade ranked sixth among safeties as he catapulted himself into an All-Pro nod.
"Hamilton wasn't the only outstanding contributor. Seven other Ravens earned grades of 70.0 or higher, with linebacker Roquan Smith also earning an All-Pro spot. It's easy to see why the Ravens fielded the best red-zone defense in the NFL when there were so many excellent players contributing in the run and pass games."
Baltimore's offense also excelled in the red zone, as it was fourth in PFF's rankings. The Ravens were the only team to rank in the top five in both categories.
