The Week 1 power rankings are out and the consensus is that the Ravens are among the league's best teams, but just below the elite squads.
The Ravens are in the top 10 in nine of the 10 sets of power rankings we sampled. Baltimore is ranked as high as No. 6 by The Athletic and Fox Sports. Only Sports Illustrated, which has the Ravens at No. 11, placed them outside the top 10.
Bleacher Report, which has the Ravens at No. 9, said they have the potential to be playing for the Lombardi Trophy in February.
"If [Lamar] Jackson can stay healthy in 2023, the Ravens could be a threat to more than just the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. They could be a threat to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVIII," Bleacher Report wrote.
| Source | Ranking | Last Week's Ranking | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| NFL.com | No. 7 | N/A | “Cornerback has been the position earning the most preseason hand-wringing, considering the injuries the Ravens have incurred there. But what about the pass rush? Tyus Bowser will miss at least the first four weeks on the non-football injury list. That likely means Odafe Oweh, David Ojabo and Jadeveon Clowney will be the top three rushers for the first month of the season, and Ojabo has missed some practice time with injury. Oweh is likely to be a better player than we saw a year ago, but this setup puts him squarely in the spotlight in a pivotal Year 3. The pass rush can help mitigate any issues in the secondary, but that’s only if this group shows early on it can significantly impact games.” — Eric Edholm |
| Bleacher Report | No. 9 | N/A | “In Odell Beckham Jr., tight end Mark Andrews and wide receivers Zay Flowers and Rashod Bateman, the Ravens have surrounded Lamar Jackson with the best passing-game talent of his career. Baltimore's defense was 10th in the league a year ago. If Jackson can stay healthy in 2023, the Ravens could be a threat to more than just the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC North. They could be a threat to represent the AFC in Super Bowl LVIII.” — NFL staff |
| ESPN | No. 8 | No. 8 | N/A |
| Sports Illustrated | No. 11 | N/A | “Baltimore’s success this season hinges on the streamlining of its new offense, which may look wildly different, or will just present a different way to overwork Mark Andrews into exhaustion. … As exciting as their roster is on paper, there is still the whole business of breaking in a rookie wide receiver to be a focal point in an offense. The Ravens’ defense, on the other hand, will begin the season lights out.” — Conor Orr |
| CBS Sports | No. 8 | No. 12 | “Lamar Jackson will be fun to watch playing for Todd Monken in the new offense. The defense has some major questions, which have to be answered if they are to be a Super Bowl contender.” — Pete Prisco |
| The Athletic | No. 6 | N/A | “Best-case scenario: After taking a few games to fully grasp the concept of ‘wide receivers’ and being encouraged to ‘throw’ the ball to the outside, Lamar Jackson sets a new high for passing yards and starts every game of the season for the first time in his career. Zay Flowers wins Offensive Rookie of the Year and Odell Beckham Jr. turns back the clock. On the other side of the ball, Mike Macdonald continues to look like one of the best young defensive coordinators in football as Marlon Humphrey returns ahead of schedule and Roquan Smith puts to rest concerns about resource allocation at his position.” — Bo Wulf |
| Pro Football Focus | No. 10 | No. 9 | “Despite signing Odell Beckham Jr. and Nelson Agholor in free agency, the Ravens continued to add to their receiver room by drafting Zay Flowers in the first round. Both Rashod Bateman and Beckham should help Baltimore in the intermediate part of the field, while Flowers can serve as the team’s deep threat and premier after-the-catch receiver. The rookie should also see action on screens and jet sweeps.” — Amelia Probst |
| Sporting News | No. 10 | N/A | “The Ravens will keep the heat on the Bengals with Lamar Jackson thriving in the more wide-open offense and a loaded back seven defense when healthy. Jackson just needs to stay healthy to stay comfortable with more passing.”— Vinnie Iyer |
| Fox Sports | No. 6 | N/A | “It all looks so, so fun on paper. Finally, an electric talent like Lamar Jackson is teamed with weapons like Odell Beckham Jr. and Zay Flowers. In reality, the big question is how quickly Jackson and his playmakers can jell with new Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken. If they can hit the ground running, this could be one of the most entertaining attacks in the league. They'll need to be in order to offset their lacking pass rush, not to mention Marlon Humphrey's lingering foot injury.” — David Helman |
| Yahoo! Sports | No. 10 | No. 10 | “Jadeveon Clowney was a late signing and while he's a big name as a former No. 1 overall draft pick, don't overstate his potential impact. He'll be a good role player. He helps because the Ravens were thin at outside linebacker, a possible problem on an otherwise solid roster.” — Frank Schwab |
