Four Baltimore Ravens Looking to Bounce Back in 2026

The long wait is over, as rookies, quarterbacks, and injured veterans will report to training camp tomorrow, with the remainder of the roster joining them on July 28th. There’s a lot of excitement surrounding the 2026 season for the Ravens, and rightfully so. A new head coach in Jesse Minter, new and exciting weapons for Lamar Jackson, an improved offensive line, and a hope to see an improved defense as the season rolls on, under Minter’s scheme.

Despite the excitement, there are still a number of players looking to rebound from a missed postseason berth last year, along with their own personal struggles on the field. With many pundits believing the Ravens Super Bowl window is closing, let’s take a look at some players who could benefit from a bounce-back season in 2026, as Baltimore looks to get over their postseason hump.

WR Rashod Bateman

There’s not a Raven who needs a resurgence in 2026 more than Rashod Bateman. Following his breakout 2024 campaign, Bateman was almost non-existent both on the stat sheet and in the game plan for a struggling offense last year. He finished the 2024 regular season with career highs in receptions (51), receiving yards (846), and receiving touchdowns (11). The former first-round pick dealt with injuries and illness last year, missing two games (Weeks 11 and 12) due to an ankle sprain and Baltimore’s most important game of the year due to an illness, Week 18 against the Steelers.

Betting on Bateman

Injuries have plagued Bateman since entering the league in 2021, as he has missed a total of 22 games due to injury or illness. Many believed a change of scenery would be exactly what he needed before the organization decided to move on from John Harbaugh. Minter and the staff he’s brought to Baltimore have spoken highly of Bateman, acknowledging their confidence and his willingness to get back to his high level of play. The five-year veteran isn’t the only one banking on a return to his 11 TD production, but the front office as well, who gifted the wideout with a 3-yr/$36.75 million contract extension in the 2025 offseason.

Newly hired offensive coordinator Declan Doyle will be tasked with the job of getting Bateman back to his role of becoming a true threat as WR2 alongside Zay Flowers. He’s the Ravens’ most efficient route runner, with a profound ability to create true separation. It’s something Doyle can use to his advantage, in an offense that is expected to be more explosive and in tune with the new-look offensive schemes that have been popping up across the league.

We’ve all seen that the talent is there for Bateman, and entering the year under a new coaching regime, there doesn’t seem to be any more room for excuses for the 2021 first-round pick.

2026 needs to be his year, and it starts with a healthy and productive training camp.

K Tyler Loop

On the latest episode of “Baltimore Collective,” Jeff Zrebiec of The Athletic made a great point that many fans may not have thought about too much. When discussing the potential of competition for second-year kicker Tyler Loop, Zrebiec stated, “he will be, other than Lamar Jackson, the most scrutinized player at Ravens training camp this year.” It’s a harsh but true statement, specifically due to his finish in Baltimore’s Week 18 finale against Pittsburgh. Yes, the rookie shanked a 44-yard field goal as time expired, and sent the Ravens home packing in a division-clinching game, but it’s not the only play that lands Loop on this list. Loop struggled on long-distance field goals last season, finishing 1/4 on attempts of 50+ yards, last in the league with a 25% accuracy rate amongst kickers with a minimum of 15 games played.

Another area that Loop will look to find improvement in is limiting the number of kickoff infractions he produced in 2025. The NFL introduced the landing zone before the 2024 season, forcing kickers to place their kickoffs within the goal line and opponents 20-yard line. Loop struggled to do so last season, leading the NFL with eight kickoff infractions, with four landing out of bounds and another four winding up outside of the landing zone. For all we know, Minter could take a completely different approach to Harbaugh’s past philosophy, which was big into enticing the opponent to field kickoffs. It’ll be interesting to see if the Ravens elect to bring in some competition for the second-year kicker, who performed well during the team’s OTAs and offseason programs.

Regardless, Loop will have all eyes on him this season, with the expectation of erasing last season’s heartbreak.

CB Marlon Humphrey

Similar to Bateman, veteran cornerback Marlon Humphrey is looking to erase an underwhelming 2025 and return to his All-Pro status. Humphrey earned first-team All-Pro honors in 2024 for the second time in his nine-year career, before a 2025 that many would like to forget. He led the league in passing yards allowed in coverage, surrendering 909 yards along with three touchdowns. It’s the highest yard total he’s allowed over nine seasons, and 360 more than he gave up in 2025. It’s the type of step back that concerns you, especially for the team’s fourth-highest cap hit entering the 2026 season ($26.2 million).

Now you could make the case that it wasn’t all on Humphrey, as the Ravens secondary struggled as a whole last year, allowing the second-most passing yards per game (247.9). Regardless, coaches and fans expect their All-Pros to lift the players around them, not hurt their performance and become a defensive liability. The coaching staff moves made during the offseason could be viewed as a great start to solving the secondary problems, specifically the hire of former Notre Dame secondary coach Mike Mickens. Mickens will serve as the Ravens defensive pass game coordinator as well as the secondary coach. His resume speaks for itself, turning a once-liability position for the Irish into one of the most productive units in college football. Mickens has developed players like Sauce Gardner (as the 2018 Cincinnati CB Coach), Cam Hart, Benjamin Moorison, Xavier Watts, and projected first-round pick in the 2027 draft, Leonard Moore. Mickens, Minter, and defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver seem like the right guys to get the defense and guys like Humphrey back on track.

From All-Pro to liability, 2026 needs to be one heck of a bounce-back year for “All-Pro Marlo.”

QB Lamar Jackson

There’s not a player in the league this offseason that’s received as much disrespect as Lamar Jackson has over these last few weeks. We’ve all seen the headlines, the clickbait, and heard the ridiculous television talking points. However, we sit less than a week away from the 2x MVP returning to the castle for the start of what could be a redemption tour. Injuries slowed down and sidelined Jackson last season, killing what could’ve been a special third-year working with former offensive coordinator – and now Browns head coach – Todd Monken. Jackson put together one of the most historic seasons we’ve ever seen from the quarterback position in 2024, throwing for 4,601 yards, 45 TDs, and only 5 INTs, while adding 1,035 yards and 4 TDs on the ground. He came out of the gates hot in 2025 before a hamstring injury in Week 4 sidelined him for three games. Following his return, other ailments continued to pop up along the way, as Jackson finished the year with just 11 TDs and 6 INTs, including three straight games without a single score. He’s got what looks on paper to be an improved offensive line from a season ago, despite the loss of Tyler Linderbaum, and some young and talented new additions at receiver and tight end.

Jackson and Declan Doyle have appeared to hit it off from what we’ve seen in their media responses, which could have been expected given both Doyle and Jackson are 29 years old. There might not be a bigger player on the roster in more need of a return to his usual caliber of play, and Ravens coaches and fans believe that’s exactly what we’ll see in 2026.

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Source: https://russellstreetreport.com/2026/07/23/street-talk/bounceback-seasons/