With the Ravens putting on the pads and hitting for the first time this week, I’ve offered a dozen thoughts, each in 50 words or less:
1. There was a time when the Ravens rarely even took meaningful swings at drafting wide receivers, let alone actually hit on them. Making a four-year, $140 million commitment to the homegrown Zay Flowers is a big deal. Not bad for a skill player from Boston College.
2. For those experiencing some sticker shock, consider the recent four-year, $141 million extension Atlanta gave Drake London, who has one career 1,000-yard season. The receiver market continues to explode, and the cost for Flowers won’t look nearly as steep when this extension actually kicks in for 2028 and beyond.
3. His 2025 target share (29.1%) ranked fifth in the NFL and percentage of his team’s receiving yards (36.9%) ranked second behind only Seattle’s Jaxon Smith-Njigba, according to the FTN Football Almanac. In other words, Flowers is as critical a part of his team’s passing game as just about anyone.
4. Flowers revealed he’s put on eight pounds to take on more contact when necessary. Of course, the ball security needs to improve as more and more defenders are aware that fumbles have been a problem. Declan Doyle also wants to pick his spots to send Flowers on more vertical routes.
5. Though Flowers said it’s “not really my conversation to have” when asked about Lamar Jackson’s contract, Baltimore didn’t make the former one of the NFL’s highest-paid receivers for nothing. DeCosta and Steve Bisciotti have to hope this serves as a useful nudge for the two-time MVP to sign an extension.
86. Any reporter who’s covered training camp long enough has been repeatedly burned putting too much stock into summer performances, but Ja’Kobi Lane is testing that discipline. The 6-foot-4 rookie followed up a spectacular one-handed catch Tuesday with a leaping catch in the end zone Wednesday. Both came on Jackson passes.
7. The latter highlight came during one of the most rain-soaked practices I remember, which made ball security and footing challenging for both sides of the ball. Doyle and Anthony Weaver both embraced having an opportunity to practice in such conditions, which allowed for a different kind of evaluation of players.
8. The best guards often go unnoticed, but Vega Ioane has already had some pancake blocks — including one of veteran Broderick Washington — with the pads on. Ronnie Stanley remarked, “I see everything I want to see from a pro, especially an early draft pick. … I’m not worried about him one bit.”
9. Travis Jones (pectoral) and Teddye Buchanan (knee) are the only players remaining on the physically unable to perform list. With Nnamdi Madubuike, Calais Campbell, and John Jenkins ramping up slowly and Aeneas Peebles missing a couple practices, it’s been particularly difficult to gauge the defensive line.
10. Though rookie fifth-round pick Josh Cuevas made catches in the red zone Wednesday, the tight ends have been quiet thus far. The Ravens need a rebound season from Mark Andrews, of course, but at least one of the two rookies — the other Matt Hibner — needs to emerge sooner than later.
11. Trey Hendrickson and Roger Rosengarten were engaged in dialogue to the point where you wondered if it was contentious before they hugged. Ronnie Stanley worked on hand-placement technique with Carson Vinson on the sideline. Veterans putting in time with young players is nothing new, but you still like seeing it.
12. I didn’t have David Olajiga — a defensive lineman from the United Kingdom — on the list of players to intercept Jackson in camp, but the star quarterback has had some early challenges with underneath coverage. A 2025 practice-squad member, Olajiga has shown some decent push as an interior pass rusher.
