Reviewing Ravens’ rookie class after 2025 season
First-round safety Malaki Starks led Baltimore in defensive snaps in 2025.
First-round safety Malaki Starks led Baltimore in defensive snaps in 2025.
We’re so old that we remember when young Anthony Weaver was a Baltimore Ravens draft pick from Notre Dame and NFL hopeful playing on the defensive line. With rookie head coach Jesse Minter calling the plays for the defense, he turned to a trusted Owings Mills veteran in bringing Weaver back for third time to the organization as the new defensive coordinator. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the decision and the personnel in making it work.
It turns out that John Harbaugh really wasn’t the Baltimore Ravens head coach for life. And, now, we’ll all have to get used to the freshly minted face of the franchise as Leonard Raskin and Nestor assess the Jesse Minter hire. And the famously anti-Michigan, pro-Buckeye financial guy has to accept the former foe as savior.
As the supervisor of the violence prevention program at UMMS Shock Trauma, Brianna Rock sees the hardest side of life in our city. She joined Nestor at Faidley’s at Lexington Market as part of our A Cup Of Soup Or Bowl series to educate folks about addressing violence through a public health approach, which includes holistic support for victims, legal aid, and mental health services.
The new ownership group reached deep into the monetary reserve to sign slugger Pete Alonso in Baltimore but what’s up with the pitching? Luke Jones and Nestor discuss that one more arm the Orioles need in the rotation – not to mention a too-thin bullpen – in preparation for pitchers and catchers to report to the refurbished facility in Sarasota.
The new King of The Castle has begun to assemble his coaching staff and the Jesse Minter organization includes a 29-year old, first-time offensive coordinator and play caller in Declan Doyle, who will be charged with maximizing the efficiency of Lamar Jackson as the Baltimore Ravens retool everything with a new head coach. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss what that might look like with some new personnel, which will be the next phase of the young offseason.
It’s not Belichick and Brady or The Legion of Boom but the franchises look familiar even if the matchup in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara feels like old blood. Luke Jones and Nestor preview a compelling if not star-studded affair as the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are doing it with fresh faces and familiar old friends.
Is another notable move coming before pitchers and catchers report to Sarasota next week?
The new ownership group reached deep into the monetary reserve to sign slugger Pete Alonso in Baltimore but what’s up with the pitching? Luke Jones and Nestor discuss that one more arm the Orioles need in the rotation – not to mention a too-thin bullpen – in preparation for pitchers and catchers to report to the refurbished facility in Sarasota.
We’re so old that we remember when young Anthony Weaver was a Baltimore Ravens draft pick from Notre Dame and NFL hopeful playing on the defensive line. With rookie head coach Jesse Minter calling the plays for the defense, he turned to a trusted Owings Mills veteran in bringing Weaver back for third time to the organization as the new defensive coordinator. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the decision and the personnel in making it work.
It’s not Belichick and Brady or The Legion of Boom but the franchises look familiar even if the matchup in Super Bowl LX in Santa Clara feels like old blood. Luke Jones and Nestor preview a compelling if not star-studded affair as the New England Patriots and Seattle Seahawks are doing it with fresh faces and familiar old friends.
Once again, we gave him a chance to announce his NFL retirement here but our Super Bowl XLVII MVP continues a 19th offseason of mental and physical preparation to get another job in the league doing what he’s always done. Joe Flacco returns for another offseason NFL chat with Nestor and looking back but still forward to throwing more touchdowns and winning games. Here’s why…
The new King of The Castle has begun to assemble his coaching staff and the Jesse Minter organization includes a 29-year old, first-time offensive coordinator and play caller in Declan Doyle, who will be charged with maximizing the efficiency of Lamar Jackson as the Baltimore Ravens retool everything with a new head coach. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss what that might look like with some new personnel, which will be the next phase of the young offseason.
Seth Elkin of The Maryland Lottery returns to talks Super Bowl betting and jackpot winning with Nestor before the big game, emphasizing the importance of legal sports betting, noting a $1.7 billion wager estimate this week on Seattle and New England in Santa Clara.
The 45-year-old becomes the second defensive coordinator in Ravens history to have also played for Baltimore.
What do we ever really learn from a first press conference with a new NFL head coach? Luke Jones got the seventh question at the Jesse Minter debut and at least we learned about defensive play calling and the tone of the new leader of The Castle in Owings Mills as the rookie head coach stepped before the media to set the agenda for the 2026 Baltimore Ravens alongside Eric DeCosta and Sashi Brown.
Seth Elkin of The Maryland Lottery returns to talks Super Bowl betting and jackpot winning with Nestor before the big game, emphasizing the importance of legal sports betting, noting a $1.7 billion wager estimate this week on Seattle and New England in Santa Clara.
What do we ever really learn from a first press conference with a new NFL head coach? Luke Jones got the seventh question at the Jesse Minter debut and at least we learned about defensive play calling and the tone of the new leader of The Castle in Owings Mills as the rookie head coach stepped before the media to set the agenda for the 2026 Baltimore Ravens alongside Eric DeCosta and Sashi Brown.
Once again, we gave him a chance to announce his NFL retirement here but our Super Bowl XLVII MVP continues a 19th offseason of mental and physical preparation to get another job in the league doing what he’s always done. Joe Flacco returns for another offseason NFL chat with Nestor and looking back but still forward to throwing more touchdowns and winning games. Here’s why…
The modern path to making money and having a career is certainly different in the present “hustle” world of being a business instead of finding a job. Dr. Tamirra Lucas heads up the Center for Strategic Entrepreneurs at Coppin State University and gives Nestor an education in the strategy to a modern entrepreneurial education and degree at Coppin State. Learning about learning…
The 29-year-old has worked with both Sean Payton and Ben Johnson, but he’s never called plays in his coaching career.
Luke Jones offers his latest purple musings after Baltimore’s new head coach was introduced.
New head coach Jesse Minter confirmed what most expected during his introductory press conference on Thursday.
Minter admitted that when Baltimore’s head job became available, “this became the one for” him.
Jesse Minter, Eric DeCosta, Sashi Brown meet with media in Owings Mills
Clearly a young NFL coach who has spent the last decade working under the “Harbaugh Philosophy” will be bringing a whole lot of the previous system back to the Baltimore Ravens as the new head coach. Luke Jones and Nestor wonder what will be the same and what changes that Jesse Minter has in mind for Lamar Jackson and the organization amidst the high expectations set by his predecessor.
“Son, have I got a little story for you! Is there something wrong? Well, of course there is. Hey, I’m still alive…just out on the porch. Hear my name. Take a good look. This could be the day.”
The Baltimore Ravens world will change on Thursday as new head coach Jesse Minter will lead the football team into battle. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the snowy NFL Championship Game day and the wild finish of the season and its ties to many coaching jobs around the league as Minter looks to add staff.
The Baltimore Ravens made former assistant Jesse Minter the new head coach of the operation in Owings Mills on Thursday afternoon. Luke Jones and Nestor discuss the decision to stay very rooted in the Harbaugh tree by hiring a defensive coordinator who Lamar Jackson is familiar with from three seasons together here. Is this big change – or just a continuation of the same program with a freshly minted face?
The news reports came fast and furious on the Monday before the Super Bowl. Just a day into the biggest week of my life, and the reporters couldn’t wait to track me down with the latest news. One of the Ravens’ team buses, leaving a downtown pep rally for BWI Airport and a charter flight to Tampa, had been involved in an accident, hitting a police cruiser.
We’ve all been graced by the kindness of a nurse somewhere and sometime in our lives. Learn about the way they’re learning about modern medicine with Dr. Denyce Watties-Daniels, who preps Nestor for the reality of a nursing career at Coppin State University.
Former Baltimore offensive coordinator Todd Monken became the new head coach in Cleveland on Wednesday.
What ever happened to that football that Stokley caught over Jason Sehorn in Tampa on January 28 2001? Well, watch and find out…
Purple Reign, Chapter 2: “A Silver Trophy But Not a Silver Spoon” The legacy of Art and David Modell and how they came to Baltimore from Cleveland and built a Super Bowl XXXV championship operation
Super Bowl XXX champion Rod Woodson and Hall of Fame defensive back Mike Haynes go corner to corner with Nestor and Luke from Super Bowl 52 in Minnesota.
Center Mike Flynn invited Nestor onto the Humvee to record this incredible “home movie” for a one-hour ride down Pratt Street onto the dais with the Lombardi Trophy to City Hall back on January 30, 2001. If you’re a Baltimore Ravens fan, go find yourself in this beautiful mess…
Nestor Aparicio wrote a book on the Baltimore Ravens 2000 championship called “Purple Reign.” Twenty years later and a week after chatting with members of the team, he swears there are a million stories still never told…
We’ll never stop celebrating the Baltimore Ravens’ Super Bowl XXXV championship but there’s no better place to mark time than a quarter of a century after the magic of the first one. Wide receiver Brandon Stokley caught the first touchdown on January 28, 2001 in Tampa and joins Nestor from his sports radio homeland in Denver to talk Sean Payton, Peyton Manning and how life changes but the memories never fade away.
Clearly a young NFL coach who has spent the last decade working under the “Harbaugh Philosophy” will be bringing a whole lot of the previous system back to the Baltimore Ravens as the new head coach. Luke Jones and Nestor wonder what will be the same and what changes that Jesse Minter has in mind for Lamar Jackson and the organization amidst the high expectations set by his predecessor.
The Ravens Ring of Honor coach chatted with Nestor days before facing New York in Super Bowl XXXV in Tampa.