Ravens Bet Big on Jesse Minter as Lamar Jackson Faces a Pivotal Year
Baltimore fired John Harbaugh after 18 seasons and an 8-9 finish. Derrick Henry (280 PPR pts) anchors the fantasy value amid the chaos.
Offseason noise has depressed his price on an elite talent.
- Ravens went 8-9, just 6-7 in Jackson's starts
- Loop missed a 44-yard FG to end the season
- Harbaugh fired after 18 seasons, Minter in
- Jackson signed through 2027, no extension yet
- Henry: 1595 rush yds, 16 TD, 280 PPR pts in 2025
It came down to 44 yards. Rookie kicker Tyler Loop, 30-of-33 on the season and perfect inside 50, lined up to bury the Steelers and stamp Baltimore's playoff ticket on the final play of the regular season. He pushed it wide right. The Ravens finished 8-9 and missed the postseason entirely — a fitting punctuation mark on a miserable year.
What followed was a full teardown of the sideline. John Harbaugh, an 18-year fixture and a likely Hall of Famer, was fired. In his place: Jesse Minter, fresh off building a nasty Chargers defense under Jim Harbaugh. That's a bold swing to make with Lamar Jackson still chasing his first Super Bowl and no contract extension in place beyond 2027.
The Jackson Situation
Don't let the offseason noise fool you. Through three games last year, Jackson was the best quarterback in football — 722 passing yards, nine touchdowns, zero picks, a 141.8 rating, plus 118 rushing yards. Then came a Week 4 hamstring injury, three missed games, and a diminished version afterward: 1,680 yards, 11 TDs, six INTs and a 91.5 rating across nine games. A Baltimore Sun report questioning his professionalism (denied by both sides) only fueled the sense that this partnership is fraying.
The disrespect has piled up — the league ranked him 69th among players, and some folks genuinely argued Bo Nix is better. For context, our model has Nix at QB11 after a 299-point PPR season. Jackson at 29 is still capable of being the most dominant player in the sport. He just, once again, has to remind everyone.
The Roster Churn
The offseason was a full makeover. Baltimore backed out of a two-first-round-pick trade for Maxx Crosby over knee concerns, then pivoted to Trey Hendrickson on a four-year, $112 million deal. On the way out: center Tyler Linderbaum (record deal with the Raiders), tight ends Isaiah Likely and Charlie Kolar, plus Dre'Mont Jones and Alohi Gilman. In came John Simpson, Calais Campbell, Chidobe Awuzie and Jaylinn Hawkins, with guard Olaivavega Ioane and edge Zion Young leading a solid draft.
For fantasy purposes, the constant remains Derrick Henry. At 32 he posted 1,595 rushing yards, 16 touchdowns and 280 PPR points (RB8 in our rankings), and he's been trending up — his last five games ran four fantasy points above his season average. Draft him with confidence. On Jackson, treat this as a buy-low window: the price has dropped, the talent hasn't, and Baltimore opens as an odds-on AFC North favorite with a league-high 11.5 win total. If Minter's defense clicks, Jackson's QB1 ceiling is very much intact.
