John

Harbaugh

The Monday Night matchup for Week 12 will feature the Harbaugh brothers facing off for the first time since Jim Harbaugh signed on to coach the Chargers this offseason. Jim and John famously coached against each other in Super Bowl XLVII, with John and the Ravens coming out on top over Jim and the 49ers. This Chargers team has a heavy Ravens influence, with former Ravens exec Joe Hortiz now the Chargers’ general manager. Reigning MVP Lamar Jackson will look to keep the Ravens contending while Justin Herbert will quarterback a changed Chargers offense in the latest iteration of the “HarBowl”.

The Ravens have an interesting situation at running back. J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards are both set to hit free agency, and neither is particularly trustworthy at this point in their careers. and Keaton Mitchell is an explosive but undersized back who is recovering from a torn ACL. Dobbins has suffered both a torn ACL and ruptured Achilles over the last three seasons, and Edwards saw up-and-down usage during the 2023 season and will be 29 at the start of next season. Sportsbooks have already tabbed Derrick Henry as an early favorite to land with the Ravens should he and the Titans not re-up for a new deal, but with guys like Saquon Barkley, Josh Jacobs, and Tony Pollard likely to be available, the Ravens could opt for a significant upgrade at the position. Of course, they’d have some financial work to do as they project to be slightly over the salary cap at this time.

John Harbaugh vowed to add a wideout at the owner’s meetings, and while Baltimore’s pre-draft press conference has mostly generated reaction via their refusal to talk about Lamar Jackson, it’s worth pointing out that several quotes from the presser tie the Ravens to wideouts. Director of player personnel Joe Hortiz said “If you look at our board, it’s all the way throughout ... There’s targets in multiple rounds.” Harbaugh added at this presser “In really every round, I think there are guys who could make our team. In the early rounds, there are a number of guys who could start for us even.” Rashod Bateman is probably the only wideout on the roster that can be counted on for any fantasy value at this point.

Harbaugh was about to enter the final year of his contract, but Baltimore was never going to let him walk. With 14 seasons as the Ravens’ boss under his belt, Harbaugh is the third longest-tenured coach in the NFL. Only fellow AFC coaches Bill Belichick and Mike Tomlin have longer active streaks. Though the Ravens went 8-9 and missed out on the playoffs last year, they should be able to bounce back in 2022. Injuries kept Lamar Jackson off the field for the first time in his career while ailments in Baltimore’s secondary had them starting practice squad corners by the end of the year. Harbaugh has made the playoffs nine times with the Ravens and will have a good shot at returning in the upcoming season.

An extension should get completed “in a few weeks”, Hensley adds. Harbaugh, 59, is entering the final season of the four-year deal he signed in January 2019, the same year he became the first Ravens coach to win the Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year award. His career record (including playoffs) of 148-96 (.607) ranks as the sixth-best winning percentage among active coaches with at least 90 games.

The draft is the team’s last chance to bolster its receiver group after largely striking out in free agency, coming away with an unreliable Sammy Watkins. Baltimore has the 27th pick in the draft. “We’ll find certain wide receivers in the draft that fit us. We know who they are,” Harbaugh said in a Monday presser. “We’ve had the meetings. And we’ll try and get them.” Ravens director of player personnel Joe Horitz on Monday named LSU’s Terrace Marshall and Minnesota’s Rashod Bateman as two wideouts the team might prioritize in the draft. “Both talented guys who have some versatility. A little different in what they do best, but certainly two guys who we have our eye on,” Horitz said. For fantasy purposes, landing in Baltimore’s run-first offense wouldn’t be ideal for Bateman or Marshall, though both have potential to emerge as the Ravens’ No. 1 receiver. NBC Sports Edge’s John Daigle projects Bateman going to Green Bay with the 29th pick.

It’s a terrific development only 12 hours after these two teams played one another Wednesday afternoon. There’s still a long ways to go before the Ravens are fully removed from an ongoing breakout, but Thursday’s results show a light at the end of the tunnel. As it stands, the Ravens are still scheduled to face the Cowboys in Week 13 on Tuesday night.

Some Ravens are privately expressing “concern” about the Week 12 game on Wednesday, but the NFL is expecting the game to be played, especially with the flight taking off. The two new positives include one player and one staffer, both of whom were identified as potential positives after contact tracing. Neither are traveling, although the player did participate in “socially distant walkthroughs” with the team the last two days. The NFL told those involved that there’s “no concern for further spread”, which certainly can be debated. With under 24 hours to play, it appears the NFL is going to get this game in.

The Ravens had gone an awful nine straight days with at least one COVID-19 positive. Now, they are ready to make their Tuesday evening team flight to Pittsburgh. It is still not entirely clear who will be available, as Mark Ingram and J.K. Dobbins could gain clearance on Wednesday. DT Brandon Williams was cleared Tuesday, but his status with an ankle issue is unknown. Famous last words, but this game finally appears on track to happen.

To be clear, the team’s latest round of testing did produce a positive, it was just one for a player that’s currently on injured reserve. Even so, the NFL has already decidedly pushed this one (yet again) back to Wednesday night to give Baltimore an additional practice day amid reports that players could outright refuse (and create a mid-year strike) to play on Tuesday. There are clearly a lot of ongoing issues that need to be sorted before this game kicks off.