The Opening Drive, 7/29: Four Questions for the Opening of Training Camp
Another summer showcase at 1 Winning Drive kicks off today.
Another year means another installment of Ravens training camp is officially upon us. This year feels different, though. For the first time in 18 seasons, John Harbaugh won’t be patrolling the sidelines, giving dodgy answers in press conferences to injury questions, rolling out the players in T-Shirts with captions like “speed kills,” or providing any of that unique energy that we as fans had all gotten so used to. Perhaps, too used to.
Familiarity breeds contempt, and there certainly was a groundswell of that against the Ravens longtime skipper in recent years. Perhaps just as synonymous with Harbaugh as the aforementioned quirks were the patented blown leads and annual playoff disappointments, the two deciding factors in why owner Steve Bisciotti ultimately decided to show him the door. Walking through said door is one of Harbaugh’s old proteges, former Chargers’ defensive coordinator Jesse Minter, and an entirely new coaching staff that he’s brought with him to try and help get this franchise back into the mix as Super Bowl contenders.
Can they get there as early as this season? Time will tell, but the seeds to make that return to the spotlight will be need to be planted now. Here are four questions I’m burning on, which if answered in a certain way, will give me the confidence to believe they can:
What’s Lamar Jackson Going to Look Like?
This one is a bit of a layup, but bear with me. Coming off of an injury plagued season, and firmly back in the crosshairs of the national media talking heads, I’m curious how Lamar will look physically, schematically, and from a body language standpoint throughout this year’s camp.
On that last point, I’m expecting business as usual: a smiling, confident, relaxed Lamar - the guy we’ve come to love for his entertaining pressers, and great soundbites from the practice field. What accompanies all of that is more interesting to me.
Does he look fully healthy after last year, not to mention the other injuries we’ve seen affect him over the years adding up to take their toll? If so, how will he look piloting this new look offense under boy wonder OC Declan Doyle (Jackson’s fourth coordinator of his now nine year career)?
As the old adage goes, you can’t tell if a guy has it in training camp, but you can certainly tell if he doesn’t. Getting off on the right foot after a down year in a new offense will be critical for Lamar’s prospects of having a bounce back season.
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How Much (if at all) Will We See of Nnamdi Madubuike?
This is a question that stretches back to September of last year, and it’s one that I’m very excited to finally close the book on. In fact, framing it this way as camp is about to break feels like a huge win, considering where the conversation surrounding Madubuike was as recently as some months ago.
At one point, eventual retirement seemed to be all but a formality for the 28 year-old superstar defensive tackle with a $29.87M cap hit in 2026, so the fact that we’re now discussing his return to the practice field as a matter of “when” and not “if” is a huge win for this fanbase. It’s also a huge win for this coaching staff.
Jesse Minter will be calling the defensive plays for Baltimore, which stands to reason as a big time upgrade over Zach Orr. Seeing what Minter is able to do with a defensive front that’s headlined by Madubuike, and the perennially underrated Travis Jones, is a very exciting prospect.
So, the wait begins. When will Madubuike first lace them up in camp, if he’s cleared to do so? When that time eventually comes, how heavy will his involvement be, and what will we be able to glean from it? And for the record, if the answer is “he won’t see much live action at all, and instead stay in bubble wrap until the regular season,” I see that as an acceptable outcome too.
Will We Learn Anything from a Schematic Standpoint?
Even in a year where just one coordinator has been replaced, it’s difficult to get a true handle on what to expect from the new one in August. But when two new playcallers come through the door, the hunger for just a taste of what to expect is even more present.
So, we’ll take to social media, review YouTube videos, watch livestreamed stadium practices, and tune into preseason games to try and give ourselves some kind of an idea. And, unfortunately, the answer is typically “no, you won’t learn anything schematic about your team in August.”
And nor do I realistically expect to. But, man… it will be fun when a seventh string receiver who’s on the bubble to make the team is sprung wide open for a touchdown in a preseason matchup, and I begin to fantasize about Declan Doyle doing that exact same thing when the games begin to matter.
The same goes for Jesse Minter, who will be the first play calling head coach in Ravens history. If nothing else, it will be fun to read his demeanor from the sideline as he goes through the call sheet and makes his selections, especially after the recent years of “Harbaugh face” becoming something of a meme.
Which Rookie Will Turn Heads?
It’s a rite of passage for every NFL fan to get overly excited about a young draft pick who likely won’t make a huge impact on the team, at least in year one. This is something we’re very familiar with here in Baltimore, where the draft has long been this organization’s bread and butter.
And while their track record tends to pan out in the long term more often than not, Baltimore’s front office has also had their share of misses. Or, at the very least, guys who simply don’t hit in the immediate as needed.
I have a feeling that won’t be a problem this year, at least as far as first round pick Vega Ioane is concerned. But while Vega is almost certain to draw rave reviews from the local beat, he isn’t the “turning heads” type of player that I’m talking about.
This is usually a flashier position player, a guy who looks great in shorts and pads, and treats 7-on-7 reps like it’s the Super Bowl. You know the guy - the one who gets open deep on a nine route, hauls in a moonball from a fourth string QB who will be lucky to make the team, and causes every reporter at the practice to simultaneously whip out their phones and tweet what they just saw.
Not that I’m making fun of said player, or the reporters, either. I’m just as susceptible to falling for the training camp hype trains that develop around certain players, and I’m excited for it to happen to me again. For the record, my money is on Ja’Kobi Lane this year; if he can make even one or two of the plays that showed up on his USC highlight tape, he’ll have us all hook, line, and sinker by the middle of camp.
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