The Baltimore Ravens were so close to a Super Bowl appearance last season. They entered the playoffs as the AFC’s No. 1 seed after putting together a league-leading 14-2 regular-season record. But sadly, what looked to be an unstoppable force ended up getting manhandled and bullied for 60 minutes in the postseason, ending their Super Bowl aspirations well before they could become reality.
Enter the 2020 NFL season, the Ravens are once again expected to compete for Super Bowl LV. They’ve returned nearly all of their starters from last season, including MVP winning quarterback Lamar Jackson. But regardless of how good they look on paper and what expectations are surrounding the team, they’ll need to see a bunch of players step up in 2020 if they actually want to reach Super Bowl LV.
I put together a list of the nine Ravens that need to improve this season and carry the team the last little bit.
OLB Tyus Bowser
Since the Ravens didn’t address pass rusher at all in the 2020 NFL Draft and only re-signed Pernell McPhee to a one-year deal, Baltimore seems to be putting a lot of hope in their young outside linebacker corps. We already know Matthew Judon can get the job done but behind him is a little more of a mystery, and leading that group is Bowser.
The Ravens have been hoping for Bowser to step up for a few years now and he finally started to become a more consistent player in the second half of last season. But in the final year of his rookie contract, it’s officially put up or shut up time. If Bowser can turn those flashes into consistent play, he should reach near double-digit sacks for Baltimore in 2020. Of course, that could propel him to leaving the Ravens next offseason for a fat contract but it could also be the final piece of the puzzle for Baltimore to win their third Super Bowl since 2000.