Ravens 2023 position review: Quarterbacks

Breaking down how each of the team’s position groups performed this past season.

The 2023 season is in the books and the offseason is officially underway for all 32 teams around the league. Before completely turning the page toward free agency and the 2024 NFL Draft, taking time to assess the performance of each position group on the Baltimore Ravens is a useful exercise in determining what went right or wrong and where to go from here.

In this article series, I’ll break down how each player at every position in all three phases fared this past year and what their 2024 outlook is whether it’s with the team or elsewhere. Up first is the most important position in all of professional sports, the quarterback.

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Lamar Jackson

Photo by Todd Rosenberg/Getty Images

The Ravens’ franchise signal caller had the best season of his career to date in which he took his game to another level in the first year under new Offensive Coordinator Todd Monken and was nearly voted league MVP unanimously for the second time in the last five years. Jackson finally got his first crack at operating in a more balanced offense and proved that he can be just as dynamic as ever with his legs while throwing for a career-high 3,678 passing yards and finished with 29 total touchdowns—24 passing and five rushing—in 16 games before sitting out the regular season finale. Just rattling off stats doesn’t fully encapsulate just how truly transcendent and awe-inspiring the three-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro’s 2023 season was to behold.

Jackson made NFL history with his performance in the Divisional round of the playoffs when he became the first player to ever rush for 100-plus yards, throw for 100-plus yards, and produce a 100-plus passer rating in the same game in the Ravens’ 34-10 rout of the Houston Texans. To be able to have played and produced at the elite level he did in just his first season with Monken calling and designing the plays bodes exceptionally well for the entire offense’s prospects in 2024 and beyond.

Tyler Huntley

Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images

Thankfully, the 2022 Pro Bowler’s services weren’t needed nearly as much as they were the previous two seasons thanks to Jackson’s durability. Nevertheless, Huntley played well in cleanup duty of a handful of blowouts and even got to start the regular season finale since the Ravens had already locked up the No. 1 seed and home-field advantage the week before. He saw action in five games and finished the season 21-of-37 for 203 passing yards and three touchdowns to no interceptions with a passer rating of 99.3, and rushed for 55 yards on 15 attempts.

The former undrafted free agent established himself as one of the best reserve signal callers in the league during his time with the Ravens and will likely fetch a nice contract in free agency as either a highly sought-after backup or maybe even a bridge option.

Josh Johnson

Photo by Todd Olszewski/Getty Images

The 16-year journeyman veteran served as the Ravens’ emergency third quarterback throughout the 2023 season and didn’t see any game action. With Huntley likely not returning, Johnson could very well get brought back to compete with second-year pro Malik Cunningham to be Jackson’s primary backup in 2024 if he is still interested in continuing his playing career.