Welcome back to Loose Feathers, a regular round-up of the latest news and analysis about the Baltimore Ravens. In today’s edition, we cover a key decision from offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, the end of the Pro Bowl game, and a way-too-early 2027 mock draft pick. Let’s dive in!
Declan Doyle will call Ravens’ offensive plays from coaching booth
Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle’s biggest preseason decision is his starting center. He has yet to pick between his options, but he was more decisive about another key choice: his game day play-callingn operation.
Doyle felt good about how he called plays from the coaches’ booth in the first preseason game and initially planned to go down to the field for the second game in Minnesota. But, recognizing that he only had two more dress rehearsals for the regular season, Doyle went with his gut and settled on the booth for the season.
Declan Doyle August 25 press conference
I am going to go up in the booth. So, I had the Philly experience up there; it felt like it was really clean and it went really well. What I was kind of looking for was the communication between myself and the coaching staff, the communication with the quarterback, especially…I have a direct line to [Lamar Jackson] and then also, I really have a lot of faith in [quarterbacks coach Israel Woolfork] down on the field. What I found was it was really pretty simple to be able to communicate to him, to the quarterback, what the quarterback was feeling back to me. I thought our staff did a great job down on the field. …
…So, I am going to go back up there in game three, and we will roll from there. But it is something that I talked to other coaches around the league about, other play callers. I talked to [Buffalo Bills head coach] Joe Brady specifically, I talked to some other guys, and the advice that they gave basically was, ‘Go where you feel comfortable being able to communicate to the staff [and] being able to solve problems in a clean and efficient manner.’
The Pro Bowl (game) is dead.
NFL Will No Longer Hold Pro Bowl – Sam Robinson (Pro Football Rumors)
On life support earlier this decade, the Pro Bowl changed to a flag-football game with accompanying skills challenges. After tepid interest, the NFL is doing away with the event altogether. The league will not hold a Pro Bowl moving forward, The Athletic’s Jonathan Jones reports.
Players will still receive acknowledgements as Pro Bowlers, though Jones indicates alternates for the game — a pervasive league honors component that has increasingly minimized the achievement — will no longer be recognized. That will provide some clarity, as recent years — due in large part to player enthusiasm for the event dwindling — have brought a wave of questionable Pro Bowl accolades.
Way-too-early Ravens mock draft pick
2027 NFL mock draft: Reid’s preseason first-round predictions – Jordan Reid (ESPN)
30. Baltimore Ravens
Ahmad Moten Sr., DT, Miami
Back-to-back Miami defensive linemen! Moten is one of my favorite players in this draft and would fit in seamlessly in new Ravens coach Jesse Minter’s defense. Moten is already first-round-worthy as an interior pass rusher, as his first-step quickness and penetration abilities are top-notch. He’ll have to take a major step as a run defender to cement a place in Round 1, as he sometimes gets dislodged from his gaps. But with Calais Campbell turning 40 next week and Nnamdi Madubuike’s long-term status up in the air, Moten would be a good fit.
