The Ravens’ rookie class of 2o25 just finished their first regular season action, and it came in a gut-wrenching 41-40 loss to the Buffalo Bills. Now that they’re acclimated to blowing leads in heartbreaking fashion like the Ravens do, let’s take a look at their individual performances.
Malaki Starks
The first-round safety played essentially every defensive snap, something uncommon for any Ravens rookie to do in Week 1. This shows both what the Ravens think of him and their depth at the safety position. Starks
didn’t look like a rookie, trailing only Roquan Smith and Kyle Hamilton in total tackles without making any egregious mistakes from the initial watch. He dropped an interception on the first drive of the game, which hurts, but was everywhere and played strong against the run. I expect a slightly above-average PFF score. The Ravens certainly have things to fix on defense, but Starks wasn’t an issue against the Bills.
Mike Green
Green was clearly behind Odafe Oweh, Kyle Van Noy, and Tavious Robinson on the depth chart. Very similar to his preseason games, he wasn’t impressive on the stat sheet nor was he in the quarterback’s face a ton. However, there were some reps that he won quickly and cleanly in an impressive manner. Most of the Ravens’ pass rush struggled to get in Allen’s face tonight, but if it were nearly any other quarterback out there, it wouldn’t shock me if Green came away with a sack or two. Allen and the Bills’ offensive line are a hard first task to manage (they averaged taking less than a sack a game last year), so we’ll have to see if Green and the rest of the pass rush can build momentum at home next week.
There’s something poetic about the idea of Green’s first highlight play coming against Joe Flacco at home, though.
Teddye Buchanan
I spent a lot of the preseason saying I wasn’t sure how many snaps Buchanan would get early on, with Trenton Simpson looking entrenched to start and Jay Higgins looking like a better pure linebacker in the preseason. I was quite wrong. Buchanan and Simpson rotated drives tonight as the running mate next to Roquan Smith, though neither ever played every snap when it was their turn. It’s unclear how it went, with none of the inside backers looking good tonight, including Smith. However, it looks like Buchanan is getting a chance early to steal the role.
Tyler Loop
It was an up-and-down game for Loop. He went into a hostile playoff environment on the road and nailed the first kick of his career from 52 yards to open up the Ravens’ scoring. He would then make four extra points and another field goal from 49 yards out to add on throughout the game. But on his last opportunity of the night, he missed an extra point, leaving the Ravens at 40 points instead of 41. The Ravens would go on to lose 41-40. I won’t put the loss on that in the slightest. 40 points should be enough to win any game; the missed extra point should have just been something to work on for next week, not a defining play after making six other kicks.
Loop also got a penalty on a kickoff for not reaching the landing zone and some of his kickoffs were returned for a distance, but we can’t know if that was on him or the coverage unit.
LaJohntay Wester
Wester had a quiet night. He only caught two kicks, fair catching one and returning the other for six. He looked confident and in command as the returner. On the first Bill’s punt of the night, you could hear Wester through the broadcast, commanding the area, telling fellow rookie Keyon Martin to clear the area where the ball was going to land. Martin wound up nearly touched the ball and giving it back to Buffalo. While not a great example of a good play, I loved the confidence and communication from him.
Aeneas Peebles
“Fub” Peebles had a quiet night but was on the field for 10+ snaps. He seemed to be on the field for passing downs, clearly part of the pass rush plan, and was disruptive at times. He and Green were on the field for a third-down red-zone stop. He also made the stat sheet, batting the ball at the line for a pass defensed. With how much the pass rush struggled and Peebles flashed in his limited opportunities, I will be curious to see if Orr and the staff give him more playing time next week.
