Through most of their history, the Baltimore Ravens have been a model of consistency. From 1996 to 2025, they had three head coaches — Ted Marchibroda, Brian Billick, and John Harbaugh. They’ve had two general managers — Ozzie Newsome and Eric DeCosta. They’ve had exactly nine losing seasons in 30 years, and three of those were in their first three campaigns.
Then, 2025’s 8-9 season happened, and the Ravens changed a lot.
Harbaugh was out, replaced by former Los Angeles Chargers defensive coordinator
Jesse Minter. There’s a new offensive coordinator in former Chicago Bears OC Declan Doyle, and a new defensive coordinator in former Miami Dolphins DC (and ex-Ravens assistant head coach and defensive assistant) Anthony Weaver. Minter will call the defense, and given his history under Jim Harbaugh as Mike Macdonald’s DC replacement at Michigan in 2022 and 2023, one could be forgiven for thinking that the Ravens are attempting with Minter to replicate what Macdonald — also a former Ravens coach, of course — has accomplished in Seattle.
“We spent two weeks; it was a sprint to the finish,” DeCosta said in February of the Harbaugh replacement process. “We talked to at least 20 candidates in different formats – Zoom, in person, on the phone. Really, really proud of the process, and it became apparent quickly that Jesse Minter was the right guy to be our next head football coach. Jesse’s smart, he’s a leader, he has great humility, he’s a problem solver, [and] a great tactician. We’ve enjoyed watching his defenses play. He started at the bottom [Minter was on the Ravens’ staff from 2017-2020 as a defensive assistant, assistant defensive backs coach, and finally as defensive backs coach], and now he’s here. I think that’s great.
“I’m so happy to work with him as a partner over the coming months and coming years, and I think this is a great day for the Baltimore Ravens.”
You don’t undergo this much offseason chair-shifting without questions to answer, and the 2026 Ravens obviously want to claw their way back to the contention status they’re used to. For that to happen, excellence will have to come from more than just the obvious names — as is the case for any NFL team, the whole roster will need to step up.
To that end, I’ve identified three Hidden Gems for the 2026 Ravens — one underrated veteran, one underrated free agent, and one underrated draft pick.
Underrated veteran: CB Nate Wiggins
The 2025 Ravens ranked 17th in Defensive DVOA, down from sixth in 2024, and first in 2023. Which represents a rather precipitous decline. Injuries played a part, especially with Nnamdi Madubuike missing all but two games with a serious neck injury, but the secondary was also an issue overall. Baltimore’s pass defense allowed 399 completions in 625 attempts for 4,423 yards, 23 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 89.7. Not epically bad, but certainly not on the same level as the 76.2 opponent passer rating allowed in 2023, the last year of the Mike Macdonald era.
Minter is one of the game’s best defensive minds, so one can expect an uptick in performance in 2026, and third-year cornerback Nate Wiggins will be a key part of that. The 30th overall pick in the 2024 draft has played well in his first two NFL seasons — in 2025, he allowed 61 catches on 102 targets for 656 yards, 188 yards after the catch, two touchdowns, three interceptions, 14 pass breakups, and an opponent passer rating of 73.0. Wiggins was the only Ravens defensive back to allow an opponent passer rating lower than 80 last season, and given that he allowed a 74.8 passer rating in his rookie season, the consistency has been there.
Wiggins has become especially conversant with press coverage — last season, he allowed just 20 catches on 43 press targets for 213 yards, one touchdown, two interceptions, and an opponent passer rating of 49.9.
Wiggins underwent offseason surgery to correct an undisclosed issue, and he’s excited about the future.
“They’re going to see a big transition this year. How I move, all that,” he recently said. “I don’t think [anybody] has seen the full Nate. I’m just so happy going into this year… I know it’s going to be a big year for me, and I just can’t wait.”
The new head coach is also eager to see what Year 3 will bring for his best cornerback.
“I’ll keep [the surgery] between Nate, myself and the organization, but he’s a guy that I loved coming out from Clemson in the draft process,” Minter said of Wiggins at the 2026 scouting combine. “I am very excited to work with him, and I think there’s still a lot of room in his game. I know he knows that. I know he’s excited to work with us, and so I look forward to him having a big year.”
Underrated free agent: DL Calais Campbell
When the Arizona Cardinals selected Miami defensive lineman Calais Campbell in the second round of the NFL draft on April 26, 2008, the “Big Short” financial crisis was just coming into focus. Something called the iPhone was gaining traction. And the Democratic race for President saw Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton as its two primary battlers.
So yeah… that was a long time ago. And here’s Calais Campbell about to play in his 19th NFL season, on a one-year, $5.5 million contract with $4.75 million guaranteed. Campbell previously played for the Ravens from 2020-2022, but this isn’t one of those “veteran depth” signings — the Ravens have reason to believe that the 39-year-old Campbell, who will turn 40 on September 1, can add some serious juice to Minter’s defense. Last season for the Cardinals, and with very little around him on that defense, he put up 6.5 sacks, 33 pressures, 26 solo tackles, 24 stops, and nine tackles for loss.
Which put him in some fairly historic company.
“Stoked,” Minter said in May of Campbell’s addition. ”We’ve agreed to terms with Calais. He’ll be here sometime this week to kind of finalize things, and [we’re] really excited about it. He’s still playing at such an unbelievable level. We all know what type of man and person and teammate and leader that he is, but this is because he’s such a really good player at this age and where he’s at. He’ll really help us. He’ll be great for the young guys, of course, because that’s who Calais is, but I’m looking forward to seeing what he brings on the field [and] in between the lines. And I really think he’ll help us both in the run and pass game.”
Assuming that the level of play holds up, Campbell wouldn’t be a like-as-like fill-in for Madubuike at this point in his career, but he’s got enough on the ball as a multi-gap disruptor to help out. And hey — if the Ravens can get Campbell, Madubuike, 2025 Hidden Gem Travis Jones, and Trey Hendrickson on the line at the same time, wouldn’t that be a spicy meatball?
Underrated draft pick: WR Elijah Sarratt
The 2025 Ravens had a red zone problem with their receivers. Zay Flowers, Devontez Walker, DeAndre Hopkins, Rashod Bateman, and Tylan Wallace combined for just 13 touchdowns overall, and that’s not going to get the job done. To put that in perspective, the Los Angeles Rams led the NFL with 29 touchdown passes to their receivers last season, and that’s with all the 13 personnel stuff they used with three tight ends on the field.
It was clear that Baltimore’s offense would need better and more consistent threats when the ball was closer to paydirt, so why not take the FBS leader in touchdown receptions with the 115th overall pick in the fourth round?
That’s exactly what they did with Indiana’s Elijah Sarratt. Last season for the national champs, the 6’2½”, 215-pound Sarratt caught 64 passes on 87 targets for 824 yards and 15 touchdowns. Overall, Sarratt proved to be a big-bodied, contested-catch receiver to all levels of the field, but it really took hold when it was touchdown time.
”Great career at Indiana,“ DeCosta said of Sarratt. ”[He has a] big body, strong hands, contested catch, probably a guy that can play outside or inside. We think he’s really, really good inside. He has a really a good back-shoulder-fade type of receiver, physical. We just think he’s a really good fit for what we want to do offensively, and I think speaks to us.“
Sarratt did not disagree with that particular evaluation.
“My mindset is just that any time the ball is in the air, it’s mine,” he said. “It doesn’t matter if I’m uncovered, if I have one person on me or two people on me; just as a receiver, if you want to be great, you have to have that mindset. So, whatever pass it is, I feel like I can make it. The back-shoulder throws – they’re something that is a big strength of my game. I’ve been able to do it just about every year in college. Thankfully, I’ve had lots of great quarterbacks. Fernando [Mendoza did] a great job of putting it where I need it to be. My thing with the back-shoulder throws is just, you’re always trying to win over the top. And then if you know it’s a feel thing, and then it’s just a trust between you and the quarterback. That just happens. It doesn’t happen overnight; it just happens with reps throughout camp and practices. That’s all it is.”
Music to Lamar Jackson’s ears, we’re quite sure.
Yes, Sarratt is great with back-shoulder fades as the tape verifies, but it’s really the entire short-area route tree that could have him as a guy with major snaps in this offense very quickly.
