This midseason ranking highlights the impact of new NFL coordinators, with assistants from the Packers and Steelers leading the pack. The article discusses notable coordinators like Declan Doyle of the Ravens and Brian Fleury of the Seahawks, examining their influence on offense and quarterback performance amidst injuries and team changes. Honorable mentions include Frank Reich, Zac Robinson, and Jim Leonhard
The Ravens know Lamar Jackson (right thumb) and Tyler Huntley (toe) won’t play Thursday night. They hope third-string rookie Joe Fagnano will. Fagnano, who played 40 snaps in his debut after Jackson and Huntley left with injuries Sunday, has an ankle injury. The Ravens listed him as a limited participant in their walk-through practice. “To Joe’s credit, he’s kind of fighting through a couple things he’s dealing with,” coach Jesse Minter said Monday. “But expect him to have a chance to play on Thursday.” The Ravens signed quarterback Austin Reed to their practice squad on Monday. The Ravens, who play the Jaguars on Thursday, listed defensive lineman Calais Campbell (rest), safety Jaylinn Hawkins (knee) and kicker Tyler Loop (right groin) as non-participants. Jake Moody is in line to kick for the Ravens on Thursday night. Outside linebacker Trey Hendrickson (ribs/finger), running back Justice Hill (groin), offensive guard Vega Ioane (knee), nose tackle John Jenkins (knee), offensive tackle Roger Rosengarten (ankle), offensive guard John Simpson (back), linebacker Roquan Smith (foot) and offensive tackle Ronnie Stanley (rest/toe/ankle) were estimated as limited. Tight end Matthew Hibner (hand), running back Adam Randall (neck) and cornerback Nate Wiggins (stringer) were full participants
The Ravens are short on healthy quarterbacks with Thursday’s game against the Jaguars on the horizon. Lamar Jackson is headed to injured reserve with a thumb injury that requires surgery and could end his season. Tyler Huntley had to leave Sunday’s game as well and is dealing with a toe injury that has Joe Fagnano in line to make his first NFL start. Fagnano’s availability sounds like less than a sure thing, however. He took a low hit from Bills defensive tackle Ed Oliver in the second half of the Ravens loss and head coach Jesse Minter didn’t commit to him making the start this week. “We’re kinda working through some things,” Minter said. “To Joe’s credit, he’s kinda fighting through a couple things. Expect him to have a chance to play Thursday.” The Ravens signed Austin Reed to their practice squad on Monday and he could find himself in the mix for playing time during his first days with the team
The Giants (and other teams) hope to land Colts running back Jonathan Taylor via trade. With Baltimore’s season potentially falling apart following Sunday injuries to starting quarterback Lamar Jackson (thumb) and his backup Tyler Huntley (toe), there could be another running back to potentially be pursued at or before the November 10 deadline, by the Giants or other teams. Derrick Henry, now 32, is far closer to the end of his career than the beginning. His contract pays out $12 million in 2027, with none of it guaranteed. Now could be the time for the Ravens to turn the remainder of his contract into a draft pick or two. And the Giants would make plenty of sense. Beyond the fact that the Giants view Taylor as on the second tier of current NFL tailbacks with Henry, Giants coach John Harbaugh has experience with Henry. After a Week 5 loss to the Saints, Harbaugh explained the distribution of carries to a wide swath of tailbacks by pointing out that they don’t have a clear-cut workhorse. “I would love for us to be in that kind of a circumstance,” Harbaugh said at the time. “A Derrick Henry circumstance or a Saquon Barkley circumstance or whatever it might be.” The best way to be in a “Derrick Henry circumstance” would be to, you know, get Derrick Henry. Whether the Ravens would trade Henry depends on whether they plan to keep him beyond this season. If they’d cut him before a $1 million roster bonus comes due in March, they wouldn’t get a compensatory draft pick. The only way to get value for his contract would be to trade it. Through eight games, Henry leads the league with 158 carries. He has 632 yards (4.0 per carry) and eight touchdowns. Given the quarterback injuries in Baltimore, the Ravens surely will get a call or two about Henry. The Giants, given their interest in Taylor, could be one of them
The Ravens ' quarterback situation went from disappointing to dire to destitute in a hurry Sunday. In his return from an ankle injury that cost him three games, Lamar Jackson suffered a thumb injury that will require potentially season-ending surgery on Baltimore's first offensive play, and backup Tyler Huntley left shortly thereafter with a toe injury. That left the Ravens with emergency third quarterback Joe Fagnano , an undrafted rookie . He went 10-for-21 for 91 yards and an interception, looking very much like an undrafted rookie, as the Ravens went down quietly, 36-10, against the Bills . What looked like a chance to turn the season around now looks like a game that could end Baltimore's season, for all intents and purposes. The Ravens are 4-4 and have lost three straight. Monday, NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported Huntley will miss extended time with turf toe, a bothersome injury that can last for weeks. The Ravens have little time to wallow. They play the Jaguars on Thursday night. Currently, Baltimore has one available quarterback on its active roster (Fagnano), and even he was in discomfort late after taking several big hits. The Ravens don't have another quarterback on their active roster or practice squad; Skylar Thompson is on IR. So where does Baltimore go from here at the position? There are many factors to consider. Regardless of whether the Ravens can continue to contend or not — and it's very much looking like the latter — they owe it to all parties involved to get a quarterback. They owe it to the rest of the team, which is still fighting. Baltimore is 4-4, which isn't good, but isn't completely out of it. It's not as if the team is dead in the water, just trying to finish out a completely lost season. There's still Derrick Henry and Zay Flowers on offense and plenty of stars on defense. If there's any hope Jackson can return on the sooner end of the recovery spectrum, Baltimore's players deserve a chance to keep their season afloat. They owe it to coach Jesse Minter and offensive coordinator Declan Doyle, the latter of whom has been excellent this year. Forcing Minter, a first-year head coach, to resort to an undrafted rookie free agent would be extremely difficult. Since 2000, only one team with a rookie head coach has started an undrafted rookie quarterback in multiple games: the Jets with Brady Cook last year. The Ravens do not want to resemble the Jets whatsoever. They owe it to Fagnano, too. He is a really nice story, someone who started his college career as a walk-on at FCS program Maine and finished it with a superb seventh-year senior season at UConn. He earned a spot on the roster with a stellar showing at rookie tryouts, then throughout the early offseason, and then in training camp and the preseason. But to stick him with an extended starting role would be unfair to him, just as it would be for Minter and Doyle. And the bottom line is the Ravens have to add someone . They can't have one quarterback on the active roster. Austin Reed makes sense as a temporary solution to join Fagnano, as he was at least with the team this offseason, but he has never taken an NFL snap. Unfortunately, it's not like capable quarterbacks grow on trees. There's a shortage of passable starting quarterbacks, much less backups or backups to backups. But that doesn't mean it would be impossible to find one. Rapoport said he'd expect the Ravens to consider quarterback trades. Two names he floated were Bears backup Tyson Bagent and Cardinals recently benched starter Jacoby Brissett . Bagent, 26, makes sense for a few reasons. First and foremost, he was with Doyle in Chicago last year. Second, it's unclear whether he's even Caleb Williams ' primary backup right now. He performed decently in a win over the Jets earlier this year but struggled badly in a loss to the Packers the following week. Overall, he has zero passing touchdowns and three interceptions in three games (two starts) this year. Case Keenum , on th
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The Bills allowed an average of 28.5 points per game in their first six games of the 2026 season and improving on that was a focus for the team during their bye week. Sunday’s return to action resulted in much better numbers. They allowed the Ravens 144 yards in a 36-10 win that moved their record to 6-1 on the season. After the game was over, head coach Joe Brady said he wants the unit to look at that performance as their standard for the rest of the season. “I think our defense should look at today and understand that that’s what the expectation is,” Brady said, via the team’s website. “And I’m not talking about the production. I’m not talking about the takeaways and sacks. I’m talking about the style that they played, the way that they flew around. Look, I’m just watching it out there, but I think the silent tape’s going to speak loudly in terms of the way that they played for one another, the way they ran around, the communication. Everything we challenged them with coming off the bye, I thought they responded to it, and they just kept going.” Brady’s message was about the defense, but it’s hard to ignore what was going on for the Ravens offense. Lamar Jackson and Tyler Huntley both left the game with injuries, which meant undrafted rookie Joe Fagnano was pressed into action for the first time in the NFL. Fagnano was overmatched, but future Bills opponents won’t be quite so hamstrung and the Buffalo defense will have to show that they are able to match that level of play against all comers
Tyler Huntley, the backup quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, is dealing with a suspected turf toe injury that could sideline him for the upcoming Thursday Night Football matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars
The Baltimore quarterback room was decimated on Sunday. With nine days left in the trading period, the Ravens could start looking for help elsewhere. Starter Lamar Jackson is heading to injured reserve with a thumb injury that could end his season. Backup Tyler Huntley has a toe injury; its severity is to be determined. One name to watch, as mentioned on Football Night in America, is Tyson Bagent. Ravens offensive coordinator Declan Doyle had that same position last year in Chicago. And the Bears have three quarterbacks. Bagent has a $4 million salary in 2026, and a $4.25 million compensation package in 2027. The Bears also have Case Keenum under contract, behind Caleb Williams. The Ravens, we’re told, may explore the possibility of acquiring Bagent. We’re also told that it won’t be cheap to get him. That’s how it goes when a team develops an in-season need for a quarterback. The price goes up, as reflected by the urgency of the effort to find a replacement. If Huntley will miss time, the Ravens need to do something. The only other quaterback on the roster is Joe Fagnone, who played after Jackson and Huntley were hurt. The Ravens have no quarterbacks on the practice squad. Diego Pavia was on the 90-man roster in the offseason; he was cut just before the opening of training camp. Austin Reed was later signed to the roster during camp, after Skylar Thompson was placed on injured reserve
