Should Ravens trade for QB after Lamar Jackson, Tyler Huntley injuries? Possible candidates to watch
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 [... truncated ...]
