Former QB makes bold statement about Baltimore Ravens roster

There was little news to report from the NFL on Friday, but the Baltimore Ravens pulled off the biggest surprise of the day by signing two-time Pro Bowl forward Eddie Jackson to a one-year deal.

During the offseason, the Ravens were looking for safety depth to support their star duo of Kyle Hamilton and Marcus Williams. Now they finally have that in Jackson, a former top safety in the league who has fallen on hard times due to age and injuries. If the 30-year-old can bounce back, Baltimore’s defense will surely be one of the best in the league again.

The addition of Jackson is a huge boost to the Ravens’ roster as a whole, but where does he rank against Baltimore’s other talented rosters of recent years? According to former Ravens quarterback Robert Griffin III, who played for the team from 2018-20 and was a mentor to Lamar Jackson, this year’s roster is now the best in recent memory.

“The Ravens have the best roster they’ve ever had in the Lamar Jackson era. Time to take advantage of it,” Griffin wrote on X.

There is little doubt about the potential of this squad, but the competition for such a title is fierce. Namely, Lamar Jackson’s two MVP seasons come to mind.

The 2019 team finished the regular season 14-2, the best record of the Lamar Jackson era, and swept most opponents to earn the top AFC seed. That team also had three first-team All-Pros in Lamar, Ronnie Stanley and Marlon Humphrey, and six other players made the Pro Bowl.

Then there’s last year’s team, which went 13-4 en route to re-earning the AFC’s top seed. That team also had three All-Pros in Lamar, Hamilton and Roquan Smith, as well as four other Pro Bowlers. For reference, that team also had several key players that this year’s team doesn’t have, including Patrick Queen and Kevin Zeitler.

To be fair, this is a bit of an unfair comparison, as we are comparing a preseason roster to a year-end roster for the other teams. On paper, one of the aforementioned teams might have the upper hand in terms of raw talent.

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