It was a season to forget for Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.
They fell short of the postseason for just the second time in Jackson’s career, while the star quarterback and two-time NFL MVP limped through the season with injuries that never seemed to go away. It could be just the beginning of a strenuous stretch of football in Baltimore.
Lamar Jackson, Ravens Have to Prove They’re Still AFC Contenders
With his ninth season in Baltimore and eighth as the team’s full-time starter on the horizon, Jackson may have some doubters in his corner for the first time since the day he was drafted. He’s lived and died by his multifaceted skill set, showcasing his ability to make extremely difficult, pinpoint throws down the field, as well as run away from defenders and gallop into open space.
In 2025, that wasn’t the player that the Ravens had grown accustomed to seeing. Jackson was hindered for much of the season with a hamstring injury, and then sustained a back contusion in a December 21 loss to the New England Patriots.
Could last season be an anomaly, or the beginning of a trend? In a Thursday appearance on ESPN’s ‘Get Up,’ Michael Wilbon indicated that the latter isn’t exactly out of the question.
“I don’t know if I’m confident,” Wilbon said. “I got to see Lamar Jackson going back to running away from people in jerseys that have 50s on them. He didn’t do that. Now, is that just the injuries he sustained last year preventing him from being Lamar Jackson, or have seven years of taking shots worn him down?”
“We saw this with Cam Newton,” Wilbon added. “The number of years people exaggerate and say, ‘Oh, he’s going to be great for 12-15 years.’ No, Tom Bradys don’t just grow on trees. They don’t just walk around like that, especially guys who take as many shots as Lamar Jackson.”
Even with the injuries, Jackson played in 13 games for the Ravens last season, marking the first time he’s missed more than three games since 2022. It’s also the third time in five years that he was limited to 13 or fewer games.
After Newton’s 2015 MVP season that saw the former No. 1 overall pick lead the Carolina Panthers to the Super Bowl, he didn’t exactly fall off a cliff, but his regression was slow and gradual. He would play in just 47 more games for the Panthers over the next four seasons and never eclipse 25 passing touchdowns in a season again. He had been battered and bruised across the first five seasons of his career, even if his massive, 6’5″ and 245-pound frame can withstand the damage. Eventually, that takes its toll.
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The same can be said for Joe Burrow, the rival quarterback of the Cincinnati Bengals. He’s missed nearly a full season’s worth of games over the last three years, including nine in 2025.
“Burrow’s had injuries, so very quickly, the physical toll piles up,” Wilbon said. “And you got to see how that plays out before I accept any of these rosy prognostications.”
Jackson’s individual numbers were decent enough, but not at the MVP level fans have come to expect. According to the PFSN’s Quarterback Impact Metric, he posted a 79.4 impact score, ranking 12th among quarterbacks with a C+ grade.
The Ravens were hardly dominant last season, ultimately paving the way for their demise and falling short of winning the AFC North.
According to PFSN’s Offense Impact Metric, Baltimore finished 8-9 with a 72.7 impact score, ranking 20th in the NFL and earning a C- grade, which reflected a team that remained competitive but never truly consistent on the offensive side of the ball.
