Pundit Says Lamar Jackson Needs ‘Special Postseason Run’ for Ravens to Reach Super Bowl

ESPN’s Mina Kimes said the most intriguing storyline for the Ravens this season is how the defense will perform with Zach Orr replacing Mike Macdonald as defensive coordinator.

“We don’t really know what to expect from Zach Orr,” Kimes said on the “NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal” podcast. “While I think we can assume that the defense is going to look pretty similar to how it has looked — a lot of the same tendencies in terms of the simulated pressure and split-safety coverages and disguise — I thought Macdonald had such a great feel for individual game-planning, the Niners game comes to mind in particular. So, when we think of this defense and how good they were against elite offenses, that’s going to be really tricky to approximate what he did.”

Rosenthal said the 32-year-old Orr, who has never called plays before, deserves the benefit of the doubt because of the Ravens’ track record of hiring outstanding coordinators.

“They chose him over two guys that got jobs as coordinators elsewhere, and so that’s big,” Rosenthal said. “I go through this every year where I think the Ravens are going to be in trouble. … And yet for the most part, other than games that Lamar Jackson is hurt, they play like an 11- or 12-win team every year.”

Kines added: “This is one of the underrated things when we think about John Harbaugh and why he’s one of the best coaches in the NFL. He’s been so good historically at identifying talent amongst coaches. You think about the hires he’s made, the decision to move on from guys, and the people he has chosen to replace them — I thought [Offensive Coordinator Todd] Monken was fantastic last year. So, I have a lot of faith in him as the CEO coach, but I’m just a little bit nervous about that.”