A Year Ago The Ravens Quickly Regretted A QB2 Contract. History Might Repeat

A year ago I championed the Ravens signing of Cooper Rush.

I believed he was a clear upgrade over Snoop Huntley and applauded the Ravens for going outside their QB2/QB3 default to Huntley or Josh Johnson and trying something new. Someone who won some games elsewhere under duress. Someone with a different skillset.

Turns out I was dead wrong, and so was general manager Eric DeCosta and head coach John Harbaugh and offensive coordinator Todd Monken and whomever else was involved in that signing. Rush never appeared remotely comfortable here or in that offense and he was beyond shaky over the summer and in the preseason and it carried over into a miserable campaign.

All of that served to give Huntley – who couldn’t find his way in a very crowded Browns situation – another life in Baltimore. He was an easy guy to call when Lamar Jackson got hurt and Rush cratered and he knew the system and knew all of the players and he could run around some when things inevitable broke down … because with that offensive line and no one getting open and making plays downfield except for Zay Flowers, things broke down quite a bit.

But I remain a skeptic when it comes to this back-up quarterback. I find myself more intrigued by Sylar Thompson.

And if Jackson opts out of much of OTAs – which I wouldn’t bet against with the Ravens making a meal of his contract extension, again – then I cant help but wonder if rookie coordinator Declan Doyle is going to reach the same conclusion. Might he even fall in love with one of the un-drafted quarterbacks more than Huntley?

No Going Back Now

Don’t get me wrong, with the contract they gave Huntley, this bed is made for the summer and early fall. Huntley will get a lot of reps when Lamar isn’t around and they will coach him up and try to get him fully vested in a new offense. I continue to have concerns about his decision making and ability to push the ball downfield. And with a supporting cast that might be the worst he’s worked with, I’m going to say the Ravens may well end up regretting going back to this well.

There seemed to be a lot of conviction in finally turning the page on Snoop a year ago. Some of those performances against the Steelers in the rain and the fumble at Cincy to end a season, and how lost he looked at times ... it could get ugly. And full marks for everything Huntley did a year ago to help keep a season alive.

I just doubt we ever see that again. This offseason seemed like a perfect time to try to land a QB who had deep ties to Doyle’s system, and a larger sample size of Huntley in 2026 might end up looking more like Rush a year ago than anyone would like. This always felt like a move the front office would engineer, for their guy, more than Doyle picking the perfect guy to be the embodiment of his system (what the back-up often is in these start ups).

With Jackson basically on a one-year deal (no way he plays on that 2027 cap figure), now would be a great time to find a developmental QB with upside to stick around. I’d love to see a real competition for QB 2, but after giving Snoop $3.5M at signing, that decision has been made.

They'd best hope it turns out much better than the calulus that led them away from Huntley in the first place.

Subscrbe On YouTube For The Best Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google