Ravens Game Day Inactives For Week 1

There were few surprises for Baltimore given star DT Nnamdi Madubuike and starting LB Teddye Buchanan already being ruled out

Oct 6, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Baltimore Ravens defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike (92) reacts after sacking Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (not pictured) in the second half at Paycor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images | USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

The Ravens two biggest absences for Week 1 against the Colts were revealed on Friday when All Pro defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike and starting linebacker Teddye Buchanan were ruled out with injury.

Rookie head coach Jesse Minter made his NFL debut without those players, traveling to Indianapolis to face a Colts offense that hung 38 points on him running the Chargers defense last year. With the Ravens elevating veteran receiver Chris Moore from the practice squad – a special teams ace who also excels as a blocker in ways the Ravens quartet of rookie tight ends and receivers do not – it was clear that receiver Devontez Walker, limited in practice all week with a groin injury that dates back to the preseason, would not play.

Injuries have been a constant thorn for Walker, selected in the fourth round in 2024. As for their rookies, fourth-round WR Elijah Sarratt was also scratched as was CB Chandler Rivers. Undrafted rookie LB Ethan Burke (a Maryland native) will make his NFL debut, proving himself this summer on special teams.

The Ravens also elevated linebacker Carl Jones to the active roster on Saturday, as they have been quite thin at inside linebacker. For all the talk of Trenton Simpson emerging this season, and he very well might in a new system with a mastermind calling plays for him, he has struggled mightily his first three seasons, and ideally would be cut out for a role more out in space than playing every snap next to $20M veteran Roquan Smith on the inside.

The Ravens also have depth linebacker Jay Higgins available for this game, another indication that Simpson might not be the ideal fit for every snap next to Smith, and a further signal of Buchanan's growing import on this roster.

While undrafted rookie sensation Joe Fagnano was the shock of the summer – perhaps in the entire NFL – making the Ravens 53-man roster coming out of UCONN (via Maine) after veteran quarterback Skylar Thompson suffered a season-ending injury before the first preseason game, exposing him to regular-season games now would be a stretch.

As the emergency third quarterback – though listed officially as inactive – Fagnano could enter if Lamar Jackson and back-up Snoop Huntley both left with injuries. Jackson enters the season with just one guaranteed year left on his contract, and major questions about what the Ravens quarterback situation could look like in 2027.

Minter and Madubuike made it clear on Friday that his absence has more to do with continuing to get into football shape than anything else after such a pronounced absence, and there is a real chance he could play next week against the Saints. He and Buchanan were never really under heavy consideration to play in the opener, as we explained 10 days ago.

Colts quarterback Daniel Jones had great success with short passes against Minter’s defense in Los Angeles last year and is expected to test the linebackers early and often in coverage.

Full Inactives

DT Madubuike (neck)

LB Buchanan (knee)

WR Walker (groin)

QB Fagnano (emergency QB)

WR Sarratt

CB Rivers

OL Emery Jones

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