Snoop Huntley Is Cemented As Ravens QB2. That Could Be Quite Problematic

The Ravens have a back-up quarterback problem.

I’m less than convinced that Snoop Huntley is the solution. And now more than ever, he’s the unquestioned back-up to two-time MVP Lamar Jackson. It’s the antithesis of a “camp battle” or “competition” – it’s an outright anointing a year after the Ravens themselves wanted nothing to do with their former un-drafted free agent signing.

Losing more-than-capable third-string quarterback Skylar Thompson to Injured Reserve before the first pre-season game is a bigger deal than you might think. The Ravens know they have nothing behind Huntley now - no QB that they’d ever want to see in an NFL game. While they have time to address that with other teams cutting QBs before Week 1, there is no way they can feel great now heading into the exhibition opener.

Jackson isn’t going to play in the preseason though I wonder if that’s the best course of action with this offense completely new and with 30-year-old offensive coordinator Declan Doyle having never called a play in his life. And much of the starting offensive line won’t play, and rookie head coach Jesse Minter is going to have to be very careful with Huntley behind that group, after perhaps sinking more money into him ($3.5M fully guaranteed) than they probably had to.

I don’t love the fact there is no one in that QB room who has spent significant time and operated at a functional level in a Sean Payton or Ben Johnson offense before (that’s what Doyle is working from, especially Payton whom he spent almost his entire professional career working under). Having that resource for Jackson couldn’t hurt.

Huntley has essentially been in one offense his entire career (it’s quite clear previous coordinator Todd Monken was running a derivative of Greg Roman’s offense here and that transition was spoon-fed), and he’s well behind Jackson mentally and physically and Jackson will always get the most meaningful practice reps and that will continue throughout the season as long as he’s healthy.

Which is why having a back-up who has already mastered it made sense here; and the Ravens did the exact opposite.

“They’ve got one of the worst QB rooms in the league outside of Lamar,” one longtime NFL executive who keeps close tabs on the Ravens told me. “I don’t know what they were thinking.”

A Total Reboot

This offense is “brand new” as Jackson and top receiver Zay Flowers have made very clear using identical language. The verbiage and concepts and most everything else is a total reboot. Quarterback coach Israel Woolfork spoke Thursday of how they are flipping the footwork for what QBs here were used to and noting the import of “timing, progressions, different route styles.” Huntley is not a tactician and this staff is going to be meticulous about details.

I have pause about this construct, and for as well as Huntley operated at times last year, there are many and significant reasons why the Browns preferred people like Dylan Gabriel to him a year ago. Huntley didn’t reveal much during his meeting with the media after Thursday’s practice, though he did enjoy being signed so early in this offseason (“Just being able to learn the playbook from day one,” Huntley noted). As for what’s new …

“Some unique ways we get into our plays,” Huntley said. “It’s a great playbook. I can’t wait until we keep digging away at it.”

Change can be tricky.

A year ago at this time I thought Cooper Rush would be a sage signing and big upgrade over Huntley. And he was such a disaster (general manager Eric DeCosta had an epic-fail 2025 offseason, including no contract extension for Jackson) that Huntley got more run than Rush beginning just a few months later.

Every year is different and I don’t love Huntley as the unrivaled No. 2 given everything else around him. There is some mythologizing that goes on with him, because he is easy to root for and a great story and getting this much out of him given where he came from is awesome. But past is past and he’s not as twitchy as he used to be. He’s now in his age 28 season, and in 16 career starts (30 appearances) he has 13 TD passes, 10 picks, averages a puny 5.6 air yards per attempt with a rating of 82.3. Sorry, I’m not handing anything to that guy.

It’s one thing to think he can be adequate getting very little practice work if it’s within a system and coaches and concepts he’s been immersed in before (all the rookie pieces in this offense adds another layer of difficulty, too). This ain’t that. It’s not close to that.

And if he ends up playing even more sparingly in the preseason due to some of these other injuries and the state of the offensive line (that second unit hasn’t impressed anyone), it’s going to even more of a stretch for him if heaven forbid they need him for anything in the regular season. A pro personnel department that’s been in quite a funk of its own (how many waiver claims and Tuesday tryout guys have impacted this roster lately?) best be closely evaluating some other options on other rosters with ties to Payton/Johnson.

Having a back-up who it’s worth taking Jackson off the field for in some piledriver situations (Tush Push kinda stuff/short-yardage) wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world and Payton explained in detail on “The Daily Flock Show” why he did that at times, sitting Hall of Famer Drew Brees in place of powerful Taysom Hill.

That dynamic interests me more than what DeCosta did - running it back with Lamar and Snoop despite everything being new. Having Thompson around as a potential safety net if Huntley didn’t make adjustments, at least, did interest me. Someone with a similar career to Huntley, but with like five years spent in this coaching family tree?

That should have been the objective all along. And that still might be what ends up happening. DeCosta gave Rush $4M guaranteed a year ago, and he was on his way out by October.

Subscribe To "The Daily Flock" On YouTube For The Most Probing Ravens Coverage:

Add us as a preferred source on Google