Ravens Defensive Coordinator Could Be ‘Coaching For His Job’

Every year the Baltimore Ravens enter the season as Super Bowl contenders and don’t win it all, the pressure mounts on head coach John Harbaugh and his staff.

In the NFL, when you’re playing at that high of a level, it’s not going to be the head coach who bears the brunt of responsibility to begin with. Before that guy gets the axe, there’s a whole battlefield full of coordinators who get it first.

If the Ravens can’t figure out a way to win it all in 2025 and the defense falls flat like it did in 2024, it’s a safe bet defensive coordinator Zach Orr’s second season with the team will be his last.

“Last year, the Baltimore Ravens won 12 games and the AFC North,” Bleacher Report’s Gary Davenport wrote on July 30. “But as good as they were in so many areas a season ago, the pass defense struggled and finished 26th in the NFL in passing yards allowed …  simply demonstrating some ability to slow opposing passing offenses down should make the Ravens much more optimistic about their chances of a deep playoff run.”

Ravens Made Concerted Effort to Boost Secondary

The Ravens made 2 big time moves to shore up their secondary in the offseason.

First, they drafted Georgia safety Malaki Starks in the first round (No. 27 overall) of the 2025 NFL draft and signed him to a 4-year, $16.579 million rookie contract.

Starks, 6-foot-1 and 197 pounds, was a 3-year starter and 2-time All-American for Georgia, including starting as a true freshman on a national championship winning team in 2022. Starks is a versatile enough player that he could play both cornerback and safety in the NFL.

“Three-year starter with reams of high-leverage games on his résumé,” NFL draft analyst Lance Zierlein wrote in his pre-draft evaluation. “Starks is a versatile safety with the size and athleticism to eliminate contested catches and the speed and ball skills to shine when the action travels deep … future starter as a movable back-end piece whose consistency will determine his floor/ceiling.”

After drafting Starks, the Ravens signed former Green Bay Packers cornerback and 2-time NFL All-Pro Jaire Alexander to a 1-year, $4 million contract after several rollercoaster years in Green Bay.

Orr’s Future Tied to How Defense Performs

After drafting a defensive player in the first round and adding a player like Alexander, there just aren’t going to be many excuses left for Orr if the Ravens fail again in 2025.

Orr’s ascent to become Baltimore’s defensive coordinator has been something to behold after his career ended due to a spinal cord injury following an NFL All-Pro season with the Ravens in 2016, when the former linebacker had 133 tackles and 3 interceptions.

He spent 4 seasons with Baltimore a a defensive analyst from 2017 to 2020 before spending one season as the outside linebackers coach for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Orr returned to Baltimore as the inside linebackers coach in 2022 and 2023 before being promoted to defensive coordinator before last season.

In his first season in charge, the Ravens finished 10th in the NFL in total defense.