Not many organizations in football can say they have an MVP front-runner as their quarterback. Not many others can add that they have starting-caliber players backing the MVP up either. The Baltimore Ravens are one of the lucky few.
When head coach John Harbaugh announced that Tyler Huntley would start in the Ravens’ season-finale game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday, it was just a further reminder of how far ahead Baltimore is to other teams across the league.
At 25 years old, Huntley has already shown an ability to play at a starter level on many occasions. When Lamar Jackson was lost for the year last year amid a contract impasse, Huntley went 2-2 with the Ravens and ended up leading them to a close 24-17 defeat to the Cincinnati Bengals in the wild-card round of the NFL Playoffs.
“You just kind of consider all things,” Harbaugh said explaining the reason to go back to Huntley on Saturday. “There’s not any one thing that goes into it. Just all things considered, it seemed to be the right thing to do. You have conversations with Lamar [Jackson] and others, and you make the decision.”
The mere fact that the Ravens have a backup quarterback as talented and poised as Huntley is a remarkable thing. Some teams have had their seasons derailed due to their quarterback being hurt, but Baltimore has shown they can win in several different ways.
It’s not just with Huntley either. Due to recent rule changes regarding the third quarterback on the roster, Josh Johnson is the team’s emergency quarterback most weeks – on Saturday he’ll be the immediate backup.
Johnson has appeared in 39 games throughout his NFL career with nine starts. Those starts may not be synonymous with wins (1-8 record), but he has experience running an NFL offense.
There aren’t many teams in the NFL that have a third quarterback like Johnson on the roster.
That allows for a meaningless game like Saturday’s to not be one where fans have to worry about the health of their backups, or role players.
The depth the Ravenshave at the quarterback position is unlike anything other teams across the league have. And that embarrassment of riches is a reason why the Ravens are heading into the playoffs with the league’s best record.
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