6 Ravens Named to 2023 Pro Bowl Roster, Several Snubbed

CB Marlon Humphrey

Getty CB Marlon Humphrey celebrates intercepting a pass with his teammates in a regular season game on November 20, 2022.

The 2023 Pro Bowl rosters were revealed on Wednesday, December 21, and the Baltimore Ravens had half a dozen players voted in. It is one more than they had in 2022, the second most of any league team, and they arguably should’ve had more.

The only teams that had more players voted in this year were the Philadelphia Eagles with eight and the Dallas Cowboys and Kansas City Chiefs who both had just one more with seven. This year’s modified event won’t be a traditional football game but will consist of multiple skills competitions. Here are the resumes of the six players that will represent the Ravens:

TE Mark Andrews 

This marks the fifth-year pro’s third time receiving this honor and second straight as he continues to be recognized as one of the most elite and complete at his position in the entire league. His 702 receiving yard leads the team, ranks second among tight ends in the AFC behind only Travis Kelce, and is the third most among all tight ends across the NFL. He also leads the team in targets (99), receptions (61), and receiving touchdowns (5) according to Pro Football Reference.

FB Patrick Ricard

This marks the sixth-year veteran’s fourth time receiving this honor and the fourth straight as he continues to prove to be one of the best players at what many believe is a dying or endangered position. His role, impact, and involvement in the Ravens’ offense continued to grow this year, particularly in the passing game where he already has set new career highs in receptions (11), receiving yards (74), and yards per target (5.7). He also received a career-high seven carries for 16 yards and picked up five first downs along the way. Ricard’s ability to pave the way in the running game is still his best asset and most dominant skill.

CB Marlon Humphrey

This sixth-year veteran makes his return after missing out last to earn his third honor with each coming in the last four years. He is the third-highest-graded cornerback in the league in man coverage, ranks 14th overall among cornerbacks, and has yet to give a touchdown according to Pro Football Focus.

His three interceptions through 44 games have already tied a career-high he set in 2019. He has also recorded a new career-high in sacks with three and recovered a pair of fumble recoveries. Humphrey’s physicality and ability to play at an elite level both on the perimeter and as well as in the slot make him a valuable weapon in defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald’s scheme.

ILB Roquan Smith 

Even though the fifth-year pro is a two-time All-Pro selection, this surprisingly marks his first time receiving this honor. He was already leading the league in tackles before the Ravens acquired him from the Chicago Bears at the midseason trade deadline. He still ranks sixth in the league in both solo and total tackles with 80 and 130 according to Pro Football Reference. Since joining the Ravens he has recorded 47 tackles, two sacks, two pass breakups, and one interception in six games. During that span, the team’s defense as a whole has allowed the second-fewest rushing yards per game (69.7) in the league and the second-fewest points per game (13.3) as well.

K Justin Tucker

This marks the 11-year veteran’s sixth time receiving this honor and fourth straight as he continues to be the gold standard at the position despite his pair of miscues in the team’s last game. Tucker has made the second-most field goals in the league with 29 and has an 85.3% success rate which is lower than usual because he has attempted longer and lower percentage kicks. He has missed only one field goal from under 50 yards this season and is 22-of-23 from that range on the year.

RS Devin Duvernay

This marks the third-year pro’s second time receiving this honor as he proved to be one of the most dangerous returners in the league for a second straight year. He was gashing the coverage units of opposing teams so efficiently and consistently in the first half of the season, especially as a punt returner, that prior to suffering a broken foot this past Tuesday, they were purposely kicking high-arcing boots that negated or limited his return opportunities.

His 25.5 yards per kickoff return is the highest in the AFC and he has the lone kickoff return touchdown among players in the conference as well with only one in the league coming from Atlanta Falcons‘ all-purpose weapon Cordarrelle Patterson. Duvernay’s 13.1 yards per punt return ranks second in the NFL  among players with a minimum of 20 attempts trailing New England’s Marcus Jones and he also has the most punt returns of 20 or more yards.


Biggest Snubs

While the half-dozen players on the team that made the cut were well deserving of the honor, they weren’t the only ones that deserve this special recognition for their high level of play this season.

An argument could be made that at least three-fifths of the Ravens’ starting offensive line deserves to make the Pro Bowl based on their play this season. If Pittsburgh Steelers outside linebacker TJ Watt can get in despite only playing seven games and only recording four sacks, Ravens left tackle, Ronnie Stanley, should’ve garnered serious consideration given that he has played eight games at an elite level and has yet to give up a sack.

Here are the biggest snubs from the Pro Bowl on this year’s Ravens team:

OG Kevin Zeitler 

Despite leading all players at his position in fan voting and being a rock on one of the best blocking units in the league, the 11-year veteran’s first career Pro Bowl nod has, unfortunately, eluded him for another year. He was beaten out by Joel Bitonio of the Cleveland Browns, Quenton Nelson of the Indianapolis Colts, and Joe Thuney of the Kansas City Chiefs despite having the fifth-best pass-blocking grade of any guard in the NFL according to Pro Football Focus.

OG Ben Powers

The fourth-year pro went from a player rumored to be on the roster bubble and/or trading block to having the best season of his career. He won the starting left guard spot in training camp and hasn’t looked back since, starting all 14 games and is the highest pass-blocking guard in the league according to Pro Football Focus.

As excellent as he has been in pass protection, he has made some nice highlight blocks in the run game as well to spring ball carriers for clutch conversions and touchdowns.

C Tyler Linderbaum

The Ravens rookie has had a fantastic inaugural season as the anchor in the middle of the offensive line. He was inserted into the starting lineup from day one and hasn’t disappointed. Linderbaum was passed over in favor of veteran Mitch Morris for the Buffalo Bills and Creed Humphrey of the Chiefs who many believed was unjustly snubbed as a rookie last year after a strong rookie season.

He has put his athleticism, strength, and power at the point of attack on display several times throughout the year against some of the most elite front seven players in the entire league. He had a great battle with Steelers’ three-time All-Pro defensive tackle, Cameron Heyward, in Week 14 and put together quite the impressive highlight reel in Week 8 in a win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers where he absolutely rag-dolled Pro Bowl inside linebacker Devin White.

ILB Patrick Queen

The third-year pro was already ascending prior to Smith’s arrival but since the two were paired to together, he’s been one of the most disruptive forces in the league and it’s surprising that he didn’t make the cut.

Not only has he been a talking machine all season, but Queen has been a great blitzer with a career-high 4.5 sacks and has taken tremendous strides in pass coverage with a pair of interceptions and five pass deflections, both of which are also new career-highs. Assuming the Ravens find a way to retain Smith, it will be interesting to see what Queen could be capable of with such an amplifying partner for a full season with him at his side.

OLB Justin Houston

The 12th-year veteran is having one of his best seasons in years and was clearly snubbed from making his fifth career Pro Bowl based on name alone because his impact has been greater and his stats are far superior to both Watt and Khalil Mack of the Los Angeles Chargers who got in over him. Houston lead the Ravens with nine sacks in 11 games and would’ve had his 10th in Week 14 had it not been for the facemask penalty committed by himself. Nevertheless, he has 1.5 sacks and three more quarterback hits than Mack who has 7.5 and 10 in 14 games.


6 Former Ravens Named to 2023 Pro Bowl Roster

There were also a half dozen players who began their respective careers in Baltimore and developed into the playmakers they are today that made the cut this year as well between AFC and NFC.

New England Patriots outside linebacker Matt Judon got voted to his fourth straight Pro Bowl after earning his first two with the Ravens in 2019 and 2020. He currently ranks second in the league with a career-high 14.5 sacks and is tied for third in the league in quarterback hits with 26.

Minnesota Vikings outside linebacker Zadarius Smith has now made his third career Pro Bowl since leaving the Ravens following that 2018 season and has recorded double-digit sacks in each of those seasons including 10 this year in 14 games

San Francisco 49ers fullback Kyle Juszczyk made his first career Pro Bowl as a Raven in 2016 now has gone on to make the cut every year since.

New York Jets inside linebacker, CJ Moseley, made his fifth career Pro Bowl and first since he departed in free agency following the 2018 season. In his first five years in the league as a member of the Ravens, he made the Pro Bow four of them.

Chiefs’ left Orlando Brown Jr. earned his first two career Pro Bowl selections with Ravens but now has his last two with their conference rivals.

Tennessee Titans long snapper Morgan Cox made his fifth career Pro Bowl and first not as a member of the Ravens where he was an original member of the ‘Wolf Pack’ specialist unit that dominated for nearly a decade.