Ravens 2024 NFLPA report card shows areas of improvement, specifically at strength coaches
Last season, the NFLPA announced their first-ever team report cards, grade by the players themselves. The categories last season included:
- Treatment of Families
- Food Service/Nutrition
- Weight Room
- Strength Coaches
- Training Room
- Training Staff
- Locker Room
- Team Travel
For the most part, the Ravens were solid, However, they received a crippling F- grade in terms of strength coaches, which spelled the end of former Head Strength & Conditioning coach Steve Saunders. Now, the 2024 report card has released.
In all, the Ravens ranked No. 15 among the 32 teams. But rather than compare them to the rest of the NFL, how do they compare to last seasons’ grades?
Improvements
Strength Coaches
No surprise to see such an improvement after the dismissal of Saunders. Former Ravens players were publicly frustrated with Saunders and any change was likely to see an improvement. But going from an F- to a B is a great change.
Treatment of Families
The original C- grade was a bit surprising. The Ravens are known to have a respectful agenda of caring for the players, and that includes their loved ones. Though it’s only a modest change from a C+ to a B-.
Weight Room
Another marginal increase here for the Ravens. As an outsider, I’m curious what the issues are with the Ravens’ training facility.
Declines
Food Service/Nutrition
A marginal needle move here as they went from a B- to C+. The Ravens appear to give players whatever they like. I certainly know from speaking with other players around the league that few deliver food the way the Ravens do. They have the constant snack bar, they bring in Chipotle, Chick-Fil-A and other meals each week whereas other teams do not. They have a full staff of cafeteria workers and I’ve heard zero complaints from that staff. The Baltimore Banner’s Giana Han wrote up a great story on the the Ravens’ Director of Sports Nutrition’s Sarah Snyder on the topic for the 2023 season.
Training Staff
A near full letter-grade drop here signals something that will be a focus for the team in 2024, I assume. It’s unknown what the issues here are so it’s hard to speculate as to why they saw such a decline.
Locker Room
This one is the most striking to me. The Ravens were given an A grade last season but fell to a B- in 2024. But, all I saw regarding the locker room in the new season was significant improvements. The Ravens installed a massive U-couch, two 60-inch Smart TVs, video games, kept the cornhole boards and Head Coach John Harbaugh gifted the players a pinball machine. I’d love to know more about this one because what they did was in my opinion, a great step that should’ve been seen as positive.
Team Travel
I have to think the Ravens travel accommodations weren’t suddenly a fall from an A to a C- due to their failures. I have a suspicion that the travel grade fell more due to a flight to Europe and numerous West coast trips, including a game on Christmas Day. But, that’s not to say the Ravens couldn’t have stumbled here. Maybe hotel situations were poor. Maybe something happened we didn’t hear of. But, they sure as hell didn’t have multiple flight problems like the Pittsburgh Steelers did in 2023.
New Categories
The NFLPA also added two more categories in 2023, asking to grade their Head Coach and Ownership.
Harbaugh received a B+, which is a high mark, but it grades as No. 20 in the league. I suppose most players like their head coach, then.
Steve Bisciotti earns the highest grade of them all in 2024 with an A grade. The Ravens’ ownership knows what they’re doing, clearly.